As the market cap for cryptocurrencies grows each day, it becomes harder and harder for the world to ignore this burgeoning market. The financial industry currently has a large demand for Blockchain specialists and cryptocurrency experts, the only problem is, there is not a large enough supply of workers to meet that demand.

Why the insufficient supply?

Bitcoin was launched in January 2009. The cryptocurrency is not even ten years old yet - it’s not too surprising to learn that many people are unaware of Blockchain technologies and their benefits, hence why the supply of Blockchain and cryptocurrency specialists does not currently match the demand.

That is why universities around the world have been implementing Blockchain and cryptocurrency-related courses and clubs to adequately prepare their students for jobs in the industry that will be the future of banking and finance.

In the US, NYU Law, Duke, Princeton, Stanford, and UC Berkeley are just a few among the many schools implementing such courses. Some of the titles of these courses are Digital Currency, Blockchains and the Future of Financial Services  (NYU Law), Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies (Princeton), Cryptocurrencies, Blockchains, and smart contracts (Stanford).

In Europe, the University of Cumbria, B9 Lab Academy, IT University of Copenhagen, and University of Nicosia are just a few of the higher-learning institutions that have implemented such courses; in Russia, Moscow State University of Economics, National University of Science and Technology, and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology have done the same.

Not only is crypto becoming so large that it’s attracting the attention of scholars, students who have taken an interest in the future of money and banking have been launching their own initiatives to make their peers aware of what the future of monetary transactions will be.

Derek Strauss, a Junior at Florida State University (FSU), is currently in the process of establishing a cryptocurrency club at FSU. Strauss said how he made the decision to create a cryptocurrency club:

”I went onto our school’s organization website and realized nothing existed. After discovering there currently wasn't anything, it inspired me to create a club to share my passion of cryptocurrency with other students.  I wanted a place where I could help other students learn about an emerging industry and the technology behind it.”

Similar to Strauss, there are many students taking initiative to spread knowledge that will be essential to the future of transactions. The BlockChain Education Network has been partnering with students who’ve created Blockchain/cryptocurrency related clubs and groups for quite some time now.

What prompted the spike in demand?

In 2007 and 2008, it was believed that banks were too big to fail… in 2009 we learned that was horseradish. Financial institutions around the world are realizing that the future of money is not fiat. Fiat was great - in the late 1700’s when Alexander Hamilton proposed that America needed a replacement for specie - but it’s now 2017, fiat has become inefficient and outdated. Similar to when your office decided to go paperless when Earth’s environment issues became a concern, soon, financial institutions will be going paperless (fiat-less), to make transactions in this world less costly and more efficient. To accomplish this, financial institutions around the world know it is necessary for them to have a Blockchain team... and you can’t have a Blockchain team unless you have a group of people who are knowledgeable or have been properly educated on the matter.

What this means for the future?

When I asked Strauss what he believed the future of cryptocurrency to be, he replied, “I foresee a shift [from fiat] in the future.  [I think] People [will be] using cryptocurrency to purchase goods and services. Companies such as Overstock have already been accepting Bitcoin for a number of years now. Although, I do believe cryptocurrency will eventually be used as a means for payments, I think in the short term we will see the implementation of Blockchain technologies. Considering that IBM and Microsoft have been implementing Blockchain into their companies, you have to take note that other major corporations will be likely to follow so they are not left behind.”

… No institution wants to be left in the dust due to one of their competitors, and that is why more and more financial institutions are looking to hire a Blockchain team. That is why more and more universities around the world are implementing Blockchain and cryptocurrency related courses, clubs, and groups.

In 2007 and 2008 , banks were “too big to fail”; in 2009 America learned that was not true. In 2017, Cryptocurrency is too big to continue to be ignored, and each and everyday the world is learning just how objective that is.