It seems like the entire world has been told to stay inside their homes as the coronavirus outbreak continues to wreak havoc. As a result, the world has become almost entirely digital. A recent article from NPR showed that visits to news sites have increased by 60%, and that people are spending more time playing online video games. At the same time, online teaching platforms have started offering free, or heavily discounted, virtual courses. Below are a list of online blockchain and cryptocurrency courses worth exploring while spending time at home. Coursera: “Blockchain Revolution Specialization” Ranked by e-learning hub Digital …

Blockchain-based education technology provider Odem has announced it will provide its platform to schools and universities that were disrupted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In a press release published on March 9, Odem states it is offering its “online integrated learning platform and certification management system free for use to schools and educators to continue educating students until it is safe to return to campus.” Odem freely offers platform to schools disrupted by coronavirus In an interview with Cointelegraph, CEO and co-founder of Odem Richard Maaghul stated that the coronavirus “is a big concern for us and we …

In an attempt to fight against the falsification of university diplomas in Brazil, the Ministry of Education (MEC) has proposed, creating a Blockchain-based platform to issue digital certifications among non-state universities. According to Cointelegraph Brazil, MEC minister Abraham Weintraub has raised this possibility, which also seeks to create cohesion between diplomas and thus generate a space for self-regulation. To finance the creation of the platform, Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico has said that the resources will come from the private educational institutions themselves since they will be exclusively responsible for issuing diplomas. Private universities to fund the blockchain platform Also, for …

The Ministry of Education of China has just granted Chengdu University of Information Technology (CUIT) approval to open the country’s first undergraduate blockchain engineering major. Admission and enrollment will start this year, according to a Chinanews agency report from March 4. China sees blockchain’s potential to impact social economy and information development China’s first blockchain engineering major aims to catch up with ever-changing developments in social economy and social informatization. The major looks to provide training to blockchain technical talents to meet the needs of the blockchain industry. The design of the courses aims to equip students with skills in …

While the crypto community is talking about “altcoin season,” one of the world’s oldest crypto exchanges is calling BS on everything that is not BTC. After turning into a Bitcoin (BTC)-only exchange, the United Kingdom’s oldest cryptocurrency exchange Coinfloor is now expanding its consumer BTC services. Focused on Bitcoin, the world’s first ever cryptocurrency, Coinfloor is launching a range of new consumer-oriented investing and trading services in order to make Bitcoin easy for everyone, the firm said in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 19. Coinfloor wants to reduce stress of buying Bitcoin As part of its “no BS” …

IOHK, the software company behind Cardano, announced on Feb. 14 a donation of $500,000 in Cardano (ADA) to support and develop the University of Wyoming’s (UW) Blockchain Research and Development Lab. Professor James Caldwell, Assistant Professor Mike Borowczak and Philip Schlump will co-direct the Advanced Blockchain Research and Development Lab. Professor Borowczak told Cointelegprah that IOHK’s donation will be used to support faculty and graduate students in developing practical applications for real-world blockchain use cases. He said: “This funding is meant to directly stimulate and develop a highly qualified workforce in the blockchain sector. Student researchers from undergraduate and graduate …

As blockchain weaves its way deeper into the world economy, more American universities are teaching the technology, offering more courses and expanding delivery methods. Kevin Werback, a professor and blockchain club mentor at the University of Pennsylvania, told Cointelegraph, “Even if they aren’t pursuing a career in the area, most students aren’t confident they can figure it out on their own. Blockchain is just so darn weird.” Weird it is, but employers are demanding more skilled Blockchain workers. Businesses, governments, hospitals and retailers are transforming operations using digital ledgers to share data, create copyrights, collect votes, and even track food, …

The Blockchain Education Alliance launched by blockchain accelerator MouseBelt has gained several noteworthy new members. Ashlie Meredith, the university program director for MouseBelt Blockchain Accelerator, told Cointelegraph on Feb. 11 that the new members include payment processing behemoth Mastercard, the innovation arm of major crypto exchange Binance, Binance X, Ripple's accelerator Xpring and cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin. Smart contract platform NEO, internet-of-things startup IoTeX, blockchain security firm Quantstamp and big data blockchain service Constellation Labs also joined the alliance. According to its official website, the Blockchain Education Alliance aims to support education “to ensure students receive the skills, connections, and knowledge …

The Cardano blockchain’s commercial arm, Emurgo, has partnered with the government of Uzbekistan to form a blockchain task force to develop regulations for security token offerings (STOs) and exchanges (STXs). In a Jan. 20 press release, Emurgo revealed its new cooperation with the Uzbek government and Kobea Group & Infinity Blockchain Holdings — the official Technology Advisory Agency for Uzbekisitan’s Digital Economic Development Project — aimed at the development of a legal framework for STOs and STXs in Uzbekistan. As part of the initiative, Emurgo and Kobea will provide advisory services regarding infrastructure for digital asset banking, blockchain education units …

The Indian Telecoms and IT Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, has tasked the National Informatics Centre (NIC) with developing a blockchain-based solution for improving the quality of government schools. According to a Jan. 20 report by the Press Trust of India, the minister made the request at the inauguration of a blockchain technology center of excellence, set up by NIC in Bengaluru, on Jan. 18. Blockchain challenged to transform education The NIC and local state authorities should open their doors for startups working under defined norms, said Prasad. "I am very keen how we can leverage blockchain in primary education. In …

The talk of the crypto community in the past few months has been the gaps on the Bitcoin (BTC) CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) futures chart. Bitcoin trades 24/7 on major exchanges but does not trade on weekends on the CME. This often creates a gap, or empty space on the chart when trading resumes on the CME. There is a famous saying in Physics: “nature abhors a vacuum.” This is a postulate attributed to Aristotle, who articulated a belief, later criticized by the atomism of Epicurus and Lucretius, that nature contains no vacuums because the denser surrounding material continuum would …

Bitcoin SV (BSV)-promoting Bitcoin Association has awarded a PhD student at Cambridge University with its Satoshi Nakamoto Scholarship, designed to support the development of blockchain applications. Per a Jan. 9 press release, Robin Kohze, a second-year human genomics PhD student at Cambridge University, became the first to receive the scholarship following a series of blockchain competitions within the Bitcoin SV Hackathon last fall. With his project dubbed, Hive, Kohze took second place. The scholarship is set to allow further development of Hive into a fully operational platform. Challenging the media landscape As the release described, Hive is geared toward changing …