Learn About Blockchain Technology with These Online Courses

Blockchain is one of the most exciting new technologies. Only Artificial Intelligence has a similar potential to disrupt existing industries.

Some experts even think that Blockchain may revolutionize the entire Internet.

What is it about? And how can you learn more about Blockchain yourself?

(Jump directly to all Blockchain online courses.)

What is "Blockchain"?

The Blockchain technology is mainly known because the digital currency "Bitcoin" is based on it.

But what exactly does Blockchain mean?

• Blockchain technology allows for a decentralized accounting ledger. That may not sound exciting, but it enables some interesting applications.
• As a key application, a central authority can be replaced by a decentralized Blockchain system. The Blockchain system has the same level of reliability and lower costs.
• Instead of a bank controlling monetary transactions, for example, the decentralized Bitcoin no longer needs a higher authority and nevertheless works tamper-proof.
• Other possible applications include real estate land registers and other central registers for assets or documents.

While the cryptocurrency Bitcoin (Payment Tokens) has already gained widespread recognition, most other Blockchain use cases (such as Utility Tokens and Asset Tokens) are still at the very beginning of their realization.

Reason enough to learn more about this exciting new technology!

Some Introductory Courses and YouTube Tutorials

If you are an absolute beginner looking for a first overview of Blockchain, you can get a 2-minute start with this short YouTube lesson:

And this animation gives you a simple visualization regarding the key technical details of Blockchain (e.g. hash values).

But YouTube videos can only be a starting point. Various online courses enable a more comprehensive learning experience.

Selected beginner's courses:

• The well-known online course Blockchain and Bitcoin Fundamentals gives learners a broad fundamental knowledge. The Udemy course already had over 30,000 participants. Previous knowledge of the topic is not required.
• The Full Cryptocurrency Course from a young lecturer is also intended for beginners. In the first part of the course, the basic technology is explained step by step. Participants will learn the basics of public and private keys, Bitcoin mining and other important concepts. What follows is a practical guide to the purchase and trade with digital tokens.
• UC Berkeley's Blockchain Group offers free access to their introductory Blockchain lectures as an online course series on the edX platform. 
  

Blockchain for Business / Smart Contracts

• Rutgers Business School's New Technologies course explores various tech trends and their impact on the business environment. In week 5 of the course, Blockchain and its potentials are being discussed. (This module can also be viewed independently.)
• Another course at edX is focused on the open source Blockchain platform Hyperledger. Hyperledger aims to simplify the use of Blockchain technologies in companies and corporations.
• A Udemy course for developers shows how Smart Contracts can be programmed with Ethereum and the Solidity programming language. Another course explores the development of Ethereum DAPPs (Decentralized Apps).
• The specialized provider "Blockchain Training Alliance" also offers introductory courses for business professionals (this one for example). Some of their in-person courses are offered as a live online webinar (via WebEx).
  

Bitcoin (and Other Cryptocurrencies)

• The Cryptocurrency Investment Course at Udemy provides detailed guidance on investing in various cryptocurrencies. It also explains Wallets as a purse for Bitcoin and the purchase and trade of cryptocurrencies.
• Princeton University's Bitcoin Technology Course is specifically designed for programmers. The course was among the top 10 most popular Coursera MOOCs in 2017. (The Princeton lectures are also available on YouTube.)