Introduction
In the digital age, the world has witnessed a massive transformation in the lives of people. On the professional front, communication, shopping, and even the payments systems have shifted into a digital space.
With the advancement of technology, state-of-the-art technologies such as blockchain have been at the forefront of innovations. A new trend in the blockchain space is a cryptocurrency that has created a buzz across industries.
Today, a significant percentage of people want to dive into this big pool of opportunity in the blockchain and cryptocurrency platform. Like any new technology and innovation, cryptocurrency has yet to be accepted in the mainstream scenario.
However, with the rising interest and a new market with plenty of potential, now is the best period to invest in learning the evolving trend in the tech industry, namely cryptocurrency.
There are several resources and online platforms that have put together the best experts to produce exceptional cryptocurrency courses. The article will explore the top ten courses worth investing your time in that can provide you career-boosting return and scope from its certification and knowledge shared from its contents.
Related reading: Top 25 Blockchain Courses Worth Taking
Best Cryptocurrency Courses (Top 10)
1. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies – UC Berkeley – edX
The online cryptocurrency course introduces the fundamentals of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. The basic concepts of smart contracts, the Ethereum platform, and how to build a decentralized application are thoroughly covered in this course.
The course is offered by UC Berkeley on the edX platform and it is designed by the premier computer science faculties of Berkeley. The course aims at providing an in-depth overview of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
The primary concepts that an individual will be able to grasp with this course are:
- The basics of centralized and decentralized currency, Bitcoin fundamentals including concepts on identity, transactions, record keeping, and consensus.
- An overview of Bitcoin in the Cypherpunk movement, Libertarian ideals, and its significance.
- The mechanics of Bitcoin covers topics on Bitcoin network, cryptography, hash functions. Bitcoin script etc.
- Bitcoin wallets, wallet mechanism, transaction mining, and Bitcoin governance.
- The concepts on the Bitcoin network and the possible network attacks.
- The properties of Ethereum is a popular blockchain platform.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Rustie Lin, Mengyi Wang
Level: Introductory
Duration: 6 Weeks
User Review: NA
Price: FREE (optional upgrade available)
2. Cryptocurrency and Disruption – London School of Economics and Political Science
This online cryptocurrency course is offered by a prestigious institute, namely the London School of Economics and Political Science. The course offers the knowledge and the framework on blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies.
The contents are discussed below.
- The operations and implications for business. The course will introduce concepts on theoretical frameworks and the technology and regulations associated with crypto assets and the cryptocurrency taxonomy.
- Exploring the cryptocurrency markets, future of money, cryptocurrency infrastructure, ecosystem, wallets, and essential factors in the cryptocurrency markets such as trading decisions, trading strategies Cryptocurrency financial markets and the participants involved in it.
- Economic uses of crypto-asset investment.
- Cryptocurrency regulations and the risk associated with the cryptocurrency financial markets.
- Cryptocurrency as methods of raising capital and in the context of innovations.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Industry expert
Level: Introductory
Duration: 6 weeks excluding orientation
User Review: NA
Price: NA
3. Cryptocurrency – MIT Media Lab – GetSmarter
The course focuses on providing the knowledge and framework and deepens the understanding of cryptocurrencies from a business perspective as well. The course also explores blockchain technology and the value addition to an organization as well as how cryptocurrencies operate.
The course is offered by MIT which is among the most prestigious institutions across the world. The certification holds industrial recognition as well.
Some of the concepts that could be grasped from the course are:
- The origins and evolution of money. How Bitcoin and blockchain technology has proven effective in solving the movement of payments on the digital platform.
- Understanding the important concepts on smart contracts, decentralized applications, and the upcoming ways of crowdfunding, initial coin offerings, and the regulations for the operations.
- The concepts on cryptocurrency markets, cryptocurrency exchange, the types of cryptocurrency trading, custody solutions.
- Assessing a crypto project and understanding the economic viability. The module also explores the payment, platform sector, and the use cases on cryptocurrencies.
- The response of financial institutions and central bands towards the emergence of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology innovations.
- The challenges related to cryptocurrencies and the future of the technology as well as the internet of value that is an additional layer added on the top of the internet.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Gary Gensler, Neha Narula
Level: Introductory
Duration: 6 weeks excluding orientation
User Review: NA
Price: €2,352 EUR
4. Blockchain Essentials Certificate – Cornell University
The certificate series on blockchain essentials is provided by Cornell University. The course delves into blockchain technology, cryptography, and the related technologies in the field. The future of cryptography and blockchain. The course is taught by the experts of Cornell Tech.
The concepts on the usage of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin are covered and how it facilitates peer-to-peer digital transactions are explored thoroughly. The mechanics of Bitcoin-blockchain protocols, the problems that blockchain technologies aim to solve, and its support to achieve organizational goals are being touched upon as well.
The course modules comprise the following.
- Cryptocurrencies and Ledgers
- Cryptography Essential.
- Blockchain Fundamentals
- Applications of Blockchain Technology
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Ari Juels, Rafael Pass
Level: Intermediate-Advanced
Duration: 2 months
User Review: NA
Price: NA
5. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies – Princeton University – Coursera
The course is offered by Princeton University on the Coursera platform. One of the primary aims of the course is to explain Bitcoin at a technical level. The concepts on what is bitcoin and how it works, how is bitcoin different, securing bitcoins and the anonymity of bitcoin users, determining factors of bitcoin price, regulation of cryptocurrencies and its future are some of the essentials of this course. Another concept that is important in the cryptocurrency platform is the interaction with the network which has been covered as well.
The modules of the course are.
- Introduction to Crypto and Cryptocurrencies
- How Bitcoin Achieves Decentralization
- Mechanics of Bitcoin
- How to Store and Use Bitcoins
- Bitcoin Mining
- Bitcoin and Anonymity
- Community, Politics, and Regulation
- Alternative Mining Puzzles
- Bitcoin as a Platform
- Altcoins and the Cryptocurrency Ecosystem
- The Future of Bitcoin
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Arvind Narayanan
Level: Introductory
Duration: 23 hours (self-paced) with flexible deadlines and resetting deadlines as per schedule
User Review: 4.7 (2502 reviews)
Price: FREE
6. Cryptocurrency and Blockchain: An Introduction to Digital Currencies – Wharton – Coursera
The course is designed for individuals and organizations looking to understand the ways to navigate investment in cryptocurrencies. It is also a part of the specialization course on Fintech by Wharton. However, it is possible to take up this module as an individual course as well.
The contents of the course will guide you through the concepts to develop a framework for cryptocurrency and blockchain. The analysis of digital signatures, blockchain technology in cryptocurrency, defining a currency, risk assessment of cryptocurrency in the modern investment portfolio is some of the important concepts that are covered in this course.
The modules of the course that are offered are.
- Introduction to Cryptocurrency
- Rules and Structure of Bitcoin
- Cryptocurrency as an Asset Class
- The Blockchain Ecosystem
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Jessica Wachter
Level: Introductory
Duration: 4 hours (self-paced)
User Review: 4.6 (498 reviews)
Price: FREE
7. Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology Explained – University of Michigan – Futurelearn
The course is offered by the University of Michigan on the Futurelearn platform. The topics that are offered in this course include an introduction to Fintech, an introduction to blockchain and cryptocurrency, blockchain as an asset, blockchain as a business.
The learners will gain expertise on how blockchain works, the strength and weakness of cryptocurrency as an asset, the payment mechanism, technical requirements, decentralization, consensus algorithms, and blockchain as a business solution. The course is also a part of the Innovations in Fintech Expert Track.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Industry expert
Level: Introductory
Duration: 4 weeks
User Review: 4.4 (60 reviews)
Price: FREE 7 day trial
8. Cryptocurrency Trading: Technical Analysis Masterclass 2022 – Udemy
The course focuses on providing a comprehensive course on cryptocurrency. It is offered on the Udemy platform. The learners will be able to understand the concepts in the following areas.
- The use of technical indicators and charts for trading cryptocurrencies.
- Technical analysis for cryptocurrency trading in a profitable manner.
- Use of levels, trend lines, and channels.
- Identification of trend strength.
- Reduction of risk and increasing profit by the use of advanced risk management strategies.
- Trading with rectangle tops and bottoms.
- Use of Fibonacci extensions for identifying potential.
- Trading with the use of technical indicators and Fibonacci extension.
- Use of Bollinger bands and determining market trends.
- Determining stochastic oscillator to determine overbought and oversold conditions.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Wealthy Education
Level: Introductory
Duration: 5 hours (self-paced)
User Review:
Price: €119.99
9. Certified Cryptocurrency Trader – Blockchain Council
This a certified program by Blockchain Council. The program introduces the concepts that allow one to master the cryptocurrency market.
The learners can learn technical analysis, candlesticks, blockchains, derivative trading, and the relevant investment strategies to be successful in the crypto market. The course is designed in a way that benefits beginners and experienced professionals.
There is an inclusion of crypto trading with real money in CoinDCX, which is the official exchange partner of the blockchain council. The outcome of the course is to understand cryptocurrency trading analysis from scratch, financial market overview, the knowledge of the trading platform in detail, and the technological infrastructure of blockchain.
The course certificate is industry-recognized and offers plenty of scope in the professional space. The modules in the course are.
- Introduction to Blockchain
- Introduction to Cryptocurrency and ICO
- Top Cryptocurrency Analysis
- Introduction to Crypto Mining
- Stock Market and Crypto Market Compared
- Risk Management and Market Psychology
- Introduction to Crypto Exchange and Trade Process
- Fundamental Analysis in Crypto Trading
- Technical Analysis in Crypto Trading
- Cryptonomics: Strategies for Crypto Trading
- Derivatives: Crypto Futures
- Derivatives: Crypto Options
- Margin Trading and Lending
- Legality and Taxation in Crypto
- Crypto Scams 101: Avoiding the common pitfalls
- Certified Cryptocurrency Trader Exam
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Industry expert
Level: Introductory
Duration: 2 years
User Review:
Price: $149
10. FinTech Ethics and Risks – University of Hong Kong – edX
The course covers 6 modules with concepts covering the fundamentals of Fintech solutions globally, adoption of Fintech solutions, the best ways to introduce these technologies, blockchain technology, and blockchain technology governance. The course is offered on the edX platform by the University of Hong Kong.
The risks involved and how technology helps prevent cybersecurity threats are covered as well. Finally, the role of artificial intelligence in Fintech mechanisms and the scope of Fintech in a decentralized space and its feasibility.
The learners can benefit from the course and master the concepts in the following areas:
- Ethical implications in finance and emerging technologies.
- Identifying the trends and opportunities of Fintech.
- The regulatory factors and enhancing supervision.
- Payment solutions and the potential of ethical elements in finance.
- Alternative financing and crowdfunding.
- Peer-to-Peer lending activities in the financial market.
- Expansion of Fintech and its pros and cons.
The course curriculum consists of the following modules.
Introduction: Ethics of Finance and Emerging Technologies
The module focuses on the historical perspective concerning finance and the need for emerging technologies.
Blockchain and Its Governance
The module will explore the topics of introduction to Fintech, relevant and ethical ways of Fintech, its implementation, and the aspects of data collection, customer privacy, and transactional issues.
Cybersecurity and Crimes
The possibility of Fintech to aid in the monitoring and control of financial transactions and reduce financial frauds and cybersecurity threats. As the advanced tools can be used to hide corporate secrets and illegal works, the contribution of Fintech and its preventive solutions are discussed.
AI and Fintech
The contribution of combining emerging technologies to implement Fintech and the financial mechanism in the cryptocurrency space.
Institutionalization vs Decentralization
With the blockchain gaining popularity, the willingness of moving Fintech into the decentralized nature and democratization of finance. The participation of people in financial transactions through cryptocurrency, P2P lending, and its affordability are being discussed in the module.
Big Questions Relating to Introduction of Fintech
The final module dives into how Fintech can help and hurt society, its sustainable development, and how these technologies might cause problems in the financial markets.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: David L. Bishop, David S. Lee
Level: Introductory
Duration: 6 weeks
User Review:
Price: FREE
A Brief Overview of Cryptocurrency
A look at the brief history of cryptocurrency and its usage will provide a more meaningful insight before diving into the best courses. Therefore, it brings to the most important question on what is cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency came into existence in the form of Bitcoin in 2009. It was created by Satoshi Nakamoto with the idea of decentralizing the financial system. No form of banking authority is involved in the transactions.
All the transactions are maintained through a network of computers that comprises the records. Although cryptocurrency comes with every aspect of traditional currency, it is termed as a digital currency that is powered by cryptography techniques.
The Bitcoin cash is considered safe for online transactions as the entries of the digital tokens are available in the public ledger.
The cryptocurrency operates through the use of blockchain technology with the means of decentralized storage and distributed ledgers that are encrypted to maintain the authenticity of the digital currency.
The built-in security features enable tightening the security requirements; thus it is difficult to counterfeit the digital currency.
As there are no financial authorities, the need for experts in the field of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency has increased over the years.
The knowledge of cryptocurrency exchanges and Bitcoin, cryptocurrency wallets, cryptocurrency markets, and virtual transactions and the relevant techniques opens a wide range of career possibilities.
The next sections highlight the best online courses for cryptocurrency that can develop the required skills to accelerate a career in this exciting field.
Types of Available Cryptocurrencies
Although Bitcoin is synonymous with the term cryptocurrency, there are several alternatives of cryptocurrencies and some of them are discussed in the following section.
Ethereum (ETH)
In recent times, Ethereum is gaining popularity. Ethereum is among the first alternatives to Bitcoin. It is a decentralized platform that allows for smart contracts and decentralized applications to be created and run without the need for any downtime. Ethereum offers fraud control and monitoring of any interference from third parties.
The applications on an Ethereum platform have a cryptographic token called Ether. The token can be considered the most critical component for accessing around the platform. It is highly sought after by developers who are looking to develop applications inside the Ethereum platform.
Today, Ether is among the largest digital currencies in the world in terms of market cap in the trading platform. The market cap of Ether stands at 1/10 that of the size of Bitcoin. which stands at Ethereum (ETH) had a market cap of $15.6 billion and a per token value of $142.54.4
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple is a real-time network for global settlements and instant and low-cost international payments. It was launched in 2012. The banks can use Ripple to settle territorial region-based payments in real-time that offers end to end transparency. Ripple has a consensus ledger that doesn’t require mining procedures.
As all the Ripple digital tokens are pre-mined, hence there is no need for the creation of XRP but it requires the introduction and removal of XRP from the market supply chain as per the guidelines.
The computing power and the network latency are subsequently lower as compared to bitcoin and several other altcoins. Ripple is popular in the cryptocurrency market and remains one of the most sought after digital currency. Its market cap of $9.2 billion and a per token value of $0.21.7 positions it as the third-largest cryptocurrency in the market today.
Litecoin (LTC)
Litecoin was launched in 2011. It follows in the similar footsteps of Bitcoin. It was created by an MIT graduate called Charlie Lee. Litecoin is open-source and allows to conduct the transaction in the global payment network. Litecoin is not controlled by any financial authority and involves a “scrypt” as proof of work.
The scrypt can be decoded by consumer graded CPUs’. Litecoin is similar to Bitcoin but it has a faster block generation, therefore it can offer faster transaction possibilities. The developers deal with Litecoin and it is also popular among merchants. Litecoin has a market of $3.0 billion and a per token value of $46.92. However, it stands as the sixth largest cryptocurrency in the world.
Tether (USDT)
Tether was among the digital currencies that were created to tackle the volatility factors in Bitcoins. It is considered to be among the stablecoins. Tether looks to tackle the price fluctuations to attract users. It was launched in 2014 and was described as a blockchain-based platform that helps to facilitate the usage of fiat currencies digitally.
The users can use a blockchain network and the associated technologies for performing transactions of traditional currencies and minimize the volatile and complex attributes associated with digital currencies.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Bitcoin Cash forms an important base for altcoins in the cryptocurrency market. It is considered one of the most successful hard forks of the original bitcoin. A fork in the cryptocurrency market means the results of the debates and arguments that take place between developers and miners. In a scenario, when the different factions involved in a transaction can’t agree, the digital currency is usually split.
The original digital currency remains with its original code whereas the copied version works as a new version of the previous version with a wholesome change to its codes. Bitcoin Cash came into existence in 2017.
To deal with the scalability and size limitations for the split, Bitcoin cash increases the block size from 1 MB to 8 MB as the larger blocks are used to process in a faster manner. Other changes were made to the segregated witness protocol that typically impacts the block space.
Libra (LIBRA)
Libra is perhaps the most-hyped cryptocurrency in the market. The reason for the hype is due to the involvement of Facebook as its founder. Facebook has released a white paper for Libra. The Facebook subsidiary will be responsible for overseeing the operations related to Libra.
EOS (EOS)
EOS was launched in 2018. It was created by one of the pioneers in the cryptocurrency field called Dan Larimer. He was also responsible for founding the digital currency exchange called Bitshares. The social-media platform Stemit is also among its launches. EOS follows the design ideas of Ethereum.
EOS platform allows the developers to build decentralized applications. EOS offers a platform that offers proof-of-stake and offers scalability. It also comprises an operating system that acts as the blockchain network for digital currency.
Cardano
Cardano is used for sending and receiving digital funds. It is considered to be a balanced ecosystem for cryptocurrencies. It was founded by Charles Hoskinson who is also the co-founder of Ethereum. Cardano is driven by a research-oriented approach.
Conclusion
The technical advancements are evolving rapidly and with it brings a lot of career opportunities in the job market. The professionals, especially in the tech industry must level up to keep up with the recent trends.
Blockchain developers and experts are highly sought after in the job market. As blockchain forms an integral part of the cryptocurrency market, therefore the need for professionals with technical expertise and the know-how of the cryptocurrency market has massive scope to strengthen their careers in an emerging tech market.
The importance of a certificate course that offers essential concepts of theoretical and practical knowledge is crucial. Another key point to note is the industrial recognition that it provides in the job market, therefore choosing among the several courses that are available on the online platform is difficult. The article aimed to provide some of the popular courses from industry experts and well-known institutions that will add value to the career of an individual.
