Blockchain has made it! The technology has traversed the perilous road of vigorous testing and is now on the cusp of entering the main stream. Through 8 years of testing many issues have been found and fixed. New improvements continue to be developed and are only working to elevate the technology to an unprecedented level. From a laughable theory and a joke, blockchain has emerged as a serious and maybe even revolutionary technology that can improve a vast number of industries.
When the worlds leading technology universities start offering courses on emerging technologies it takes the emerging technologies from the realm of theory and experimentation and transforms them into mainstream technologies. For a major university to start offering courses on a new emerging technology it must be thoroughly tested, highly sought after, and have a growing demand in the business world. After years of evaluation, the day for major endorsement from the most respected institutions has arrived.
Since I am a resident of the United States, I will only comment on US based universities.
University of California: Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Princeton University (through partnering with Coursera.org) are now offering blockchain courses and programs. As some of the leading authorities on experimental technology and research these organizations have invested a lot of time and energy into developing these programs because they understand that blockchain is here to stay. It is now just a matter of time before blockchain becomes a regular part of the Computer Science curriculum in the rest of the universities and colleges in the United States.
The fate of blockchain technology is no longer in flux.
As a Computer Science student, I am seriously considering including blockchain technology in my own journey to a CS degree. Every year there are thousands of new blockchain based employment advertisements, but with a massive shortage of qualified experts, they go unfilled. The average salaries are surpassing $250,000 annually and the employment prospects are rising by the day. Granted that the main reason for such high salaries is the natural result of a massive shortage of experts.
Bitcoin was the first application of the blockchain technology, but since it's conception in 2008 the technology has grown and new use cases are emerging daily. Having started as just an open source ledger, blockchain technology is now being applied in hundreds of new ways. We can now use blockchain technology to create decentralized markets, trust-less corporations, crowd funding, healthcare information informational security, and maybe even one day we will find a way to incorporate blockchain technology in government and voting (don't even ask, I am not opening that can of worms... yet).
The future is bright for blockchain technologies and those who are brave enough have already profited greatly. But while the cryptocurrency world is BOOMing, the blockchain industry is only getting started. The way I see blockchain technology is like the browser wars of the '90's. No matter who wins and who losses, blockchain is here to stay and I believe it would be wise for new Computer Science students to include blockchain in their education. I know I will be.
Thank you for reading and please upvote, follow, and resteem if your enjoyed my article. Or at least upvote 😉
Berkeley Logo: Blockchain at Berkeley
Crypt0.Critic Images: CleverCat
This blog is written for informational and entertainment purposes only. As the author, I can honestly say that I am in no way associated with any blockchain based company. My opinions are my own and are offered freely. My opinions and suggestions and are NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE! Please do your own research before considering any high risk investments.