Learn Blockchain Online for Free using this Top 5 Programs

Much has been said about the blockchain technology and its benefits. This is indeed a truly innovative approach that can disrupt many industries, bringing convenience and transparency to traditional operations with money and data. Want to know more? There’s a high demand for blockchain developers now – why not to give it a try? Even if you don’t feel like a potential developer, it’s always good to learn blockchain online which is game-changing technologie.

Let’s discover the most helpful and well-founded massive open online courses dedicated to the blockchain.

Increasing Awareness

At first, let’s answer the question: why it’s important to educate yourself and others on the subject of blockchain? The answer is obvious: this knowledge will be essential in the decentralized world of tomorrow. But it works two ways: without experts, blockchain may never become that much established as we expect it to be.

That’s why learning blockchain is crucial, and massive online courses are a good way to start. Apart from courses, you can get knowledge from news websites, forums, and experts’ pages. You can subscribe to the top resources dedicated to this technology (like CoinDesk or Cointelegraph), join discussions on specialized forums (like Bitcointalk), or read various guides made by enthusiasts who explore a practical use of blockchain and crypto by businesses (like Katie Wager’s researches about Bitcoin casinos).

5 Best Courses to Learn Blockchain Online

There are hundreds of lectures, videos, and other materials for the different levels of course participants. We’ve selected the best of them – read on to chose one for yourself.

1. Coursera

It’s the most known online education platform. It features full courses including lectures and text materials, videos, practical tasks, tests, and exams. The schedule is predefined, so listeners have to complete all tasks during a week. The majority of programs are free but the platform charges for getting signed diplomas. So its time to learn blockchain online

The perfect course to start from is Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies with lecturers from the Princeton University. It reveals the main features in details. Here are the main topics discovered during each week:

• Week 1, 6 videos. Intro to crypto.
• Week 2, 5 videos. Bitcoin and decentralization.
• Week 3, 6 videos. Mechanics of Bitcoin.
• Week 4, 7 videos, 1 task. Storing and using Bitcoin.
• Week 5, 5 videos. Bitcoin mining.
• Week 6, 6 videos. Bitcoin and anonymity.
• Week 7, 8 videos, 1 task. Regulation and politics.
• Week 8, 5 videos. Alternative mining.
• Week 9, 5 videos. Bitcoin as a platform.
• Week 10, 4 videos.
• Week 11, 4 videos. The future of Bitcoin.

2. Udemy

This learning platform differs from traditional massive open online courses by providing paid services mostly. Users can create their own courses, promote, and sell them. The majority of lectures are available all the time after registering, so listeners can modify their learning schedule. About 4,500 courses among all are free.

Here are the best three blockchain programs from Udemy that are available for free:

• Blockchain and cryptocurrency for absolute beginners. A good place to start if you know absolutely nothing on the topic. The course provides main information about blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Facts: 1 hour of video and 3 articles. 22,000 students registered.

• Introduction to cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Another entry-level course which also covers economic and legal issues of Bitcoin. The program grants an access to Vizitech Solutions’ blockchain community. They have more resources to learn blockchain online using simple assignments.

Facts: 2 hours of video and 1 article. 24,000 students registered.

• Your first decentralized app on Ehtereum. This course focuses on Ethereum only. It reveals key features of smart contracts and provides guidance on how to create your own app using Web3. The course requires a basic knowledge of blockchain, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

Facts: 1,5 hours of video and 1 resource. 14,000 students registered.

3. edX

The system cooperates with the largest universities to provide a remote access to their official programs. Originally created by MIT and Harvard, now it features about 1,800 courses. Most of them are called Professional Certificate Programs or PCPs. Only a few of them are free.

We’ve selected two comprehensive programs:

• Blockchain Fundamentals. This basic course was launched by Berkeley. It takes 12 weeks and is divided into two sections: Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology.
• Blockchain for Business. The course from Linux is focused on the intersections of blockchain and business. It takes 13 weeks and has two parts: Understanding Uses and Implications and An Introduction to Hyperledger Technologies.

4. Khan Academy

This non-profit organization publishes a series of small video lectures dedicated to different fields of knowledge. There are 4,200 courses at the moment. So far as the project is the startup launched by a Harvard’s graduate, all programs are free of charge. The system is compatible with Google Classroom.

Note that some technical basis is required because videos may be too complex for newcomers. All 9 lectures are available at any time even without registration to learn blockchain online. Here are the topics:

• Bitcoin: What is it?
• Bitcoin: Overview.
• Bitcoin: Cryptographic hash functions.
• Bitcoin: Digital signatures.
• Bitcoin: Translation records.
• Bitcoin: Proof of work.
• Bitcoin: Transaction block chains.
• Bitcoin: The money supply.
• Bitcoin: The security of transaction block chains.

5. LinkedIn Learning

This is a paid platform but it can be used for free during the first month. The course called Blockchain: Beyond the Basics takes only 1,5 hours. LinkedIn Learning provides programs which consist of short videos and chapter quizzes designed to control the progress.

This course is pretty similar to ones from Coursera and Khan Academy, but you may be interested in completing it, too. The topics are the following:

• Overview of Blockchain Basics.
• How Does Blockchain Work?
• How Blockchain Enables Bitcoin?
• The Wider Blockchain Universe.
• Implementing Blockchain.

Becoming a Blockchain Expert

Blockchain evolves rapidly. Its simple to learn blockchain online. Now, the industry lacks experienced developers and analysts. Jeremy Drane from PwC marked the lack of talents as the main issue. The number of experts needed may increase to 100 thousand when industries start launching their projects, William Mougayar has said to Bloomberg. If you are ready to join the movement, take the above-mentioned suggestions on board.