Sept. 27, 2024
Contact: Janese Heavin, heavinj@missouri.edu
Had he taken Starla Ivey’s course on the University of Missouri, Laszlo Hanyecz would possibly by no means have spent these 10,000 Bitcoins on pizza.
In fact, when he made the now notorious resolution 14 years in the past, cryptocurrency was simply coming onto the scene, and early adopters weren’t certain what to anticipate. Right this moment, an estimated 219 million folks the world over are Bitcoin holders. And people 10,000 digital cash? They’re price thousands and thousands.
Ivey desires to verify Mizzou college students don’t make the identical sorts of errors. That’s why she teaches Tigers the fundamentals of cryptocurrency — serving to them perceive the way it’s mined, exchanged and invested.
It’s only one of the educational aims of iGen Money, a 1000-level class designed to assist college students navigate an evolving monetary panorama.
“Private finance is everchanging,” stated Ivey, an teacher and graduate program coordinator in private monetary planning in Mizzou’s Faculty of Agriculture, Meals and Pure Sources. “My college students get sense of what cryptocurrency is, what non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are and the way good contracts are altering sure jobs. As a result of that is all comparatively new, it’s info they may not have had entry to earlier than. And it’s essential in an effort to make good monetary selections.”
College students at any stage can take iGen Money, which meets the necessities for Mizzou’s Basic Schooling Program.
And anybody, regardless of age or main, can profit from a primary understanding of at this time’s more and more complicated digital financial system.
“What I actually like about this course is that it’s so relevant,” Ivey stated. “College students can use what they be taught to make cash, lower your expenses and spend money on methods that may profit them for all times.”
The course, provided on-line each fall, explores the historical past of cash from the greenback to bank cards to crypto, a forex that depends on a shared public ledger referred to as blockchain. College students additionally find out about digital cost choices, “title, picture, likeness” or NIL guidelines, and the way expertise might help when investing for retirement.
And the category goes past the tech, which is continually altering. Ivey additionally desires college students to know the best way to discover dependable monetary sources to make sound selections and acknowledge scams.
And utilizing real-world examples permits her to reveal the results of good investments and not-so-savvy cash errors.
“I wish to take a tough matter and switch it into one thing the on a regular basis particular person can perceive,” Ivey stated. “This course is enjoyable, simple to observe and filled with sensible info college students can begin utilizing instantly.”