15 Free Courses to learn about Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies with Certificates

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Bitcoin introduced in 2009, has just celebrated its 14th birthday a few days back. And within that period, it has gained over 320 million crypto users worldwide, with about 53 million users based in africa, according to TripleA stats

In africa, adoption of bitcoin is led by Nigeria with 12 million, Kenya with 2.5 million and South Africa with 1.6 million cryptocurrency owners. Regulations governing ownership and use of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are underway with the Central African Republic (CAR) becoming the first african nation to make bitcoin legal currency last year.

With such a positive trend towards the adoption of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in the world, there is no better time to join in to learn and harness the benefits with earning bitcoin and the cryptocurrency. Just as there are advantages, so do disadvantages like cryptocurrency scams promising abnormal returns you should be aware of.

Here are 15 bitcoin and cryptocurrency courses that will make you smarter to make better and profitable bitcoin and cryptocurrency investments. 

1. Bitcoin website

This was my first resource to learn about Bitcoin. Be sure to watch the "what is Bitcoin?" video with over 6 million views and explore content on wallets, community, businesses and avoid scams that are prevalent in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. 

2. 99bitcoins Free Bitcoin Crash Course

99bitcoins has a free Bitcoin course that is enjoyed by over 100,000 students via a short and educational email sent daily, 7 Days in a row. 

In addition, 99bitcoins has a wonderful beginners crypto crash course on youtube with 33 videos with easy to understand explanations available for free online. The videos are of short length (less than 15minutes) and are continously updated. Topics covered include understanding bitcoin, wallets, transactions, mining, buying and keeping crypto assets safe.

3. Reddit Bitcoin Beginners FAQ 

A very good resource on best practices Bitcoin especially on keeping your bitcoin assets secure, that include explanations on:
  • What is Bitcoin?
  • Quick Advice
  • Exchanges Requiring ID Verification
  • Recommended Wallets
  • Further Resources
  • Some foundational Principles of security
  • Common types of Scams to avoid
  • Cloud Mining Contracts
  • Escrow Disputes
  • Arbitrage Fraud
  • Double Spend Theft
  • Common Questions

4. 21 Lessons on Bitcoin

Author presents lessons from exploring and using Bitcoin, saying thus:
"Falling down the Bitcoin rabbit hole is a strange experience. Like many others, I feel like I have learned more in the last couple of years studying Bitcoin than I have during two decades of formal education. The following lessons are a distillation of what I’ve learned."

5. Learn me a bitcoin

Here the content includes answers to questions that include:
  • What is Bitcoin?
  • What problem does Bitcoin solve?
  • How does mining work?
  • Where do bitcoins come from?
  • Why is the file called the “blockchain”?
  • How do transactions work?
  • How do you own bitcoins?
  • Putting it all together.

6. The Bitcoin Basics

The Udemy course created by Draper University explores the fundamentals of Bitcoin from a predominantly non-technical perspective with over 35,375 students enrolled.

With a total of 53 lectures taking 7 hours to complete, the course covers:
  • What is Bitcoin
  • An evolution of payment systems
  • The protocol
  • Innovation in Bitcoin
  • Getting started
    • Getting started with Bitcoin
    • How to get a Bitcoin wallet
    • Making a purchase with Bitcoin
    • Creating a Bitcoin Node
  • Bonus Interviews
    • Open Source
    • Interview: The media perspective on Bitcoin
    • Interview: How legal tools can be useful for Bitcoin innovators
    • Interview: Bitcoin vs traditional alternatives Pt. 1/2 
    • Interview: Bitcoin vs traditional alternatives Pt. 2/2 
  • Supplemental material

7. Digital Currency Free MOOC

Enroll in this popular Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the the University of Nicosia with next start Date of 6 February, 2023. The course dating back in 2015 is taught by Bitcoin expert Andreas Antonopoulos, over 80,000+ Students trained and upon completion, students get issued a certificate registered on the blockchain.

From the course website:
"The course is designed to provide an introductory understanding of decentralized digital currencies (cryptocurrencies) such as Bitcoin. In particular, the course will survey the theory and principles by which cryptocurrencies operate, practical examples of basic cryptocurrency use, including clients, wallets, transactions"

Course covers: 

  1. (Brief) History of money
  2. The Byzantine Generals’ problem 
  3. Basics of Cryptocurrency 
  4. Bitcoin in practice – part 1 
  5. Bitcoin in practice – part 2
  6. Blockchain Types 
  7. Cryptocurrrencies Taxonomy 
  8. Cryptocurrency, Financial Institutions and Central Banking
  9. Regulatory and tax treatment
  10. Blockchain and Decentralization 
  11. Convergence of blockchain with AI and IoT 
  12. Decentralized Finance (DeFi) 
  13. Final Quiz
MOOC students who successfully complete the course, will receive a certificate of accomplishment, digitally verifiable on the Bitcoin blockchain. You can view previous questions and answer with the instructors on youtube.

8. Saylor Academy - bitcoin for lay people:

Bitcoin for Everybody (PRDV151) includes:
    • Course Introduction
    • Unit 1: Bitcoin Economics (3hours)
    • Unit 2: Bitcoin Investment (2hours)
    • Unit 3: Bitcoin History and Philosophy (3hours)
    • 3.1: Cypherpunk History (3hours)
    • 3.2: Predecessor Technologies
    • 3.3: Bitcoin History
    • Unit 3 Recap
    • Unit 3 Assessment
    • Unit 4: Bitcoin Technology (2 hours)
    • Unit 5: Bitcoin in Practice (2 hours)
    • Certificate Final Exam

9. Saylor Academy - Bitcoin for Developers 

Bitcoin for Developers (CS120) with advanced topics covering:
"How does Bitcoin work? Why is Bitcoin called a "cryptocurrency"? What cryptography does it use? How is security maintained in a system with no central authority? This course will answer these and many more questions. In this course, you will learn the building blocks that make up the open, decentralized system that is Bitcoin."

Course content:
    • Introduction
    • Unit 1: Introduction to Bitcoin Technology (2hours)
    • Unit 2: Cryptographic Algorithms (2hours)
    • Unit 3: Signatures and Transactions (1hour)
    • Unit 4: Hashing and Mining (2hours)
    • Unit 5: Bitcoin Data (3 hours)
    • Unit 6: Bitcoin Nodes and Wallets (2hours)
    • Unit 7: Transactions and Scripting (3 hours)
    • Unit 8: Reaching Consensus (3 hours)
    • Study guide
    • Course feedback and Certificate Final Exam

Saylor academy Course Catalog includes several courses covering: Art History, biology, business administration, chemistry, communication, computer science, economics, english, geography, history, learning skills, mathematics, philosophy, physics, political science, professional development, psychology and sociology.

10. Future Money 

Cryptocurrency course by Prof. Bill Maurer and Prof. Don Patterson of Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. Topics covered:
  • What is Bitcoin?
  • What is Money?
  • Dive into the Blockchain
  • Bitcoin in the Payments Ecosystem
  • Risks, Regulations, and the Future of Money
  • final Exam

11. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies

"To really understand what is special about Bitcoin, we need to understand how it works at a technical level. We’ll address the important questions about Bitcoin, such as:
    • How does Bitcoin work? 
    • What makes Bitcoin different? 
    • How secure are your Bitcoins? 
    • How anonymous are Bitcoin users? 
    • What determines the price of Bitcoins? 
    • Can cryptocurrencies be regulated? 
    • What might the future hold?"
The same topics are discussed and hosted on the princeton site with a bonus lecture on history of Cryptocurrencies.

12. Blockchain and Money (MIT 15.S12)

An entire MIT cryptocurrency course of 23 videos available online taught by Prof. Gary Gensler. If you are interests lie in exploring the capabilities of the blockchain technology powering bitcoin and how it can be harnessed to create changes in today's finance, this course is for you. The entire course including syllabus, lecture slides, readings, study questions and assignments are available on the open courseware portal

13. Programming the Blockchain

"Do not be fooled into thinking that Bitcoin is flawed while the Blockchain is valuable. If gold is valuable, would you throw away a gold necklace? The Blockchain is built on and thrives because of Bitcoin. Any increase in value of the Blockchain will increase the amount of bitcoins that is spent to use it, which will increase its demand."

14. Crypto Academy:

Learn about bitcoin, blockchain and more with simple answers to frequently asked (FAQ) bitcoin and cryptocurrency questions.

15. Whiteboard Crypto 

A youtube channel with videos covering a range of topics easily explained such as Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), staking, yield farming, wallets, faucets and so on.

Which bitcoin and cryptocurrency course has worked for you? Share it in the comments and we'll add it to the list. 

Happy new learning cryptocurrency year! 

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