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Free online blockchain course from the University of Nicosia in Cyprus has drawn more than 150,000 learners from over 120 countries since its launch in 2014. Its autumn 2026 edition began on 28 September, combining free teaching with an advanced paid track, hardware wallet rewards and scholarships. The advanced track covers weeks nine to twelve and costs €199. The autumn edition comes with 1,000 hardware wallets and €37,000 in scholarships, according to the University of Nicosia. Students who pass the introductory final exam enter a draw for 50 Trezor Model T hardware wallets, drawn on a blockchain from the pool of successful candidates. Cardano is sponsoring 25 advanced-track places, each valued at €199, and Ripple is backing five scholarships towards the university’s Master of Science in Blockchain and Digital Currency, each valued at €7,400.
Because there was nowhere in the university system to learn about Bitcoin properly, george Giaglis, Executive Director of the Institute for the Future at the University of Nicosia, said in an announcement from the university that the course was created.
The university describes the programme on blockchain and digital assets as the first course of its kind at any university, and says it is one of the largest university-led blockchain learning initiatives in the world. Twelve years on, he said, the subject has a regulatory regime, an institutional market and a serious research literature, and the curriculum has had to keep pace with all three. What has not changed, he added, is that “the first eight weeks are free to anyone with an internet connection”, and he said they always will be. The introductory track covers weeks one to eight and costs nothing.
For those curious about Bitcoin and digital money, it shows how one course can become a global classroom. It includes the full curriculum on blockchain foundations, Bitcoin and digital money, Ethereum and programmable blockchains, wallet security and privacy, decentralised finance, prediction markets, the geopolitics of cryptocurrency, and tokenisation and stablecoins. It adds four weeks on non-fungible tokens and digital ownership, the regulation and policy of digital assets, blockchain scaling and design trade-offs, and the convergence of blockchain with artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. Advanced students also get a blockchain-verifiable certificate, extended access to course materials, dedicated networking channels and daily cryptocurrency market briefings. Anyone already registered for the introductory track can upgrade. Every student who completes the advanced track receives a Trezor Model T wallet. University faculty teach the course, including Dr Apostolos Kourtis and Dr Lambis Dionysopoulos alongside Giaglis, with contributions from industry experts Garrick Hileman, Jeff Bandman and Punk6529. The autumn edition adds guest sessions from John Greene, technical writer at the Cardano Foundation; Patrick Tobler, co-founder of Masumi Network and founder and chief executive officer of NMKR; Brandon M. Procak, director of stablecoin strategy and operations at Ripple; Lucien Bourdon, Bitcoin analyst at Trezor; and Luke Martinez, head of global operations at Team1 (Avalanche). The curriculum, assessment and certification remain under the university’s academic direction.
