Fall 2022
NFTs AND THE METAVERSE
An open introductory course to NFTs and the Metaverse, delivered on-chain and in the metaverse.
The University of Nicosia (UNIC) has been a leader in cryptocurrency education and research since 2014, when it taught the world’s first for-credit cryptocurrency course.
This course was taught by UNIC faculty and @punk6529 – a deeply influential thinker on NFTs and the metaverse and one of the largest NFT collectors in the world – along with an incredible array of guest panelists and lecturers.
The course was free to attend, and you could register by minting the course NFT (free + gas); students who would like a certificate of completion from UNIC pay a small fee.
UNIC also offered a 1-week starter pre-course on the mechanics of being able to transact on-chain.
Meet Your Course Instructors
Punk 6529
Punk6529 is among the world’s foremost collectors, investors and thought leaders in the NFT space, well-known for his extensive tweetstorms on NFTs and decentralization. 6529 is a leading advocate of the “open metaverse” – namely that the architecture of the metaverse should be decentralized and interoperable and, specifically, that NFTs could serve in this role.
6529 is active in several key areas: a) the 6529 Museum is a very extensive NFT museum, with a particular focus on generative art; b) 6529 Capital is a leading asset manager in the NFT space, and c) OM, which is building an open, decentralized metaverse.
Professor George Giaglis
Professor George M. Giaglis is the Executive Director of the Institute for the Future at the University of Nicosia. He teaches three MOOCs at UNIC: Introduction to Digital Currencies; Introduction to DeFi; NFTs and the Metaverse; and was instrumental in designing the curriculum of the world’s first academic programs in this space.
He has also been working with institutional and corporate clients, including the European Commission and the European Central Bank, on blockchain and technology monitoring projects, as well as advisor to a number of technology companies. He has published 12 books and more than 150 scientific papers, and is the Chief Editor of the Blockchain Technologies section at Frontiers in Blockchain.
Welcome to Your Classroom
The course took place in specially designed virtual auditoriums inside OM – Punk 6529’s Open Metaverse.
Our goal was to see if we could deliver a course 100% on-chain and in the metaverse.
Adjacent to your classroom was the 6529 Museum District, home to one of the leading NFT collections in the world, spread across 20+ galleries, as well as a growing ecosystem of artist and collector galleries in the surrounding areas.
World-Renowned Guest Lecturers
Why Take This Course
The Metaverse is likely to be the default interaction model for the Internet in the coming decades. It will present tremendous opportunities and challenges across all aspects of society, including business, governance, personal relationships and social goals.
NFTs are the first mechanism that allows intangible/cultural objects to be represented on-chain in an open, interoperable, permissionless and programmable context.
This course explores the interaction of these two themes, providing the participant with a good fundamental introduction to both their theory and current applications.
Participants who successfully completed the course have both an initial conceptual overview of the field and a practical ability to interact with emerging applications in this area.
Course Outline
The course took place over a 12-week period, starting the week of October 3rd and ending the week of December 19th, where each week corresponded to a specific topic or area.
In addition to asynchronous access to course materials and lecture notes, each week there was a live video session with course instructors, during which course-specific questions were answered, and/or guest lectures took place.
COURSE PRICING
The NFTs and the Metaverse course is 100% free for everyone to attend.
Upon course completion, successful participants are able to mint an official “University of Nicosia Certificate of Completion” as an on-chain Ethereum NFT (0.25 ETH plus gas).
ETHEREUM USER STARTER PRE-COURSE
One of the prerequisites for registering for “Free MOOC: NFTs and the Metaverse”, was the ability to mint an NFT on the Ethereum blockchain.
For those who had not done this before, UNIC offered a 1-week free starter pre-course from Sept 26th to Oct 3rd, 2022 covering the mechanics of being able to transact on-chain in Ethereum.
Master’s Degrees
Students who want to pursue an academic degree in a Crypto-related area, can apply to one of the University of Nicosia’s three Master’s degrees.
You can apply to a Master’s degree by clicking the programme links.
World Leaders in Crypto Education and Research
Note: The following information pertains to Fall 2022.
The University of Nicosia (UNIC) has an almost decade-long track record as the leading university in the field of cryptocurrency and blockchain. UNIC launched the world’s first degree program in cryptocurrency in 2014.
Today, UNIC has educated over 100,000 students in academic and professional training courses, hosts the world’s largest team of faculty and staff focused on crypto-assets and blockchains.
UNIC serves as the academic lead for the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum (a European Commission initiative to accelerate the development of blockchain within the EU) and also was selected to serve on the Technology Advisory Board of the European Central Bank (ECB).
UNIC runs the Decentralized conference, Europe’s premier annual blockchain conference since 2017. The growing Decentralized network now comprises 19 chapters with 55,000+ members from over 100 countries.
UNIC recently announced the Open Metaverse Initiative (OMI), a new comprehensive initiative focused on the academic, research and policy issues relating to the metaverse, with a particular emphasis on open public systems and standards.
UNIC at a Glance
Note: The following information pertains to Fall 2022.