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 is 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 is free to attend, and you can register by minting the course NFT (free + gas); students who would like a certificate of completion from UNIC pay a small fee.
UNIC will also offer 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 will take place in specially designed virtual auditoriums inside OM – Punk 6529’s Open Metaverse.
Our goal is to see if we can deliver a course 100% on-chain and in the metaverse.
Adjacent to your classroom is 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

Keith Grossman
President,
TIME Magazine

Fred Wilson
Co-Founder and Partner,
Union Square Ventures

Chris Dixon
General Partner,
Andreessen Horowitz

Yat Siu
Chairman
Animoca Brands

Erick / Snowfro
Founder- Art Blocks,
Creator - Squiggle

Dmitri Cherniak
Generative Artist,
Creator - Ringers

Claire Silver
AI Artist.
Co-founder of A2 Accelerate Art

Tyler Hobbs
Generative Artist,
Creator of Fidenza

Balaji Srinivasan
General Partner - a16z
Former CTO - Coinbase

Reuben Wu
Award winning visual artist and music producer

Gargamel
Co-Founder,
Yuga Labs

beeple
NFT Artist

Matt DesLauriers
Generative Artist,
Creator of Subscapes

Charli Cohen
Founder of RSTLSS

Bharat Krymo
Decentralization Maxi, NFT Collector, 6529 Capital

4156
Co-Founder
Nouns

GMoney
NFT Collector
Futurist. Disruptor. Ape.

Helena Sarin
Generative and GAN Artist

BatSoupYum
Asset Manager, NFT Collector, 6529 Capital

Kevin Rose
Founder - PROOF Collective
Partner - True Ventures

Drift
Artist
Army Special Operations Veteran

Sam Spratt
Artist

Sasha Stiles
Metapoet, Artist, AI Researcher

Loren Bednar
Generative Artist

ix_shells
Generative NFT Artist

AC
Generative Art Collector, Founder, 6529 Capital

Thomas Bailey
General Partner
Road Capital Management

BonaFideHan
CEO
Deca

Rayan Boutaleb
Founder and CEO.
OnCyber

Aaron Wright
Co-Founder Tribute Labs
Professor Cardozo Law

Richerd
Co-Founder of Manifold

VonMises
NFT Collector

Michael Bouhanna
VP, Contemporary Art Specialist & Co-Head of Digital Art, Sotheby's

Sebastian Fahey
Managing Director, EMEA and Executive Lead Metaverse, Sotheby's

Misan Harriman
Chair of Southbank Centre,
Photographer, Activist

Blessing Atas
Phone photographer
Visual Art & Storyteller

Priyanka Patel
Photographer
Chief Panic Officer & Co-Founder of The Burrow

Innamodja
Artist at SuperRare,
Founder of Code Green and NFT Factory Paris, Head of Philanthropy @worldofwomennft

Giannis Sourdis
NFT Curator at M0NA,
Co-founder of Amplify Global and Couch Heroes

Michael J Casey
Chief Content Officer,
CoinDesk

Artnome
CEO and Cofounder of ClubNFT.com and RightClickSave.com

Jeff Bandman
Principal - Bandman Advisors, Industry Associate - University of Nicosia

Eliana Torres
Intellectual Property law | blockchain + Web3 Lawyer

Anika Meier
Digital Art Writer and Curator

Micol Ap
Founder & CEO at VerticalCrypto Art

Deborah Quazzo
Managing Partner,
GSV Ventures

Claire Zau
Vice President,
GSV Ventures

Kathleen Breitman
Co-founder of Tezos

Robert Scoble
Futurist

Maxim Perumal
VR Hardware Developer
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 will explore the interaction of these two themes, providing the participant with a good fundamental introduction to both their theory and current applications.
Participants who successfully complete the course will have both an initial conceptual overview of the field and a practical ability to interact with emerging applications in this area.
The course is suitable for students of all backgrounds and professions. Prerequisites for the course include the ability to use Metamask or another web3 wallet, as well as a small amount of ETH (less than $20).
Course Outline
The course will take place over a 12-week period, starting the week of October 3rd and ending the week of December 19th, where each week corresponds to a specific topic or area.
In addition to asynchronous access to course materials and lecture notes, each week there will be a live video session with your instructors, during which course-specific questions will be answered, and/or guest lectures will take place.
COURSE PRICING
The NFTs and the Metaverse course is 100% free for everyone to attend.
Upon course completion, successful participants will be 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 META-511: NFTs and the Metaverse, is 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, 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 two existing Master’s degrees (MSc in Blockchain and Digital Currency and MSc in Computer Science – Blockchain Concentration.
UNIC hopes to be offering a MSc in Metaverse in Fall 2023, subject to successful accreditation.
You can apply to a Master’s degree by clicking the programme links.
World Leaders in Crypto Education and Research
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.