Tether launching new arm to create, coordinate educational initiatives

Education provides the tools to catalyze the rewriting of economic history, CEO Paolo Ardoino said.

Tether has created an educational branch that will provide courses, workshops and other resources for skills development in blockchain technology and other digital fields. The new branch of Tether, issuer of Tether (USDT), the world’s largest stablecoin by market cap, will offer a “smart education environment” with the cooperation of experts and pioneers in their fields.

Tether Edu will focus particularly on emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States and Asia. In addition to blockchain, its educational efforts will extend to topics such as design, artificial intelligence and coding.

Tether Edu will also coordinate the company’s existing educational initiatives, according to a statement. Among those initiatives are collaborations with the Academy of Digital Industry in Georgia and crypto exchange Bitkub in Thailand. Tether is also one of the sponsors of the Plan B Summer School in Lugano, Switzerland. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said:

“We firmly believe that financial tools, exemplified by USDt, are not merely instruments for transactions but catalysts capable of rewriting economic history. Education stands as the cornerstone of this journey.”

Ardoino indicated in a post on X that at least some of the material offered may be paid. The initiative, which has yet to launch, is currently seeking to hire human resources and financial executives.

Related: Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino says Bitcoin mining needs better analytical tools

Tether is staking its place in a crowded field. Several crypto firms offer some form of educational resources, ranging from online guides to courses like XRPL’s nine hours of free training in XRP Ledger programming available on its website. Other firms offer more targeted material, such as Trezor’s program in West Africa. The industry also has paid certification courses such as the ones offered by the Blockchain Council and the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals.

Tether Edu project is truly dear to me.

Do not be mistaken, this is not yet another blockchain course. Actually it couldn’t be far from that.

Tether Edu is aiming to build a comprehensive and global edu-tech platform, focused on online learning across many different fields.… https://t.co/FgX6Telr1T

— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) February 1, 2024

Blockchain education is also becoming more common in universities worldwide as tech giants IBM, Oracle, Cisco, Amazon and Google and prominent companies in heavy industry seek workers with blockchain skills. Blockchain-related courses can be found in major universities such as MIT, the University of Oxford and Harvard University, as well as smaller, local institutions.

Universities often expand their audiences through online courses of their own or through outlets. Online course provider Coursera, for example, offers 832 courses in “Blockchain” that are free or available at a comparatively modest cost. Those courses are provided on the website by universities and major corporations. Twenty-five of the Coursera courses are at the advanced level.