In December, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics (PRUE), one of the first institutions in the country that introduced programs in cryptocurrency, conducted a survey to ascertain the general public's readiness to adopt blockchain.
The study found out that general sentiment toward blockchain is changing: Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are no longer perceived by the public as “an instrument for illegal transactions."
Smart contracts - self-executing agreements between a buyer and a seller written into lines of code - have played a significant role in this shift in public perception, according to Diana Stepanova, assistant professor at PRUE.
She believes blockchain can have a beneficial impact on a wide variety of industries, including healthcare. According to Stepanova, in a few years the blockchain technology could become an industrial standard.
In 2017, PRUE introduced the course, "Cryptocurrency Trading," which is taught by the co-founders of Token Finance, the Moscow-based investment holding. As a part of the project, students are educated on the principles of fundamental and technical analysis, methodology of trade, and investment portfolio.