Cryptocurrency education is one of the most important elements contributing to worldwide expansion and adoption. Although the first cryptocurrency was released in 2009, there’s little awareness about the coin or the industry on a global scale, as investing or trading was considered risky.
Governments fear these financial tools because they lack control over crypto networks. These digital assets live on blockchains powered by decentralization. Therefore, there’s no single point of control over the ecosystem. Instead, multiple nodes, validators, and miners across the globe maintain and contribute to blockchains’ safety and efficiency, empowering communities and ensuring there are no chances of network manipulation.
Given these benefits, organizations and crypto enthusiasts spread awareness about cryptocurrencies so more people have the chance to use them. For example, if people become interested in BTC or ETH, they can learn to check the Ethereum price prediction and diversify their portfolios. However, this is only after thoroughly learning about cryptocurrency, which might take some time.
That’s why countries like Argentina are changing the curriculum and introducing cryptocurrency lessons. Here’s how this high school tackles the challenge.
The ETH Kipu Foundation collaboration with the Argentina Ministry of Education
The ETH Kipu Foundation is a non-profit solution to building bridges of education in Latin America regarding the Ethereum ecosystem. The NGO’s developers have experience in different fields, which is why the program covers different areas of teaching about decentralization and blockchain.
ETH Kipu focuses on freely educating communities in Latin America through in-person and online courses, collaborating with universities and other partners to spread awareness about cryptocurrency. That’s how the foundation got to work with Argentina’s Ministry of Education, adding Ethereum courses to high schools’ curriculum in Buenos Aires. The program will also ensure blockchain internships to students in order to offer future job opportunities.
What will the course include?
The course’s goal is to train 500 students to program decentralized applications with the Solidity language, one of the most complicated blockchain modules. Solidity is part of Ethereum’s blockchain and is used to create smart contracts, technologies that offer immediate execution, accuracy, and immutability within decentralized ecosystems.
About 30 teachers will receive the proper training to teach students about blockchain and decentralization. The first course from the program began in August this year, and we’re expecting more to come in the future. While this is not the foundation’s first creation of teaching programs, it’s a massive step forward in education. The ETH Kipu created a special workshop where about 200 students got a glimpse of blockchain technology to introduce the technology to the community.
How will the program improve the community?
According to Statista data, Latin America’s labor market is heavily challenged by inequity and inefficiency, exposing employers to high risks. This effect was exacerbated during the pandemic and the latest inflationary crisis. In addition to citizens facing difficulties, this dynamic also impacts the economy, as the country was already affected by long-term chronic inflation and debt issues.
Therefore, the government is now looking for ways to improve the country’s condition by focusing on technology-based careers. Considering the high number of talented people, some of the most demanded careers in Argentina include data scientists, full-stack developers, and cybersecurity experts.
That’s why the government decided to collaborate with the decentralized NGO, so they could push forward to create new jobs and opportunities for young people to have a better future in the country.
How is Argentina’s relationship with crypto?
As inflation affect purchasing power, many people turned to cryptocurrency as a safety net, which soon made the country a record crypto adopter. Argentina is also becoming one of the fastest crypto markets, especially when it comes to USD-pegged stablecoins like Tether and USDC. At the same time, most trust digital assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum, seeing them as performing in the next years.
However, the country has yet to accept cryptocurrencies as legal tender, but it doesn’t ban them like other countries have done. Moreover, the government created a blockchain committee to discuss the implications of using and leveraging such technology, considering its newness and
complexity.
Banks and official institutions don’t allow trading with cryptocurrencies. Opinions about ICOs or mining farms are also not quite good, but there are ways in which governments allow the use of crypto, such as as a store-of-value investment, remittances, daily purchases, and taxes.
How can you buy crypto in Argentina?
While cryptocurrency regulation is in development at the moment, people can still buy cryptocurrency easily through various methods. For example, many crypto exchanges operate in Argentina, through which users can access a varied array of digital assets and diversify their portfolios. People using these exchanges need to go through the KYC process, which means verifying their identity and address.
Citizens can also leverage digital wallet service providers, like Lemon Cash, an Argentinian-based FinTech company that allows people to convert their crypto assets to fiat money. Crypto users can also benefit from P2P exchanges and Bitcoin ATMs to make investments more straightforward.
What about taxes?
In many countries, crypto taxation is expected despite the lack of proper regulation. In Argentina, for example, the government proposed the “Law of Foundations and Initial Measures for Argentinian Liberty” so that crypto users won’t have to pay taxes, at least not for holding assets.
However, if crypto sales help users generate capital gains after a specific threshold, taxation might occur. In addition, international crypto transfers will require a tax rating starting from 5% and up to 15%. The purpose is to attract more foreign cryptocurrencies in the country.
What do you think about Argentina’s plan?
High schools in Argentina will now benefit from a curriculum change that will allow students to learn about Ethereum, one of the most successful cryptocurrencies on the market. The plan materialized after a collaboration between the government and an Argentinian NGO that aims to provide more education on the subject and offer students internships in the blockchain sector.
