Bitcoin Enthusiasts From Six American Universities to Take Part in Blockchain Contest

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by Polina Chernykh · 3 min read

Global network of students, called the Blockchain Education Network, will conduct a blockchain competition among US and Canadian students.

The Blockchain Education Network (BEN) is going to host Blockchain Madness, a cross-university trivia competition that will take place on March 15. Formerly called the College Cryptocurrency Network, BEN is a nonprofit organization that is committed to drive education and innovation in the blockchain sector.

The tournament will feature six teams of students from elite universities of Canada and the United States. They include the University of California-Berkeley, New York University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Toronto, Queen’s University and Wilfrid Laurier University.

The tournament will include three matches, each consisting of four categories with five questions. The team with the largest number of points, which are given for each correct answer, will be announced the winner and will receive the Blockchain Cup.

“We believe in providing an environment that allows students to connect and where successful grassroots initiatives become global movements. In December, we piloted a trivia competition between the MIT and McGill student clubs. Now with six schools across North America, Blockchain Madness is a way to discover trailblazing student clubs around the world and identify top students with proven technical skills and experience,” Director of Operations for the Blockchain Education Network, Nicholas Abouzeid, told Bitcoin Magazine.

“We want the students who compete in March Madness to be seen as student all-stars, in a way similar to basketball players who compete in March Madness.”

“BEN is showing promise to realize the goal of a network of clubs interested in the research and development of blockchain technology in a way CCN [College Cryptocurrency Network] never did. I await the next challenge,” said Nchinda, MIT Bitcoin Club’s president.

The MIT Bitcoin Club, meantime, is going to host its annual Bitcoin Expo conference on March 5-6. The event will take place in the Samberg Conference Center on the territory of the campus.

The conference will feature such speakers, as the Bitcoin Core developer, Jonas Schnelli, Digital Asset Holdings’s CTO, Shual Kfir, Lightning Network’s co-author, Joseph Poon and Blockstream co-founder, Matt Corallo.

The conference, according to Nchinda, will focus on a wide range of topics, including the challenges faced by bitcoin developers, the financial aspects of the distributed ledger technology and the role bitcoin could play in the future of financial industry. Notably, none of speakers will be paid for their presentations.

MIT Bitcoin Club is actively promoting the adoption of digital currency and related technologies. In 2014, the club has launched the MIT BitComp contest that offered $15,000 in prizes for the cryptocurrency app. The project was aimed at motivating more students develop their innovative ideas for the bitcoin industry.

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