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New York's Incoming Mayor Says Crypto Should Be Taught In Schools (cnbc.com) 166

Posted by BeauHD from the talking-a-big-game dept.
New York City mayor-elect Eric Adams thinks that schools should add cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to the curriculum. CNBC reports: In an interview with CNN's "State of the Union," Eric Adams said that bitcoin is the "new way of paying for goods and services throughout the entire globe" and that schools "must" teach the technology behind it, as well as "this new way of thinking." "When I talked about blockchain and bitcoins, young people on the street stopped and asked me, 'What is that?'" Adams told CNN on Sunday. The mayor-elect did not specify whether he was referring to elementary, high school, or tertiary-level education. When asked whether he would encourage businesses in New York City to accept bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, Adams said that they were "going to look at it" and "tread carefully." "We are going to get it right," continued Adams. Since winning office last Tuesday, Adams has been talking a big game on cryptocurrency. Not only does he have dreams of putting the Big Apple on the blockchain, but he's said that he plans to take his first three paychecks in bitcoin.
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New York's Incoming Mayor Says Crypto Should Be Taught In Schools More

New York's Incoming Mayor Says Crypto Should Be Taught In Schools

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  • Or just ban it (Score:2, Interesting)

    by edis ( 266347 )

    Ban it, before we suffocate of that pointlessly wasted heat.

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by Joce640k ( 829181 )

      I wonder if he'll be mandating an ecology class to go with the bitcoin classes.

      Me? I'm betting he's just bought a load of it and want it to go up.

  • Add blockchain to it! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by monkeyxpress ( 4016725 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2021 @05:13AM (#61974161)

    I remember when Long Island Ice Tea company added 'blockchain' to it's stock listing name to bump the stock price. It was hilarious that it actually worked. I guess this new mayor has figured out that adding 'blockchain' to the mayoralty has the same effect.

    I have to say though, even knowing how much of a massive bubble all this stuff is in right now, I'm tempted to join in because the gains are real and, frankly, the Fed and its easy money tree has made a total fool out of people who thought working hard and investing in skills was the way to financial freedom. I'm getting sick of being the loser and they've basically destroyed my chance of being able to buy a house without dabbling in their casino now.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      I was going to ask, what is his angle here? Does he expect to personally profit from it, or has he been bribed to say this stuff?

      Does he perhaps think that crypto currency would make all transactions traceable and that that is a good thing? Or does he just hate established financial institutions and want to cut them out of transactions?

      • I definitely know that he "has a dog in the hunt."

        For someone who wants complete surveillance, there is nothing better than Bitcoin, because... blockchain. Wallets are in theory anonymous, but it doesn't take much for a sophisticated AI to connect the dots, to find who owns what wallets.

        Of course, BTC is probably the worst cryptocurrency to "standardize" on. It takes a ton of energy per blockchain transaction.

        I still don't get the point of BTC:

        It isn't something I want to "hodl" during No-Sell November, b

        • Crypto currency, in concept, is a good idea. In practice it has so many flaws. Bitcoin being the prime example, it's badly designed, it's been totally taken over by criminal enterprises, and it's only two major uses have nothing to do with being a replacement for cash or currency. It's just a proof of concept that went out of control.

          Also people really don't understand the difference between investment and speculation. The money market is an investment in a way but it's boring, and the reason it is bori

    • It just goes to prove that ranked choice voting does not actually result in smarter politicians.

  • School children dislike mathematics already. Cryptography is more obscure and less useful to know about.
    • "less useful to know about" I disagree. Everybody should have some knowledge about digital security. I thought children disliking math is a western phenomenon. Is it the same, for example, in asian cultures? There are ways to make math more fun to learn (if education systems are willing to adapt and teachers care).
      • Cryptography is a critical part of digital security but it is fringe at best. You need it, you don't need to know much about it and even less about how it works. Unless you're an expert who designs, implements and breaks it. As sexy as it sounds, a huge amount of cryptography is really long boring standards.
      • I teach math in a school in Belgium, in a "general highschool", that prepares kids for bachelor or masterdegrees. It is really class dependant. Some love math, for some it is a necessary evil. Especially in the language focussed classes, the motivation needs some care. But most of them try. It is a trend though that the mathematical literacy is going down here.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by endus ( 698588 )

        Agree that everyone should learn a bit about information security.

        However, blockchain is the last thing they need to know about. They need to know how to spot a phishing email, how to secure their passwords, how two factor authentication works, and other ultimate cybersecurity boringness.

        The only mistake bigger than ignoring cybersecurity is thinking that it's a fast paced super sexy field where you need the latest tools to keep ahead of the l33t h4x0rs. 95% of it is the pedestrian fundamentals that have

      • It's a lot of abstract math. If people are freaking out about common core or new math, then there's no way they'll ever understand enough number theory to get a grasp on crypto algorithms. "Taught in schools" as the mayor wants is not at all about teaching how cryptography, OKI, blockchains, and other security algorithms work, but instead it's all about marketing and indoctrination - convince the kids that the mayor's quirky theories about the world are correct.

        Next up: We need to teach Quantum Computing

    • Well, I don't think he is talking about the underlying math, but more high level: what is cryptocurrency.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      He is using the utterly broken moronic term "crypro" meaning "cryptocurrency", not the well-established "crypto" meaning "cryptography". Some people are not capable to use a few more letters, even when they are needed to make sense.

      • My sympathy for your extreme level of pedanticism.

        Alvin Toffler is credited with saying: âoeThe illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.â

        "Crypto" can change meanings and be assumed as the default prefix for cryptocurrency or cryptography differently over time as society and needs change.

    • It is crazy talk when kids are not even taught basic money management skills. I can't tell you how many people I know don't even know the interest rate they pay for a car or mortgage. If they can afford the payment, they are good. Heck I knew one woman who swore to me she got a fixed 30 year mortgage. Two years later, she was notified her variable rate mortgage that had been fixed for the first two years was increasing. It is mind boggling to me how few people bother to read the terms of their mortgage, whi

  • crypto or cryptocurrency? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by KiloByte ( 825081 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2021 @05:19AM (#61974177)

    Assuming he uses the word correctly -- learning how to use crypto is a must-have skill in today's world. Otherwise, it's nothing but a snake oil. On the other hand, learning what's under the hood should best be left to professionals only -- you don't roll your own crypto.

    Oh wait, the guy is a politician, thus of course he's a moron in any matter other than fund^H^H^H^Hbribe-raising. He should be thwapped with a wet trout for confusing crypto with cryptocurrency.

    • "learning how to use crypto is a must-have skill in today's world"

      Nah, not really. Its not more a must have skill than knowing how a combustion engine works in order to be able to drive a car. Sure, if you need to delve deeper and fix it yourself then yes, but otherwise no and there are no situations outside of working in IT in which a normal person needs to know how crypto works other than the most fundamental concepts and it certainly doesn't need to be taught outside of a uni CS course.

      • Learning how to correctly avoid the Ponzi scheme that most fools call "crypto" OTOH is a very valuable skill.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Serzen ( 675979 )
        And yet, you need to know that the car won't work without fuel; likewise, you have to present a token to demonstrate that you're authorized to use the car (i.e., it won't start without a key).

        If you want a world where people learn to take cybersecurity seriously, you have to create that world. If the school district sets up its own cryptocurrency that students can use to purchase snacks or school supplies or somesuch, it will lay the groundwork for that kind of world. If you want a kid to learn in a hu

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by leonbev ( 111395 )

      Why leave to to the professionals? It's pretty easy to roll your own ERC-20 Ethereum token, and then pass it off as a "revolutionary" new cryptocurrency.

      I mean, it worked for those guys who made Squid Token and Shiba Inu coin. They're both ERC-20 Ethereum tokens.

  • Buzzwords in curriculum (Score:3)

    by enriquevagu ( 1026480 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2021 @05:22AM (#61974183)

    There is a huge problem with adding current buzzwords into a curriculum, and it is that after the hype, the curriculum remains.

    You might end up with a curriculum containing the following:
    - Fuzzy logic
    - Smart Dust
    - Semantic web
    - Software defined networking
    - 3D Flat panel displays
    - ISDN
    - ...

    All of these topics have been considered as a hugely relevant field at some point. Some of them remain (possibly integrated into larger products, see SDN), and some of them have been discarded by the market and the technological evolution (3D TVs, ISDN). I remember having a course on ISDN when it was already obsoleted by ATM, only because this keyword was part of the curriculum in my University.

    The problem with blockchain and cryptocurrency? It is directly related to money. Remember the saying, "Buzzwords are what you have to know in order to get several millions in venture capital"; in this case, cryptocurrency (supposedly) directly gives you the money. If (when) everything crypto collapses and millions of people get caught "holding the bag", we will look at these curriculums as we would look at today's curriculums including ISDN technology.

    • ATM means Automated Teller Machine, not Asynchronous Transfer Mode! We had the word as automated teller machine first! (1960s vs networking term in 1980s)

      Just continuing the "crypto" nonsense from the pedant-bots above. Lol. Its all silliness and depends on the context.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by endus ( 698588 )

      Exactly.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by splutty ( 43475 )

      What made "Fuzzy Logic" a buzzword? I think I missed some application of the term that changed it from something known in mathematics and electronics for decades to.. Something else?

  • They went from am egotistical rapist to a madman. They have AOC too. NYC is really hitting it out of the park with the dirt bags and crazies. They have millions of people. Can't they find a few good leaders? Hell, even that nutjob guardian angel douche is looking OK right now.

  • How about financial literacy? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot.worf@net> on Wednesday November 10, 2021 @05:31AM (#61974209)

    Sure, teach about crypto. But do it as part of a course in financial literacy.

    It only makes sense - they're going to be exposed with a ton of people promoting this stuff. So why not properly teach it as part of financial literacy.

    So yes, teach it, because everyone is being inundated with it. But teach it as part of financial literacy so people are given the tools to decide for themselves what is merely hype, what is being done to take their money, and what might be actually a worthwhile investment.

    • Not all NYC school children are destined to become Wall St analysts. How about we stick to fundamentals and save that for higher education?
      • Given that 'pensions' are pretty much relegated to history class at this point, beyond what social security makes legally mandatory; and 401ks (and sometimes other, legally distinct but conceptually similar retirement-through-tax-advantaged-investment-thing stuff, like IRAs) are pretty much the only thing going; some amount of investment-related curriculum is a more or less necessary component of 'financial literacy' for anyone you aren't assuming will spend their life working under the table for cash and t
        • I signed up for my company's 401k but it turned out I was being optimistic. I can't run anywhere near that far...

    • I'd suggest teaching it in English Literature by studying Terry Pratchett's "Making Money" story. Good parodies are often more instructive than simple history.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by aitikin ( 909209 )

      ...do it as part of a course in financial literacy.

      Came here to say this. Too often, the education of students from school systems (public and private, both) don't understand what actually happens with their money. To the point where I had to explain why compound interest matters to a rather intelligent friend of mine when he took a loan out from his 401(k) in order to buy his house.

      Don't get me started on the advice I've had to give my assistant when she was excited about the rumor that Tesla was going to start accepting Shiba Inu and thought she should

    • Teach people how to use their crypto safely in other words. Your weird fantasies aside, people will need to know how to use crypto moving forwards, yeah? Obviously you won't, not to be cruel, but you seem not long for this world.

    • Yes, exactly what I was going to say. American schools have been notoriously awful at teaching financial skills for decades at this point. While they ostensibly had "home finance" classes when I was going to school some million years ago or so, I learned more by actually opening my own checking and savings accounts as a teen than that class taught me.

      Of course, there's a lot of lobbying money tossed at decision makers to prevent financial literacy in the general population. Credit card companies would go

  • What programming language will they use? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Koen Lefever ( 2543028 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2021 @05:43AM (#61974225)
    I suggest Ponzi Scheme for this class.

  • So, Eric Adams invested in Bitcoin, huh? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Misagon ( 1135 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2021 @05:51AM (#61974237)

    The way that Bitcoin is like a pyramid scheme is in the way that relies on new suckers at the bottom to keep spending (actual) money into the system (in one way or the other) to make the value go up Up UP.

    So he wants New York's parents to sell out their children, huh?

  • Why is it that so many people with no more understanding than 'they went to school' are self-proclaimed experts in education & are qualified to judge & determine what goes on curricula? AFAIK, the USA does have some qualified, experienced education experts to consult. Why leave these decisions about our longer term futures to gamblers in NY & religious extremists in Texas, among others?
    • From conversations I've had with a number of Americans, perhaps a more productive use of students' limited & precious study time might be devoted to understanding economics in general, e.g. the difference between micro- & macro- economics, & a more balanced view of market-based economies of which capitalism is just one type, for starters.
    • Aside from the all-purpose-and-generally-true "people enjoy having loud opinions about things they don't understand", which isn't false but doesn't explain much; I suspect that it is down to the fact that deciding what ought to be taught and deciding how best to teach it are two distinct things(with some interrelation, particularly visible in things like math and math-dependent subjects, where what order you teach things in is hugely important to how you teach things: compare intro-level microeconomics that

  • Teach the controversy! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2021 @06:36AM (#61974317)

    As long as they also teach about the Dutch tulip trade...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jd ( 1658 )

      I'd circumvent that by teaching the fundamentals of cryptography, data storage, boolean logic, error correction and self-repairing structures.

      Bitcoin might die at any moment, or it might live for another thousand years. But I can flat-out guarantee that, regardless, all of the above WILL be used throughout those kids' lifetimes. Bitcoin is merely an illustration of why these things aren't abstract gibberish. As are Internet Banking and eCommerce. Nobody needs know the details of implementations, at school,

      • I'd circumvent that by teaching the fundamentals of cryptography, data storage, boolean logic, error correction and self-repairing structures.

        Bitcoin might die at any moment, or it might live for another thousand years. But I can flat-out guarantee that, regardless, all of the above WILL be used throughout those kids' lifetimes. Bitcoin is merely an illustration of why these things aren't abstract gibberish. As are Internet Banking and eCommerce. Nobody needs know the details of implementations, at school, they need only know of the lego blocks used to build them in the first place. Let kids build their own dreams rather than rely on the dreams of others.

        And maybe start with this before going into the algorithm: https://www.statista.com/stati... [statista.com]

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jd ( 1658 )

          One very big reason to think that the form it popularly takes isn't going to last, whereas cryptographic functions and logical algorithms will last pretty much forever.

  • Ummm. (Score:3)

    by jd ( 1658 ) <<moc.oohay> <ta> <kapimi>> on Wednesday November 10, 2021 @07:25AM (#61974421) Homepage Journal

    I'd teach boolean algebra and De Morgan's Law to kids aged 9 or 10, and then put transaction journaling, trapdoor functions and The Byzantine General's Problem into maths for 11-12 year olds, see no problem with that. Kids that age might not understand all of the logic behind them, but they should understand the reasoning and the methods just fine.

    Specific implementations can be used as examples to show how they are relevant to the real world, but examples should not be the primary focus of schools. The theory and practical uses are fine. Since people learn from doing, you do need examples. And for those, you do not use a cryptocurrency as your primary example, you use the elementary lego blocks it is built from. Those will be useful whether bitcoin survives or not. Specifics never matter, the underlying mechanisms almost always do.

    So use an example of a substitution cipher and, say, two very basic hash functions (one for random access, one for cryptography) as examples of how the above are used in storage and cryptography, and how cryptography is, itself, used in things like banking and cryptocurrencies. I'd avoid detail on bitcoin, as that's reuse of various examples of the above and thus surplus to requirements in addition to being of unknown value. You only need use it to illustrate why this isn't all frivolous.

  • We are already teaching kids about religion, just add crypto to this subject et voilá

  • ugh (Score:2)

    by nomadic ( 141991 )

    NYC has had terrible mayors before (see, e.g., Giuliani) but this may be the city's first crackpot mayor.

  • This stuff is only a revolution in online-scamming and certainly an innovative new take on pyramid-schemes.

  • I have a PhD in a physical science. I'm a fairly smart guy. I'm also a little older. I can't even come close to understanding Crypto from an economic point of view. Who is going to teach this stuff? Dumb idea, unless the plan is to teach kids to stay the hell away from it. Don't mess around with stuff you don't understand. Yeah, teach them to stay the hell away. Maybe not a dumb idea after all.

  • Hold on! there is a big problem here! (Score:3)

    by oldgraybeard ( 2939809 ) on Wednesday November 10, 2021 @08:02AM (#61974551)
    In order to teach anything about cryptocurrencies you would need to teach arithmetic first. and it seems the public schools have a real "systemic" problem teaching anything that intensely complex.
  • So you'll teach crypto, but not basic personal finance? Seems legit.

    • This. I'm amazed at the number of college educated folks that don't even understand where their money goes each month, how their taxes work, the basics of their social security, or have any clue how to plan for retirement. Teaching kids the basics of budgeting, how loans work, how dangerous credit cards can be, and all that basic jazz would be hugely beneficial. Learning how to join the great Bitcoin ponzi scheme is skipping over the basics and moving right into "How a scam works". So unless it is taught as

  • Sure, it could/should be taught as a part of one of those advance CS/IT curriculums where kids in HS get college credits. But that should be seen as an elective. There are more important subjects to teach (including basic/personal finance and civics) and we have kids that finish HS without knowing how to add fractions. We gotta focus on what matters most.

  • Hay kids if you don't pay your taxes on crypto you can end up in a place like Alcatraz or an FPMIA prison.

  • and look how he turned out...

  • ... add cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to the curriculum.

    Class field trip to casinos Atlantic City, NJ and teach them about gambling.

  • Yes, we must all teach (insert the latest buzzword technology here) in our public schools! In the meantime, Johnny can't read and Jennie has been knocked up by Johnny's out-of-work dad.

  • I can pretty much guarantee that kids today know more about it than this mayor does.

  • .. it would appear that Adams is heavily speculating in cryptos and wants to be paid with it, which is fine, but how does that translate into a conflict of interests when he tries to force students to accept his version of financial doctrine? This is how penny stocks and now cryptos have always been promoted by hype artists:

    https://wolfstreet.com/2021/02/28/the-big-buy-hype-bitcoin-casino/
    What was striking about the deal he tried to draw me into: He offered to buy my book for bitcoin and help me sell a f

  • I have the perfect channel [youtube.com] for Eric Adams. Appropriately dumbed-down.

  • gotta be kidding. 50% can't read or do arithmetic when they graduate, but he wants to teach this? clearly an idiot.

  • y will there never b mOre than 21,000,000 bitccOins? the answer is satOshi nakamOtO mite b the nsa/pentagOn, vladimir putin, xi jinping, sOmebuddy lOOking at wOrld trajectOry and fascinated that it seems 2 b hedding 4 hell in a handbasket withOut any way 2 thwart it - the number 21,000,000 beep is a cOuntdOwn

  • We should probably concentrate on children understanding their civil liberties and what rights we are granted and still exist under the constitution.

    Without them understanding that, how can they relate to the war for independence?

    Come to think of it, let's send the politicians and everyone else who needs a refresher. Single-right proponents are pushing things to stay as bad as they would be with no rights.

  • Good luck finding a public school teacher that can explain it properly.

    While you're at it, maybe also teach 'cost/benefit analysis', compound interest, and what financing your college education with student loans that can't be discharged thru bankruptcy.

  • "And finally for today, class, here is where you put the backdoor so the IRS can spy on you."

    "What about this?"

    "That one is for the State of New York to spy on your taxes."

    "And this one?"

    "Those 9 are the backdoors for the NSA, CIA, FBI, and other federal agencies."

  • I know so few 20-somethings who have fundamental financial knowledge.
  • Hey blockhead, why not have the schools teach kids some basic things like credit card management, the value of compound interest as pertains to putting retirement money away early, or just how to balance a checkbook.

    I worked in some companies with people from lower socioeconomic neighborhoods, and I was shocked how much basic distrust there was for even a free, no fee, overdraft protected checking account. Instead these guys would use check-cashing at usury level percentages. So before we get deep int

  • ...as long as this textbook [davidgerard.co.uk] is used.
  • Young people that don't know what Bitcoin is? They're not on Reddit clearly! Maybe teach them about bull markets and investing wisely as well

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