MicroStrategy CEO Aims to Educate the World About Bitcoin and Promote Economic Empowerment
Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, announced yesterday the launch of “Bitcoin for Everybody,” a free cryptocurrency training course. Covering Bitcoin from basic concepts to technical and practical components, the course provides a solid foundation for anyone who wants to begin engaging with the cryptocurrency.
Over the past year Saylor has been a prominent public advocate for Bitcoin, saying in October, “If it’s not a hundred times better than gold, it’s a million times better than gold and there is nothing comparable.” His business intelligence firm, MicroStrategy, has invested heavily in Bitcoin since the summer—spending more than a billion dollars and now holding over $3.3 billion in Bitcoin—placing MicroStrategy at the top among publicly listed companies by Bitcoin holdings.
Saylor has also encouraged other companies and CEOs to consider Bitcoin, including public appeals directed at corporate leaders. He noted that Tesla’s purchase of Bitcoin helped reduce acquisition risk for public companies and accelerated the digitization of corporate balance sheets. MicroStrategy has hosted events such as the “World.Now” conference, which included sessions titled “Bitcoin for Corporations” designed to attract institutional investors.
Now Saylor has launched a course aimed at anyone who wants to learn how to harness the power of digital finance. The course is offered through Saylor Academy’s website, a nonprofit initiative that has provided free online courses since 2008 in subjects ranging from business to chemistry and art history.
Bitcoin for Everybody is organized into five units: The Economics of Bitcoin, Investing in Bitcoin, The History and Philosophy of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Technology, and Bitcoin in Practice. Beginning with the history of money, the course examines fiat currency depreciation, the attempted SegWit2x hard fork, and the immutable nature of the Bitcoin ledger. It goes on to cover practical guidance on using a Bitcoin wallet, along with privacy and security best practices.
The course is free, open to everyone, and can be completed in approximately 12 hours. At the end of the program there is an optional final exam; participants who pass can receive a free course completion certificate.