College students enrolled within the class “Introduction to Cryptocurrencies” at Turkey’s Kadir Has College had been the sudden winners of Uniswap’s UNI token distribution on Sept. 17. İsmail Hakkı Polat, one in all two lecturers of the category, advised Cointelegraph Turkey that each one college students who, as a part of a category undertaking, participated in itemizing and swapping a token on Uniswap acquired 400 UNI. In Turkey’s native foreign money, it was valued at roughly 12,000 liras, or round $1,570, which accounts for almost half the yearly training charge for some college students.

Taught by Polat and Tansel Kaya, two well-known names in Turkey’s cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem, Introduction to Cryptocurrencies has for the final two years been included as a obligatory course for college kids finding out new media at Kadir Has College. Polat defined that there are additionally engineering, legislation, administration info techniques — or MIS — and enterprise administration college students who take it as an elective course.

Token hunt on the academy

In response to a tweet by Kaya, as a part of the course taught in fall 2019, an ERC-20 token known as KHAS was issued to permit college students to straight expertise token buying and selling. The scholars created a MetaMask pockets to buy the token, which was listed on decentralized alternate Uniswap.

One of many doable use instances recognized for KHAS was as a voting app for pupil president elections. Nevertheless, as a result of coronavirus pandemic within the spring, the research had been interrupted halfway. The incident that reminded the course’s lecturers and college students of KHAS was the Uniswap’s token distribution, throughout which 1000’s of pockets homeowners acquired 400 UNI. Polat said that the category designed a real-world use case for the KHAS token, which was developed as a part of the course. Noting that they gathered enter from college students on this matter, Polat stated:

“We acquired concepts comparable to the varsity’s park, cafeteria, pupil president elections and the merchandise retailer. We put one in all these use instances into follow in every week and supplied it to the category in a quiz format.”

College students of the “Crypto 101” course realized how the KHAS tokens can serve eight use instances devised by the group. The lecturers arrange a QR code for the college’s merchandise retailer to obtain funds through KHAS, however they didn’t clarify which campus retailer accepted the token. As an alternative, they created a “token hunt” sport, the place the primary pupil to transact through KHAS tokens can be the winner and obtain two further factors on their grade.

400 UNI, however no gasoline?

The winner of the token hunt was Barış Öztürk, a third-year MIS pupil who selected to take the category on account of his curiosity in cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Calling Crypto 101 “the very best class he ever took,” Öztürk elaborated to Cointelegraph that he usually will get bored throughout lectures, “However in Introduction to Cryptocurrencies, I by no means skipped a lesson. I even attended after-class discussions with lecturers.”

The entire college students who attended the Introduction to Cryptocurrencies course in fall 2019 and transacted with KHAS tokens on Uniswap awoke on Sept. 17 with 400 UNI of their Ethereum wallets, because of Uniswap’s distribution of its tokens.

Öztürk claimed his 400 UNI tokens with the assistance of Kaya. As a result of he emptied all of the Ether (ETH) in his pockets instantly after the undertaking was accomplished final yr, his MetaMask pockets was left unable to pay for the gasoline wanted for the token switch. Kaya despatched him about $75 price of ETH to pay the gasoline charge and guided him by way of the UNI reward declare steps.

After seven hours of nervous ready in entrance of the pc display on account of congestion on the Ethereum community because of a “UNI reward declare rush,” Barış was in a position to get his 400 UNI and commerce them for fiat. “I by no means imagined I might land over $1,500 for being a pupil in a classroom,” Barış stated. “The subsequent morning was the primary time in my life that my dad despatched me a textual content message saying ‘Good morning, my expensive son.’”

Token-based election undertaking sustained on account of COVID-19

In response to Kaya, Turkey must cease being only a client within the decentralized finance house and begin making its personal initiatives: “The blockchain and crypto trade desperately wants a certified labor power. Offering training on this area allows entry to many world initiatives for the younger inhabitants.” Discussing the necessity for the youth to think about the cryptocurrency ecosystem as a profession house as a substitute of a strategy to make a quick buck, Polat stated:

“Cryptocurrencies and blockchain stimulate a brand new career in all occupational fields. In tomorrow’s world, a financier should know decentralized finance, and a lawyer should know good contracts. Whereas tutorial training is on the way in which to an interdisciplinary and interprofessional construction, blockchain serves as a palpable case examine on this transition. That’s why it’s essential, particularly for the youth, to have a grasp of the brand new technology monetary ecosystem moderately than crypto buying and selling.”

The primary half of the 14-week Crypto 101 course is all about blockchain, and the second half teaches college students cryptocurrency applied sciences. In response to the data shared by Polat with Cointelegraph Turkey, Kadir Has College has additionally established a “Crypto 102” course by which issuance and coding processes of crypto tokens and good contracts will likely be taught.