The student-founded Michigan Cryptocurrency Investment Clubis “a community of students at the University of Michigan who are passionate about the multi-trillion dollar Web3 industry and its impact on modern finance.” This quickly-growing club, which was founded in 2021, now works to educate its over 70 full-time members on all things Web3, crypto, and Metaverse through carefully curated education sessions, member-led technology deep dives, and speaker series featuring professionals from industry-leading companies like TRON, Onyx, Metamask, Circle, and more. We sat down with the founders of MCIC to learn more about their club:
What are the long-term goals of MCIC? What does your club hope to accomplish?
One of our long-term goals is to become the first university to open a cryptocurrency investment fund on campus. Many clubs on campus have investment portfolios for investment in securities. The experience researching, pitching, and investing in real-world securities provides students with real-world experience without the inherent risk.
Similarly, we hope to provide students with opportunities to work with industry leaders on consulting projects, whether that be in the form of blockchain development, venture capital research, or blockchain governance, we hope that our club can be the one-stop-shop for gaining Web3 industry experience.
In conclusion, we hope to provide structure for our members so that they are prepared for a career in the Web3 space after leaving college. By hosting workshops, working on collaborative projects, and bringing in many prominent speakers, we will provide our members with the skills needed to pursue a career in this growing field. Through these experiences we also offer an extensive professional network for our members to take advantage of.
MCIC aims to improve students’ interest and knowledge on technologies. What first steps would you recommend for someone new to the crypto space?
- Attend our Web3 speaker series! The goal for the series is to teach all students, no matter the major, the various use cases of blockchain and Web3 technology. A stigma we are hoping to break is that Web3 and crypto is solely a payment mechanism.
- In the future we plan on holding general educational meetings for those interested in the industry but unable to commit to joining our organization. Once we see enough interest, we will begin to schedule and plan these educational sessions.
- Other educational tools include https://learn.metamask.io, a beginner educational curriculum brought to you by a trusted industry leader, Metamask.
- Youtube, news articles, whitepapers, are also valuable resources
- If you are a CS student looking to learn blockchain development, join Blockchain at Michigan (BAM). They have an established curriculum developed especially for a more technical education.
What emerging technologies, trends, or startups are you most interested in the crypto space? What excited you about them?
One of the largest trends recently is the move towards self-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges as a means of storing funds. After the FTX fallout, many in the Web3 space realized the utility of self-custodial wallets and the risks involved with trusting centralized organizations with their savings. As such, we’ve seen a large shift away from institutional exchanges.
Another major trend is the realization of Web3 technology potential aside from simply being a vehicle for investment or finance. Though on a small scale for now, we see this with the introduction of decentralized social media platforms such as DeSo. This change will only be accelerated by the deterioration of trust in centralized corporations and the rising concern over internet privacy and ownership.
Links:
Website: https://www.michcryptoclub.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/michigan-cryptocurrency-investment-club
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michcryptoclub
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichCryptoClub
Discord: https://discord.gg/nuMYQgSt