USC Marshall’s Business of Blockchain Initiative aims to position the business school as a leader in blockchain education while preparing students for the seismic shifts the technology is expected to bring.
In May 2023, University of Southern California president Carol L. Folt announced her Frontiers of Computing moonshot, a billion-dollar investment to expand advanced computing initiatives across the university.
USC’s Marshall School of Business just took a big step in that direction. Last month, the business school announced its new Business of Blockchain Initiative, its plan to accelerate research, teaching, and industry engagement around blockchain’s business applications. It is backed by $15 million in new funding from USC.
The goal? To position Marshall as a leader in blockchain education and to prepare students for the seismic shifts the technology is expected to bring.
“The Business of Blockchain Initiative will position USC students at the forefront of the rapidly evolving advanced computing economy,” says President Folt. “This first-of-its-kind initiative is designed to give our students access to the skills they need to work with decentralized finance and blockchain applications.”
At its core, blockchain is digital ledger technology that allows data to be recorded securely, transparently, and permanently across multiple computers. Instead of relying on a central authority to verify transactions, blockchain enables a decentralized network of participants to validate and store information.
Geoffrey Garrett, USC Marshall dean
This has several business implications beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum, and cryptocurrency trading.
“There are really two elements to this,” Marshall Dean Geoffrey Garrett tells Poets&Quants. “On the one hand, we want to take advantage of the opportunities that technology creates, no question. We also need to understand all of the dislocations that technological change generates, so we have opportunity plus responsibility.”
Marshall’s initiative will focus on three key areas where blockchain is poised to disrupt traditional business models. The biggest potential, Garrett says, is in decentralized finance – the idea that blockchain could remove intermediaries from financial transactions.
“The promise of blockchain is you can drive [transaction costs] towards zero,” he tells P&Q. “Not only does that make the plumbing of the financial system much more efficient, it makes it much more equitable. You’re going to increase access if you can do that.”
Impact on supply chains will also be significant. Today, global supply chains are often complex and opaque, making it difficult to verify the origins of goods. Blockchain’s ability to create a transparent ledger to track products across every step of the chain.
Finally, there’s the creator economy, particularly relevant in Los Angeles where Hollywood, the music industry, and an exploding number of digital content stars intersect. Blockchain gives creators the opportunity both to own and monetize their own IP, cutting out the need for record or movie companies.
“If you combine the iPhone with blockchain protection, and you’re a creator, you can now run your own business. You don’t need a music company. You don’t need a film intermediary. You can do it yourself. That’s pretty exciting.”
Marshall already supports a robust ecosystem around blockchain and other digital technologies. It launched the VanEck Digital Assets Initiative (VEDA) in 2022 following a $5 million gift from VanEck Associates to study business opportunities in blockchain. VEDA’s annual conference is one of the biggest blockchain conferences in Southern California and last year attracted more than 1,700 students, faculty, and business leaders from across the U.S.
USC’s interdisciplinary approach is another advantage. Marshall already collaborates closely with the university’s engineering school, which offers a blockchain minor. That could potentially expand into a degree program. USC is also home to one of the largest student-run blockchain clubs in the country and that club happens to be one of the biggest student clubs at the university.
“It’s amazing to see how, for those of us who are older, students in high school are getting right to the cutting edge of all of these technologies. And frankly, it’s hard for us to keep up with that,” Garret says.
The Business of Blockchain Initiative will act as a sort of umbrella org to these centers, organizations, and activities while also expanding on their work. Marshall will hire two new endowed chairs in blockchain as well as new faculty, support post- and pre-doctoral fellows and other research assistants to support both faculty and student research, and expand its blockchain curriculum,, Garret tells P&Q.
The initiative aims to solidify USC’s position as a leading global Web3 hub, uniting a network of developers, investors, academics, and student organizations. It will also expand entrepreneurial opportunities for USC students, enabling them to launch blockchain-related startups and leverage the possibilities this technology unlocks.
Of course, blockchain’s future depends on how governments choose to regulate it.
“I think it’s fair to say that the Biden administration was pretty negative on blockchain and cryptocurrency, trying to regulate it out of existence. The Trump administration is clearly going to be the opposite, but we know that we’re going to need real guardrails,” Garrett tells P&Q.
“The last thing that we focus on is what kind of regulatory environment can both protect consumers – that’s really really important – but also empower innovation.”
So what’s next? In the short term, Marshall is already accepting faculty research proposals for blockchain-related projects and expects to start recruiting for new faculty positions in the next academic year. But Garrett is thinking bigger.
“This is actually a really interesting moment. AI is affecting everything, and the intersection of AI and blockchain is going to be really, really big,” he says. “Even though we’re the initiative The Business of Blockchain, it’s actually blockchain in the context of other advanced technologies. The key one right now is AI.”
