The Program's Inception
In late 2021, FTX US identified a need to interface with the next generation of builders, traders, and operators within the crypto industry. It became clear that students from around the country could benefit from learning about the digital asset space through activities, competitions, presentations from industry professionals, and general sponsorship opportunities. As a result, the FTX University program was born.
With 20+ Universities and 300+ individuals involved, the FTX University program provides an opportunity to all undergraduate and graduate students to advance their understanding and experience in crypto, while being able to interact with like minded peers. At present, applications for membership are open for all crypto-related campus organizations through this link.
Activities and Speaking Opportunities
New Entrant Trading Competition
FTX US has provided multiple activities and workshops, including our most recent trading competition with over 160 participants. Each individual competed against each other to implement various trading strategies and manage real funds in a live trading environment. The participants were entitled to own their PNL without being subject to any downside. Weekly check-ins with the top 5 school's collective PNL and top 5 individual's PNL were given, as well as a general recap of the previous week's newly-gained market experience. FTX is planning on running multiple new-entrant-focused trading competitions per year, with another one upcoming at the beginning of next school year.
NFT Creation Projects
To appeal to students that may not be as interested in trading financial markets, we incorporated the opportunity for students to issue their own Solana NFTs on FTX US that would then live under an FTX endorsed University Program NFT collection. Members of the program were able to get insight into how our multi-chain NFT marketplace works and interacts with existing blockchains, as well as a good understanding of how to use our tooling moving forward to launch their own projects.
In addition to the school agnostic NFT creation project, FTX also partnered with the Harvard 2021 class committee to provide a free NFT to all of the graduates. The recent grads were able to claim this commemorative NFT, titled "The Founder" in the days approaching their graduation ceremony. 15 out of the 400+ grads who claimed the NFT also received an additional commemorative NFT that was airdropped to their wallet, entitling them to custom merchandise redemption on campus.
Harvard College Class of 2021 Commemorative NFT
Yuke Zheng(left), and Cyrus N. Faruque(right) pictured displaying their Founder NFTs. These two graduates and Devin Srivastava, their peer, created the project architecture collaboratively with the FTX team.
Speaking Opportunities
Student leaders within these clubs are encouraged to host events on campus, attend events put on by other universities, and generally further their exposure to industry leaders. To supplement these opportunities that clubs and organizations are setting up, FTX US is willing to send team members to speak at various Club-led events, either virtually or in person depending on the location. With enough advance notice, our team members can talk about any of the relevant topics in the digital asset space, from regulation to quantitative trading, NFTs, decentralized finance, trends in the space, and much more.
Zane Tackett, Head of Institutional Sales Speaks with ChicagoDAO, a student-led organization:
Cornell Blockchain Conference 2022:
Ryne Miller (right), General Counsel of FTX US, speaking to the Cornell Blockchain Club on NFT Intellectual Property.
MUBC: "An Introduction to NFTs"
Inquiries
To inquire about joining the FTX University Program and what it entails, please navigate to one of the following links and fill out the form.
Information Collection for individual Participants