Published on March 27, 2018 by Morgan Black  
Rusty Yerkes with betsy Holloway

Samford University’s Brock School of Business professor, Rusty Yerkes, served as the keynote speaker at the Rotary Club of Birmingham’s meeting on Feb. 28.

Yerkes’ talk entitled “Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings” explained blockchain and distributed ledger technology and how cyrptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, operate on the blockchain platform. Yerkes also touched on the rapid explosion of the cryptocurrency market and the widespread use of initial coin offerings (ICOs) as a means of raising capital.

“The Rotary Club of Birmingham is one of the oldest and largest rotary clubs with more than 650 members. The membership includes many Birmingham business and community leaders and my hope for the talk was for those in attendance to learn about the value of blockchain technology and take those ideas back to their organization or an organization they are involved with,” Yerkes said.

“Most people associate blockchain only with Bitcoin (cyrptocurrencies) – it is much more than that,” Yerkes added. “I believe businesses, government, and the non-profit sector can better leverage the power of blockchain if its capabilities are better understood.”

Yerkes was joined by Rotary Club of Birmingham President and Samford's Vice President of Marketing and Communication, Betsy Holloway. 

Learn more about Professor Yerkes and his areas of study here.

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Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.