The Twin Cities are home to 17 Fortune 500 companies. But when it comes to blockchain and cryptocurrency, the industry is far more hidden. 

Despite making headlines for years, blockchain technology remains a mystery to some. At its core, blockchain is a system for recording and verifying transactions without relying on a central authority such as a bank. It is essentially a shared, transparent digital database that is extremely difficult to alter. Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, are transferable digital assets whose ownership is recorded on the blockchain. 

“It’s really just a database,” explained Brandon Ferdig, co-founder of the Minnesota Blockchain Initiative. “Blockchain is a way to track who owns what. And it’s a revolution because it’s more decentralized, which is good for security.” 

Ferdig added that crypto technology has the advantage of transparency and efficiency that traditional currency lacks.

“Anyone can look at the blockchain and see who owns what, and you don’t have to wait for a check to clear or a credit card payment to go through a bank,” Ferdig said.

For Ferdig, blockchain is more than cryptocurrency trading, speculation or hype cycles. He said he sees it as a form of digital infrastructure and a foundational technology that could change how Minnesotans manage records and build trust online.

The blockchain scene in the Twin Cities

The Minnesota Blockchain Initiative, founded in 2018, has grown organically based on community interest.

Today, the group hosts monthly Twin Cities meetups, runs a podcast, maintains an active Slack channel and collaborates with a multitude of actors, including the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where they have held large events in recent years.

“We consider education a foundational application of blockchain,” Ferdig said. “We teach about it, hold seminars. Many lawyers come to our events.”

He compared Minnesota’s emerging blockchain community to the state’s traditional industries that favor steady, long-term growth over flashy trends. Ferdig said blockchain can be more than just cryptocurrencies and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), interchangeable digital assets and in the future, become a foundational technology. 

“Minnesota is known for wheat and iron ore and timber, and for medical technologies and Post-it notes from 3M,” he said. “We’ve quietly built a really good society up here with these backbone industries. They’re not flashy, but they’re crucial.” 

Ferdig admitted that the local ecosystem is young and has not fully taken off. 

While a handful of blockchain-related startups exist in the state, such as Kigo and Just For Krypto, most development happens remotely or in coastal hubs like San Francisco and New York.

University of Minnesota’s Blockchain Club President Daigan Berger said he agreed. 

“I would say the Twin Cities are underdeveloped for blockchain,” Berger said. “But a lot of blockchain jobs are remote, so there are still opportunities for graduates from Minnesota to work in the industry.”

The UMN Blockchain Club mostly draws members from computer science and business students, Berger said. However, they aim to remain open to anyone curious about the technology.

“Our meetings are part lecture, part discussion,” Berger said. “We cover everything from programming topics to blockchain fundamentals. It builds from week to week, but we try to make it beginner-friendly.”

The club’s goal is to help students explore the technology’s potential and connect with the growing industry. 

“We want to show students what the possibilities and jobs in the industry are,” Berger said. 

To Berger, their efforts seem to be paying off. 

“One of our alumni interned at Coinbase and is now joining full-time,” Berger said. “Others have gone on to work in crypto-related roles at startups in New York.”

Stigma and skepticism

Berger said despite growing interest, blockchain’s public image remains complicated — especially on campus.

“I would say most students perceive it in a pretty negative way,” Berger said. “People have read headlines about scams or lost investments and assume that’s what it’s all about.”

Berger said he often finds himself clarifying that the club focuses on technology, not trading. 

“We never tell people to invest in anything,” Berger said. “We just teach how the systems work. Learning about the technology doesn’t cost anything, and I think people would appreciate blockchain more if they learned how it actually works and how to interact with it.”

Ferdig acknowledged that skepticism extends beyond universities. Much of it, he said, comes from environmental concerns, crypto scams and the hype surrounding NFTs.

“That kind of criticism always follows new technology,” Ferdig said. “Now a lot of people hate AI, because of the same reason they distrusted blockchain: they think it’s greed from corporations, and that it’s gonna take away from the user experience.”

Reflecting on the argument that bitcoin mining causes environmental harm, Ferdig said that seeing the criticism move from one thing to another takes away their legitimacy.

“I don’t take those concerns super seriously,” Ferdig said. “I see how fickle they are.”

Ferdig added that blockchain art, like other creative uses of technology, can evolve past its early missteps. 

“There’s a real resistance to AI now in art, in video games, in movies,” he said. “You’ve got to get past that and keep an open mind.”

Looking forward

Both the Minnesota Blockchain Initiative and the UMN Blockchain Club see education as key to future growth. Berger said the club hopes to expand and eventually split into specialized groups focusing on development, governance and finance. 

“For now, we’re keeping it general so everyone can follow along,” Berger said. “But as we grow, we want members to actually build projects and engage with the side of the industry that interests them most.”

Berger believes that the market is not ripe for a full blockchain takeover yet. 

“One of the biggest problems in this industry is figuring out how Blockchain can be used to facilitate business or increase revenue, or in some way be better than the Web2 [the internet] or a current alternative that exists,” Berger said. “I think until that problem is solved, it will continue to be more of a niche community.”

Ferdig said that government and regulation will play a role, too. 

“Yes, cryptocurrency gives people more freedom, but it also means less government control,” Ferdig said. “But the benefit of a more secure, more efficient system outweighs that.”

For Minnesotans curious about blockchain, especially University of Minnesota students, Ferdig and Berger share the same advice: stay open-minded.

“A lot of college students see the benefits of AI when writing a paper, but there are costs too, like jobs that might not exist when they graduate,” Ferdig said. “It’s the same with crypto. The key is to understand how these systems work and how to use them wisely.”