Published by Gbaf News
Posted on August 23, 2018
9 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
A quarter of the UK’s top 50 universities has a society dedicated to blockchain, according to new research by student merchandise provider Discount Displays.
The research, which focused on the Complete University Guide Top 50 for 2018, identified a total of 12 blockchain clubs at universities including Cambridge, Oxford, Leeds, Bristol and Aberdeen.
“Working with so many student societies and clubs, we see many of those clubs stand the test of time, while others develop in line with external trends,” explained Aaron Inglethorpe, who led the research by Discount Displays.
“Blockchain is one such trend that we’ve seen really explode this year, and it’s no surprise to see that so many of the UK’s top universities now have societies entirely dedicated to cryptocurrency.”
The analysis of the UK’s top unis also found a high instance of Harry Potter societies (21 in total), Doctor Who societies (13 in total), beer societies (14 in total) and one society dedicated entirely to the music of Beyonce.
Owen Burek, founder and editor of popular student website Save The Student, suggests the growing popularity of blockchain groups amongst university students is no surprise:
“Blockchain’s promise could lead to the next big economic revolution, though potential applications are still in their infancy. Students are inherently forward-thinking whilst being incredibly quick to adopt new technologies. So it’s of little surprise to me that there is a growing trend of university societies and groups forming around blockchain.
“Aside from the social benefits, such groups are brilliant at developing new skills and interests, whilst bolstering future career opportunities.”
Blockchain expert Mary Middlemiss of Blocksparks expects this to continue, saying:
“Cryptocurrencies have huge appeal to a generation which came of age the wrong side of the economic crisis, and are facing a future of great financial uncertainty. Careers in blockchain are of great interest to those technically minded, but other opportunities are emerging too, as the explosion of startups begins to settle down to a smaller number of sustainable businesses – which will need a diverse range of skills.
“But for students who are about to graduate into a world where they are, by all accounts, likely to be worse off than their parents on every level, crypto represents hope. Their financial security is never going to come from traditional career paths or owning property, and they have less trust in banks and institutions than their parents did.”
The research – data from which can be found in full on the Discount Displays website – also uncovered what it termed ‘spurious correlations’ such as the finding that a university is statistically more likely to have a blockchain society if it also has a beer society, and that the highest correlation was between Harry Potter and Doctor Who, where 54% of unis with Doctor Who societies also had Harry Potter societies.
| University | Blockchain | Doctor Who | Beyonce | Beer | Harry Potter |
| Bristol | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Durham | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Newcastle | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Brunel University London | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Warwick | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Bath | N | N | N | N | Y |
| UEA | N | N | N | N | Y |
| UoN | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Surrey | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Cardiff | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Queen Mary London | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Exeter | N | N | N | N | N |
| Lincoln | N | N | N | N | Y |
| University College London | Y | N | Y | N | Y |
| Royal Holloway University of London | Y | N | N | N | Y |
| Southampton | N | Y | N | N | N |
| York | N | Y | N | N | N |
| Manchester | N | N | N | N | N |
| Birmingham | N | Y | N | N | Y |
| Sussex | N | Y | N | N | Y |
| KCL | N | Y | N | N | Y |
| Aston | N | Y | N | N | Y |
| Edinburgh | N | N | N | N | N |
| Glasgow | N | N | N | N | N |
| LSE | Y | N | N | Y | N |
| Imperial College London | Y | N | N | Y | N |
| Aberdeen | Y | N | N | Y | N |
| Queens Belfast | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Strathclyde | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Nottingham Trent | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Dundee | N | N | N | N | N |
| Reading | N | N | N | N | N |
| Swansea | N | Y | N | Y | N |
| Leicester | N | N | N | N | N |
| Heriot Watt | N | N | N | N | N |
| Stirling | N | Y | N | Y | N |
| Liverpool | N | N | N | N | N |
| Loughborough | N | N | N | Y | Y |
| Essex | N | N | N | Y | Y |
| Sheffield | N | N | N | Y | Y |
| St Andrews | N | Y | N | Y | Y |
| Lancaster | N | Y | N | Y | Y |
| Leeds | Y | N | N | Y | Y |
| Cambridge | Y | Y | N | N | N |
| Kent | Y | Y | N | N | N |
| SOAS | N | N | N | N | N |
| Coventry | N | N | N | N | N |
| Harper Adams | N | N | N | N | N |
| Arts University Bournemouth | N | N | N | N | N |
| Oxford | Y | Y | N | N | Y |
A quarter of the UK’s top 50 universities has a society dedicated to blockchain, according to new research by student merchandise provider Discount Displays.
The research, which focused on the Complete University Guide Top 50 for 2018, identified a total of 12 blockchain clubs at universities including Cambridge, Oxford, Leeds, Bristol and Aberdeen.
“Working with so many student societies and clubs, we see many of those clubs stand the test of time, while others develop in line with external trends,” explained Aaron Inglethorpe, who led the research by Discount Displays.
“Blockchain is one such trend that we’ve seen really explode this year, and it’s no surprise to see that so many of the UK’s top universities now have societies entirely dedicated to cryptocurrency.”
The analysis of the UK’s top unis also found a high instance of Harry Potter societies (21 in total), Doctor Who societies (13 in total), beer societies (14 in total) and one society dedicated entirely to the music of Beyonce.
Owen Burek, founder and editor of popular student website Save The Student, suggests the growing popularity of blockchain groups amongst university students is no surprise:
“Blockchain’s promise could lead to the next big economic revolution, though potential applications are still in their infancy. Students are inherently forward-thinking whilst being incredibly quick to adopt new technologies. So it’s of little surprise to me that there is a growing trend of university societies and groups forming around blockchain.
“Aside from the social benefits, such groups are brilliant at developing new skills and interests, whilst bolstering future career opportunities.”
Blockchain expert Mary Middlemiss of Blocksparks expects this to continue, saying:
“Cryptocurrencies have huge appeal to a generation which came of age the wrong side of the economic crisis, and are facing a future of great financial uncertainty. Careers in blockchain are of great interest to those technically minded, but other opportunities are emerging too, as the explosion of startups begins to settle down to a smaller number of sustainable businesses – which will need a diverse range of skills.
“But for students who are about to graduate into a world where they are, by all accounts, likely to be worse off than their parents on every level, crypto represents hope. Their financial security is never going to come from traditional career paths or owning property, and they have less trust in banks and institutions than their parents did.”
The research – data from which can be found in full on the Discount Displays website – also uncovered what it termed ‘spurious correlations’ such as the finding that a university is statistically more likely to have a blockchain society if it also has a beer society, and that the highest correlation was between Harry Potter and Doctor Who, where 54% of unis with Doctor Who societies also had Harry Potter societies.
| University | Blockchain | Doctor Who | Beyonce | Beer | Harry Potter |
| Bristol | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Durham | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Newcastle | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Brunel University London | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Warwick | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Bath | N | N | N | N | Y |
| UEA | N | N | N | N | Y |
| UoN | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Surrey | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Cardiff | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Queen Mary London | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Exeter | N | N | N | N | N |
| Lincoln | N | N | N | N | Y |
| University College London | Y | N | Y | N | Y |
| Royal Holloway University of London | Y | N | N | N | Y |
| Southampton | N | Y | N | N | N |
| York | N | Y | N | N | N |
| Manchester | N | N | N | N | N |
| Birmingham | N | Y | N | N | Y |
| Sussex | N | Y | N | N | Y |
| KCL | N | Y | N | N | Y |
| Aston | N | Y | N | N | Y |
| Edinburgh | N | N | N | N | N |
| Glasgow | N | N | N | N | N |
| LSE | Y | N | N | Y | N |
| Imperial College London | Y | N | N | Y | N |
| Aberdeen | Y | N | N | Y | N |
| Queens Belfast | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Strathclyde | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Nottingham Trent | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Dundee | N | N | N | N | N |
| Reading | N | N | N | N | N |
| Swansea | N | Y | N | Y | N |
| Leicester | N | N | N | N | N |
| Heriot Watt | N | N | N | N | N |
| Stirling | N | Y | N | Y | N |
| Liverpool | N | N | N | N | N |
| Loughborough | N | N | N | Y | Y |
| Essex | N | N | N | Y | Y |
| Sheffield | N | N | N | Y | Y |
| St Andrews | N | Y | N | Y | Y |
| Lancaster | N | Y | N | Y | Y |
| Leeds | Y | N | N | Y | Y |
| Cambridge | Y | Y | N | N | N |
| Kent | Y | Y | N | N | N |
| SOAS | N | N | N | N | N |
| Coventry | N | N | N | N | N |
| Harper Adams | N | N | N | N | N |
| Arts University Bournemouth | N | N | N | N | N |
| Oxford | Y | Y | N | N | Y |
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