Really stanford? Your going to create an idea that has been down over and over, and can be killed off when scripting is turned on in the bitcoin protocol, which is when the high and mighty Gavin decides. But seriously stanford I would expect a lot better from a great school.
Like the economy isn't small enough. Brilliant minds yet limited by the box their professor forces them to be in.
You sound rather unimaginative, not really well qualified to make that sort of comment in the end.
The goal is to show people the ropes of basic e-commerce. Everything starts small. Don't sound as if Stanford shouldn't have courses for basic C++. Like you won't be developing a fully secure and scalable transaction system as a beginner - it's more like a professional project that requires many people, a lot of experience, immense engineering, and knowledge of the real world. Using fiat also creates complications for this online course that's meant for people in and out of Stanford, and certainly in and out of the USA.