Ten years ago, cryptocurrency was a niche concern that most people ignored. Now, everyone is angling for a bite of the cake. Governments are thinking of ways to impose regulations and tax the industry. Venture capital has plowed in billions of dollars in expectations of big returns down the line. Various big and small outlets have added crypto to their payment systems.
Colleges and universities have also got in on the act, as crypto continues to grow in recognition and acceptance. For a long time, the involvement of educational institutions in crypto wasn't always salutary. Criminal organizations that attacked school networks often demanded that the universities pay the ransom in crypto. In many instances, the affected schools complied to get their networks restored quickly.
Now, this is changing. With better security protocols in place to protect schools from crypto-demanding hackers, attention has turned to the more positive roles and uses of blockchain technology in education.
In this article, we outline several ways crypto and blockchain technology is transforming interactions between universities and students and donors.
It is worthwhile to situate the growing use of crypto in schools within the overall social trend. In recent years, crypto adoption has grown among the public, with the largest segment of new converts being young consumers. According to a CNBC report, 20% of US consumers have used cryptocurrency in some form. Another report by Ypulse found that 28% of the 13-39 age demographic have bought at least one crypto token. A sister report discovered that interest among that age group in non fungible tokens or NFTs peaked at 38%.
This increased attention to crypto isn't reflected in the industry's financial standing at the moment. Because of the global recession and implosion of some big players, the total capitalization of cryptocurrencies has shrinked from a peak of $3 trillion in November 2021 to just over $800 billion one year later.
Given the current gloomy climate, one might wonder why universities would want to have anything to do with crypto. Yet, research has clearly shown that tertiary colleges continue to utilize the technology in ways that benefit them. Let's look at 3 of these ways.
Schools and colleges are getting more flexible in tuition payment options for local and international students. Some have included cryptocurrency in their list of accepted mediums of payment. Lucerne University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland has been accepting bitcoin for tuition payments since 2017. Bentley University, a private school in Massachusetts has partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to accept tuition payments in bitcoin, ethereum and USD Coin.
Some universities restrict cryptocurrency payments for tuition to certain courses, perhaps as a test run for a schoolwide implementation. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania stated that enrollees to its education online certificate program in Economics of Blockchain and Digital Assets can pay program fees with cryptocurrency.
These schools recognize that paying tuition with crypto is easier, faster and cheaper compared to traditional payment methods. And as school admissions become more diverse because of the upsurge in international applications, cryptocurrency is an inexpensive method to democratize payments. By letting non-local students pay using bitcoin, universities can receive payments on time and avoid the multi-day delays synonymous with cross-border payments.
Cryptocurrency is very volatile and universities must find solutions that safeguard the value of tuition received via digital currency. Each crypto-accepting institution deals with this differently. Some, like the University of Nicosia in Cyprus, immediately change the crypto into fiat.
As crypto adoption among schools keeps growing, one imagines consensus will gravitate towards a more stable cryptocurrency like USD Coin (USDC) as the cryptocurrency of choice for tuition payments.
More and more gifts and donations are being paid in digital currency, not just to universities, but to donation-eligible organizations at large. Fidelity Charitable, the largest grant-maker in the US, received $331m in cryptocurrency donations.
Cryptocurrency gifts to universities have continued to grow since Blockchain.com founder Nicholas Cary made a donation of 14.5 bitcoin to the University of Puget Sound, his alma mater, in 2014. In 2018, the developers of the cryptocurrency EOS donated $3m worth of the coin to Virginia Tech, to aid in blockchain teaching and research.
Ripple co-founder Larsen and his wife Lyna Lam went even further in 2019. They donated $25m in XRD, Ripple's native token, to San Francisco State University. Also in 2019, Nikolai Mushegian donated $4.2m in Maker (MKR) tokens to Carnegie Mellon University. Vitalik Buterin, perhaps the most significant figure in decentralized finance and the co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, gave away $9.4m in cryptocurrency donations in November 2022. The money, donated to the University of Maryland, will help to fund research in public health.
Not every donation to colleges and universities come with a name tag. Some donors choose to remain unidentified. For example, in 2021 the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania received an anonymous donation in bitcoin worth $5m.
Cryptocurrency opens up an additional avenue for universities to receive gifts. It also makes it easy for donors to donate their digital assets without having to first convert it to digital cash. Plus, reticent members of the public can easily and directly support their favorite educational institutions while maintaining their privacy. Hence, some schools have published instructions on their websites for those who wish to donate with digital tokens.
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are a class of blockchain tokens that stand for real-world artifacts. They are unique identifiers that cannot be replicated, divided or copied. Universities are leveraging this newfangled phenomenon to foster closer ties with alumni or generate funds for research.
The University of California, Berkeley created headlines in June 2022 when it auctioned an NFT for $50,000, with the proceeds going to immunology research. The NFT was inspired by the research of James Allison, a respected immunologist and winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. The school continues to explore other avenues for NFTs.
Institutions that wish to leverage NFTs have no shortage of inspirations to use or history to mine. In August 2022, the University of Miami minted an NFT of the school's football team's 1989 championship win for $10,000. The school has a website where it lists NFTs commemorating the institution's various sporting successes.
Some universities have gone the extra mile to make NFTs more attractive by doing a tie-in with real-world perks like VIP seating at events. Others like Harvard University made it a badge of academic accomplishment. The school announced in May 2022 that each graduate of Harvard College will get a commemorative NFT. Duke University, meanwhile, offers NFT certificates to students who complete a blockchain technology course.
The blockchain revolution is alive and well despite the recent downturn and universities are taking advantage wherever they can. In accepting tuition and donations and making creative use of non-fungible tokens, universities are showing the rest of the world the real-world possibilities of crypto adoption.