Have you heard of cyber currencies or cryptocurrencies? Over 16% of adult Americans, or 41 million Americans, have invested in, traded, or used cryptocurrencies.
In 2013, Amazon launched its own cryptocurrency, Amazon Coins, and companies like Ticketmaster, Microsoft, and Whole Foods have long accepted cryptocurrencies as payment.
According to Fortune Business Watch, the global cryptocurrency market is expected to more than double, from $910.3 million in 2021 to $1.9 billion in 2028.
Cryptocurrencies are slowly starting to enter our lives as a new trend in payments. Now, Bentley University students can also use cryptocurrencies to pay their tuition fees.
On May 3, Bentley University announced that it has partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to officially begin accepting three cryptocurrencies as a new way to pay tuition.
Bentley also intends to accept gifts and donations in these three cryptocurrencies.
Note: Stablecoin refers to a digital representation of a fiat currency on the blockchain; USD Coin is a stable coin pegged to the U.S. dollar, 1 USD Coin = 1 USD.
Bentley’s decision to get involved in cryptocurrencies is not difficult to understand. Bentley is known for its business school, whose students are well versed in finance and investing.
Students have also shown a keen interest in cryptocurrencies early on. Last fall, Bentley student Alex Kim founded the Bentley Blockchain Association, one of the few student-led blockchain organizations in the US.
According to Alex Kim, “Students want to learn about it, they have a lot of interest in blockchain, decentralized finance, and cryptocurrency investing, and these technologies impact the industries they will work in.”
To give students a deeper understanding of cryptocurrencies, Bentley will introduce a new course on cryptocurrency finance next fall semester.
E. LaBrent Chrite, president of Bentley University, said, “Bentley University is at the forefront of developing leaders with the skills and knowledge to succeed in an ever-changing global economy. We are proud of this technology that our students are learning and that will soon transform the global business world they will soon enter.
Bentley is not the first school to allow cryptocurrencies for tuition payments. Last October, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School announced it would accept cryptocurrencies as payment for tuition. And unlike Bentley, Penn’s cryptocurrency option is limited to paying tuition for an online program.
Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California at Berkeley also accept donations in the form of cryptocurrencies.
Germany’s leading business school, the European School of Management and Technology, and the University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom also accept cryptocurrencies as payment.
While there are still many schools that are skeptical about the use of cryptocurrencies, it must be said that they are gaining more and more attention. In the near future, it will become a common payment method.