Wharton to Accept Bitcoin as Tuition for Its Blockchain Classes (Report)

One of the most prestigious business schools – Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania – might become the next major organization that accepts bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.

The initiative will reportedly be available from the start of 2022, as the university will use Coinbase Global Inc to facilitate the crypto settlements.

Crypto Invades The Educational Sector

An October 28th Bloomberg report informed that students at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania will get the chance to pay their $3,800 online blockchain course in digital assets, with bitcoin being one of them. Guido Molinari – Managing Partner at Prysm Group, which is working with Wharton to develop the program, commented:

“It’s a program about blockchain and digital assets, we felt that we talk the talk and walk the walk.”

Nonetheless, the move is yet in a planning stage and will be implemented in January next year at the earliest with the help of Coinbase. Molinari pointed out that the trading venue has 68 million verified users, which is a solid factor that drove the university’s decision to choose it as a partner.

Apart from being one of the premier economic schools in the States, Wharton is known for its prominent graduates. Some of them have engaged with the cryptocurrency industry throughout the last few years. One example is the CEO and Co-Founder of BitMEX – Arthur Hayes.

Arguably the most famous person who has studied at Wharton is the world’s richest man Elon Musk. The entrepreneur graduated in 1997, and today he is in charge of several giant companies, including the leading electric car manufacturer – Tesla.

His company started accepting cryptocurrency payments in the first part of 2021 but suspended it several months later due to environmental reasons. However, more recent reports suggested that the company could change its mind soon.

Universities Find Cryptocurrencies Attractive

Wharton is not the only premium American school that hopped on the digital asset bandwagon. As CryptoPotato reported in June, Harvard, Yale, Brown University, and the University of Michigan have purchased cryptocurrencies for their multi-billion-dollar endowments.

A person close to the matter informed back then that some universities entered the market two years ago.

“It could be since mid-2019. Most have been in at least a year. I would think they will probably discuss it publicly at some point this year. I suspect they would be sitting on some pretty nice chunks of return.”