Billionaire-investor Mark Cuban recently announced a Bitcoin college tuition grant. The move has highlighted the Ivy League’s interest in crypto via curriculum and financial investments.
In the 21st century, cryptocurrencies are the most affluent disruptor. We have already seen disruptions in the healthcare, finance and governance structures. More are yet to come. However, the education about crypto will help the future generations embrace it. Let’s dive into the recent developments and the larger trend of crypto in education.
What is this Bitcoin tuition grant?
Mark Cuban had recently teamed up with Dr Pepper, the oldest soft drink brand in the United States. They offered a Bitcoin tuition grant worth $23,000 as a part of Dr Pepper’s Tuition Giveaway Program. The program is organized each year. Till date, Dr Pepper has given away $ 12 million in tuition to deserving students. This giveaway takes place as a part of the College Football Season. This time it was a coin toss that decided who walks away with college tuition.
In addition tuition grants institutions, Ivy leagues have started to share a much larger fascination towards crypto via their curriculum and finances.
Crypto curriculum and higher education curriculum
The interest of educational institutions has peaked due the fast economic paradigm shift in the world. According to the Atlantic council, about 87 countries are exploring initiatives for CBDCs. Furthermore, According to DeFi Llama, The total value locked in DeFi applications has increased over $237 Billion. PwC says that blockchain will add $1.8 trillion to the global GDP. Additionally, Deloitte found that 83% of businesses are either exploring/ working with blockchain technology. This indicates that the use cases of blockchain are only starting to reveal themselves. Therefore, Ivy leagues have started inculcating blockchain and cryptocurrency coursework as crypto is set to explode in the next decade.
In October this year, Wharton University of Pennsylvania launched the Economics of Block chain and Digital Asset Certificate Program. To do this, they partnered with partnered with a leading block chain economics consulting firm called, Prysm Group. Moreover, they announced a partnership with Coinbase to allow students to pay for tuition with cryptocurrencies. Following ivy league’s footsteps university, more institutions are expected to follow the trend.
Crypto finances and higher education institutions
In addition to the Ivy League’s interest in cryptocurrencies curriculum, they are also looking at investment opportunities. Institutions like Harvard, Yale and Brown have been quick to invest in cryptocurrencies.
Given that, Harvard has the largest endowment fund clocking over $40 billion in assets. Followed by Yale, Michigan and Brown with $30 billion, $12.5 billion, and $4.7 billion, respectively. Back in 2018, Yale had backed two crypto-focused venture funds. This was followed by Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Dartmouth, University of North Carolina and Michigan.
Moreover, university endowment funds have invested larger portions of their assets in cryptocurrencies. Coinbase have confirmed university endowment funds have been buying crypto directly from exchanges.
In addition to higher education institutions, crypto exchanges have also transitioned to an exchange plus education model for their users. Therefore, to start learning about crypto with ZebPay here and keep yourself updated with our blog. Additionally, you can leverage these platforms to learn about crypto quickly.
