University in Cyprus Becomes First to Accept Bitcoin Payments
Bitcoin has made further progress towards real life viability, as the University of Nicosia (UNic) in Cyprus has now officially decided to accept the digital currency for the payment of tuition and related fees, making it the first university in the world to do so.
"We are acutely aware that digital currency is an inevitable technical development that will lead to significant innovation," said Dr. Christos Vlachos, member of the Council of UNic and the University's CFO, in an official statement on Thursday.
One of the largest accredited English language universities in the Euro-Mediterranean region, UNic will also offer a Master's of Science Degree in Digital Currency, available online as well as on-campus starting in Spring 2014.
Introduced in 2009, Bitcoin has made stellar progress into integration into mainstream currency in recent times, with countries facing currency problems taking to Bitcoin as a viable alternative. Bitcoin has even been used to circumvent inflationary issues in countries like Argentina. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced that it will not restrict or regulate Bitcoin's use. Although US is seen as the most Bitcoin friendly country in the world presently, the use of Bitcoin has been increasing steadily, and can be seen as a mainstream alternative to official currencies in the near future.
As recently as in November 2013, Richard Branson announced that Virgin Galactic would be accepting Bitcoin payments and saying that it is "fascinating how a whole new global currency has been created". He is also known to be an investor in Bitcoin.
Bitcoins are often traded as an investment by enthusiasts who expect the currency to increase in value as its popularity widens. Bitcoins have been described as lacking intrinsic value as an investment because their value depends only on the willingness of users to accept them. One can only hope that as its acceptability and recognition increases in the near future, the readiness with which Bitcoin is accepted increases manifold and that it is the first step towards creating a single truly global currency.
Jibak Sahu
PGDM 2012-14 Batch
IMT Ghaziabad
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