Bitcoins, a virtual currency that uses
cryptography to control the creation and transfer of money, is working its way onto
campuses. King’s College, an evangelical school in Lower Manhattan, plans to allow students to pay their tuition with it this fall, while the British
Columbia Institute of Technology will soon install a bitcoin ATM on its Burnaby, Canada, campus.
The ATM will charge users a transaction fee
of 3%, with one percentage point of the fee going to the BCIT Student
Association (BCITSA).
“It is very exciting to see the advancements
BCITSA is able to provide our student population,” said Tyra Bermudez, vice
president of external affairs for BCITSA. “Having a bitcoin machine is one of
the many ways we are able to provide students with up-to-date industry and
business trends.”
While there are not a lot of bitcoin ATM
machines in North America, the number is growing.
The BCIT machine is the first in a college building, but there are already machines
near universities in Edmonton and Montreal.
