Slashdot Mirror
Cyprus University Accepts Bitcoin For Tuition Fee Payments
An anonymous reader writes "The University of Nicosia has begun accepting bitcoins as payment for its courses, as well as launching a Master of Science degree focusing on digital currencies. The announcement is part of a proposal set up by the university to develop the Mediterranean island into a hub for bitcoin trading, processing and banking, as use of the virtual currency continues to gain traction." Warning: Auto-playing ad, with sound.
To make BOMBS !!
Good thing Slashdot users told us not to get in on this silly imaginary money when it was 3 cents a piece a few years back.
Last price:$706.00000 High:$714.00000 Low:$521.80001 Volume:46119 BTC Weighted Avg:$617.02196
Wow. They are now even warning us of their own slashvertisements. What has this site become...
A: https://adblockplus.org/
You can keep your lying Democrat.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/new-health-plans-sold-through-exchanges-not-accepted-at-some-prestigious-nyc-hospitals/2013/11/20/7538dbb4-5235-11e3-9ee6-2580086d8254_story.html
"As of this week, not one of the plans for sale on New York’s health benefit exchange would cover treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, one of the world’s largest and most respected cancer hospitals.
That could mean that the 615,000 individuals and 450,000 small business employees expected to eventually get their insurance through the exchange would have to go someplace else for treatment, or pay the bill out of their own pockets."
http://www.jammiewf.com/2013/video-candidate-obama-says-hell-defend-constitution-accuses-bush-of-making-laws/
"Barack Obama singing a different tune on the campaign trail. Obama said in 2008, “This is part of the whole theory of George Bush that he can make laws as he’s going along. I disagree with that. I taught the Constitution for 10 years. I believe in the Constitution and I will obey the Constitution of the United States.”
Lying liar lies.
Oh yea, he's a Democrat, so what do you expect?
Seriously when will people recognise it's just a ponzi scheme and not a real currency. It's not real because you can't buy things with it (TFA must be a lie because I know bitcoin is not a real currency). I can't pay my taxes with it, just like Euros, and frankly they even sound fake. And it's not recognised by any governments. I don't trust the recent article about the US government and bitcoin because governments lie.
It's not a real currency!!!
Please can we see an end to the "it's not a real currency" posts. It's money and you can buy stuff with it. The end.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Tuition costs this semester will be BTC 9.8738100476. ... well, I'm sure by tomorrow morning the value of a bitcoin will have stabilized, so we'll post the final tuition rate then.
Wait, make that BTC 5.6820973827.
Wait no, make that BTC 3.8260399174.
Ahh wait, it's BTC 24.84028975894.
If you can't buy things with it as you say, then why can you use it to pay for goods and service? The Silk Road was obviously conducting transactions with it. A variety of small business online retailers conduct transactions with it. Numerous online services such as usenet, VPN, hosting, etc use bitcoins as a payment option. And now a university accepts payment with them.
It may not be an official currency, but neither is gold, silver, stocks, or any other item that has value and can be exchanged.
Real currency is also a ponzi scheme. Pick which one you want (or neither).
How about 20,000 merchants including a bunch of subways around the world that accept Bitcoin. Ok it's a not a "real" currency from your definition because no government approved it. Fine, it's a public ledger where only the owner can change it's own value and can't be shut down or manipulated by anybody.
The Cypriot economy has been in the shitter for a while, Not to the same extent as their neighbours in Greece, but worse than most other European countries. They had to be bailed out by the EU earlier this year, and their banks are still in a period of reorganization.
It's not surprising that their university accepts bitcoins. They are probably happy to have an injection of any currency at all, regardless of whether it is universally recognized as such.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cyprus
This is a "close cover before striking" diploma mill in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Taking BitCoin is just out of a desire to avoid the costs of getting money into/out of Cyprus which is in serious trouble. Looking at their website though proves that it's all Greek to me...
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Sorry but It's not currency. It's not backed by any government or official body of any kind. It's just a sophisticated form of barter. It's as much of a currency as my old iPad that I sell to someone on craigslist or send into BestBuy for credit.
Are agnostics skeptical of unicorns too?
Given how unstable this "currency" has been in the recent past, how can anyone set price points without needing hourly updates to make sure they get a consistent payment?
Right now it's valued at $730, 2 weeks ago it was $200 and a few months ago it crashed.
You cannot run a business with currencies this volatile.
MABASPLOOM!
Neither is a ponzi scheme:
Wikipedia: "A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation."
This is what Madoff did exactly. He got new investors, skimmed money, and paid off other investors to make it look like money was being earned.
Bitcoin (or any national currency) doesn't fit the definition in any way. If you want to argue that Bitcoin is a scam then do it with facts, but arguing that it's a "ponzi" scheme is an attempt to scare with loaded words and it's a fallacy.
It's not a currency if "government" is essential to your definition, true, but maybe that definition is changing.
So when someone sells BTC at $500 that he bought for $20, where exactly do you think the extra $480 comes from? "Profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation", or "subsequent investors"?
BTC fits the Wikipedia definition of Ponzi scheme precisely.
Neither a "profit earned" or "subsequent investors" even exists. You're twisting words in a *big* way.
A currency undergoing rapid hyperdeflation is not a useful store of value.
Yeah, and when I bought up pumpkins and candles cheap in September and resold them for much higher in October, where did my profit come from, huh? Helloween's a Ponzi scheme!
It'd do good if you'd at least learn basic economical concepts like supply and demand before trying to speak economics.
Isn't the point of currency just to be a sophisticated form of barter? So, it serves the same purpose as currency.
This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
To add on to my statement above, if someone excepts what you say then EVERY market is a Ponzi scheme. The $480 is not coming from another investor in the same scheme as was with Madoff, it comes from a price that a bitcoin market set. Plus the "investor" is doing business with the 3rd party. Madoff took money from other parties and gave them to original investors without them knowing where the money came from.
If I buy a rare comic book for $10 and sell it for $50 to a 3rd party later have I engaged in a Ponzi scheme? The only difference between what is happening is we are talking about BTC and not comic books.
In both cases the original person to issue the item doesn't matter. In Madoff's case it's central to the matter.
Sorry to feed a troll, but that's not what the topic here was.
Except that you cannot send your old iPad through the computer to another person on the other side of the planet within 10 minutes. That is what gives Bitcoin it's value.
Shirts for milibitcoins at cryptoanarchy.com
While it may not fit the exact definition of a Ponzi scheme, Nerdcoin IS in fact a scheme. One thing is for sure. When it all comes crashing down, apologists like you will be forever silent on the issue.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cyprus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cyprus != http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Nicosia
Please can we see an end to the "it's not a real currency" posts. It's money and you can buy stuff with it. The end.
Heh. You waited too long for the punchline... Just about everyone started foaming before they got to the end.
Not everyone missed the bus, though. :golf clap:
The "University of Cyprus" it's a small university in the small island of Cyprus (that is Greek actually - both the island and the university!).
Most professors in that university are Greeks from the mainland, the rest are -Greek- Cypriots, but most -Greek- Cypriots study in Greece or England anyway so...
That bitcoin joke -it's a joke!- was an idea of the economy profesor in that university as a way to advertise that university to the Middle-Easterns of the neighborhood that desire a western education (by the way, that university offers classes in the English language and cooperates with some English universities) and don't want or can't have it in England (or Greece) - so don't take it seriously!
Greetings from Greece...
It's a bad currency, and there are dubious investment schemes (not explicitly Ponzi) involving it.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Woosh.
To me, the difference is how widely it's useful. My mom's cat isn't currency, because there's maybe 3 people in the world who would want it, and 2 are probably staving people in Africa. The dirty green paper in my wallet IS currency because I can take it anywhere and exchange it for food, gas, drugs, and tech. Bitcoins are somewhere in between.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
I can't wait to pay with something that may easily double in value tomorrow. Likewise, I don't see any problem taking payment in something that may halve in value by tomorrow.
As long as that kind of fluctuation happens, whenever you do anything with bitcoin, you are either a sucker or a lottery winner a week later.
Learn Engrish, then comment
That still doesn't make it a currency.
Are agnostics skeptical of unicorns too?
It's not changing anywhere of any consequence. It's still mostly nerds, libertarians, and criminals that like it. When the average guy on the street has even heard of bitcoin, then we have something to talk about.
Are agnostics skeptical of unicorns too?
The point of currency is to act as a neutral form of barter. Bitcoin doesn't really fit that category because it's not neutral in that it's value is only to a select group of individuals. Outside of that, it's utterly worthless.
Are agnostics skeptical of unicorns too?
So, because it's possible to pay for parking in a few places with conkers, you think conkers are a currency?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24162228
( Conkers are the seeds of the horse chestnut tree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conkers )
There are a lot of places that don't accept US dollars, especially when you travel, but even within the US some places won't accept cash for one reason or another. It is not a black-and-white matter of being neutral or not, as for any currency it depends on what groups you are trying to conduct transactions between.
Bitcoin (or any national currency) doesn't fit the definition in any way. If you want to argue that Bitcoin is a scam then do it with facts, but arguing that it's a "ponzi" scheme is an attempt to scare with loaded words and it's a fallacy.
Of course it does. The high "value" ($600 ish) of a bitcoin is completely a product of new people getting sucked into the scam. Once there are no suckers left who want to buy into bitcoins, the price will fall, leading people to try to flee, and within the space of a day or two the value has completely disappeared.
It's a Ponzi scheme. And those who have bought into the idea will only realise it when it's over.
Ok you win, so unless it's adopted by everywhere it's not a currency... how do you think an alternate currency can start without government forcing to use it? I guess your answer it... only government issue currency are "real" currency. Fine I would accept that but soon or later you will realized that bitcoin has a lots of advantages. Right now I can send $10 000 in China for 5 and it's instant... try that with your "real" currency... it will take days and cost you over $100.
> it's value is only to a select group of individuals.
Same goes for Brazilian reals, Israeli shekels, Kazakhstan tenges or even Japanese yen. Unless you're in the habitat of the select group of individuals who value JPY/KZT/BRL, you'll have to go look for an exchange where such individuals can be found to buy them off your hands for local currency.
To add on to my statement above, if someone excepts what you say then EVERY market is a Ponzi scheme.
No it's only a Ponzi scheme when it relies on new-comers to generate the "profits". As bitcoin does.
For example a market in a blue chip company stock is not a Ponzi scheme, as a share isn't just a trading token. It carries the real value of a fractional ownership of the company, it's assets and potential profits.
So, because it's possible to pay for parking in a few places with conkers, you think conkers are a currency?
You can buy a lot more than parking places with BitCoins. I am not fairly convinced that unless bitcoin is adopted unilaterally by every country, people will still declare it as "not a currency".
Conkers are...
I'm English. I used to play conkers at school.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Right. To continue the comment I left before - I've bought up pumpkins wholesale seeing how their price climbs up all October, but now everyone left and I'm the last sucker left with all the pumpkins rotting in my warehouse.
I concede, Helloween IS the Ponzi scheme.
You know, words have _meanings_ - you shouldn't throw a word around just because you like the sound.
What's happening with BTC is called "price bubble". After it blows it will still have value as currency - lower than current one, sure, just like tulip bulbs were still useful, but nowhere near their peak price after the bubble.
It's still mostly nerds, libertarians, and criminals that like it.
I don't think most nerds like it either. I'd change those 3 categories to two.
1) Libertarian nerds.
2) Criminals.
For sure other nerds are interested in how it works. But that doesn't mean they have any interest in using them.
I'm English. I used to play conkers at school.
Good for you. But lots of people here aren't English and come from countries that don't have conkers, or at least don't call them that.
You can buy a lot more than parking places with BitCoins.
So what's the boundary? How many things do you have to be able to buy with conkers before they are currency?
As you are English, you may recall the problems of using leaves as currency as described in "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe".
Right, and BTC carries the real value of all the goods and services you can purchase in exchange for one - you know, like any other currency.
And bubbles like that happen in stock market as well, with people buying overpriced stock (carrying real value of a fractional ownership!) on assumption it will grow further and they'll resell it at profit (see also). Where will their profit come from? Next buyers (if any). Ponzi, I tell you!
"People buying things hoping to resell them at higher price" is not in any definition of Ponzi scheme. Lrn2economics, ffs.
So what's the boundary? How many things do you have to be able to buy with conkers before they are currency?
What is the boundary indeed. Very good question but since you're the one making assertions about the existence of a boundary and what is one side of it then how about you define it. Here's some trite defintions which don't work:
"Can pay my taxes in X". If that's true then US dollars aren't currency since I can't pay my taxes in them.
"must be backd by a government". Because that worked so well for Zimbabwe dollars.
Can't buy $RANDOM_ITEM in bitcoins. Try looking round for someonw who will sell it. I can't buy $RANDOM_ITEM in pesos without finding someone to sell it, but pesos are still a currency.
etc.
you may recall the problems of using leaves as currency as described in "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe".
Leaves aren't scarce and there are an awful lot of them. Conkers are much scarser which is why they worked for this one off scheme. Bitcoins are very scarse.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Very good question but since you're the one making assertions about the existence of a boundary and what is one side of it then how about you define it.
Not so. You said: "You can buy a lot more than parking places with BitCoins." which has the implication that there are a certain number or perhaps certain specific things that you can buy with bitcoins that separates it from conkers. That makes it a currency when conkers are not. That's the boundary condition, and it was implicit in what you said, though not defined. So what is that boundary?
Anything you can use as a medium of exchange qualifies in exactly the same way.
However there is a limit to how the Bitcoin-denominated economy can grow, but in terms of market participants, and value in nominal units of the usual medium of exchange (including dollars and physical commodities) the portion of the economy serviceable via online payments.
It may therefore not be possible to use Bitcoin for stable pricing and forward planning for the foreseeable future.
In addition it will not be legal tender unless a government chooses to make it so, and it may be arbitrarily subject to currency controls, taxation treatment as a capital gain and so forth. It smells much like an FX account in a volatile emerging market currency, but which is stored on a medium the holder controls rather than a centralised infrastructure.
None of that means that Bitcoin is doomed or a bad thing by the way.
That definition also covers:
- Government unemployment, pension, healthcare
- Property bubbles
Note that both of which include wilful participants.
That's a genuinely interesting solution, although not a technological one.
Use of the words "good", "bad" or "evil" is almost invariably the result of oversimplification.
So every company on the stock market is a Ponzi scheme too? Interest bearing accounts are a Ponzi scheme?
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
No, it's not a Ponzi scheme. That term has a very specific meaning and you will not be allowed to extend it just because you don't know any other words for things. Bitcoin is a speculative bubble. Many markets are. The classic example is tulip mania, but it happens in housing, stocks and even emu. There's a world of difference between a Ponzi scheme and a speculative bubble. Just because someone pays too much for something in both doesn't make them the same.
I'll only be silent if I didn't cash out at the top sucker. Otherwise I'll be as smug then as I am now.
Not so. You said: "You can buy a lot more than parking places with BitCoins." which has the implication that there are a certain number or perhaps certain specific things that you can buy with bitcoins that separates it from conkers. That makes it a currency when conkers are not. That's the boundary condition, and it was implicit in what you said, though not defined. So what is that boundary?
indeed, but you said:
So, because it's possible to pay for parking in a few places with conkers, you think conkers are a currency?
Clearly implying that merely being able to buy a very limited range of things is not sufficient to qualify as a currency.
So, what do *you* think the boundary is? Or do you think a currency is something other than something with which you buy stuff?
SJW n. One who posts facts.
From wikipedia:
"A currency (from Middle English curraunt, meaning in circulation) in the most specific use of the word refers to money in any form when in actual use or circulation, as a medium of exchange, especially circulating paper money. This use is synonymous with banknotes, or (sometimes) with banknotes plus coins, meaning the physical tokens used for money by a government.[1][2]
A much more general use of the word currency is anything that is used in any circumstances, as a medium of exchange. In this use, "currency" is a synonym for the concept of money.[3]"
Seems to meet the definition for me, under the second paragraph.
Read it more carefully. Bitcoin isn't actually tied to physical money in any way.
Are agnostics skeptical of unicorns too?
That definition never included the government, at most it included banks (central or not), learn a little history please.
The euro is only useful to people inside the eurozone, so the euro is not a currency?
The point of currency is to solve the "Coincidence of Wants" problem of barter. In pure barter, you have to find someone to trade with who both wants what you have to trade, and has what you want to get. Currency introduces a generally accepted intermediary. You trade away what you have, which for most people is their labor time, for currency. Then later you trade your currency for stuff you want. By separating the halves of a barter transaction, you make it easier for trades to happen, because you only have to satisfy one condition at a time.
Anything that people generally accept as an intermediary can function as a currency. Historically, that included cattle, precious metal, cowrie shells, and lots of other things. Address balances on the Block Chain (the public bitcoin transaction ledger) are just another intermediary. The various technical features are what make one intermediary preferred over another in a given situation.
Depends. Does whoever you're paying to then use the conkers to pay for other things? If yes, then yes, they are being used as a currency (physical tokens representing abstracted value, to be exact).
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
I think they plant them. Money trees?
indeed, but you said:
So, because it's possible to pay for parking in a few places with conkers, you think conkers are a currency?
Sure. But you answered that, and it's your answer that made me wonder that the boundary is.
Or do you think a currency is something other than something with which you buy stuff?
I think a currency is something with which you can buy anything or pay your taxes, within it's country of issue. And which is listed on FOREX or at Bureaux de change so you can do the same in other countries.
Something which you can merely trade for an official currency, such as for example precious metals, is not a currency. It's a commodity. Bitcoin looks like a virtual commodity. One which is likely to become valueless when the newcomers stop coming, like any Ponzi scheme.
It's not a Ponzi scheme, it's a bubble.
I've posted a (torrent of a) 6 month archive of tweets about bitcoin at bitcoinscope.com
To be precise, it's 50% of all tweets (every other tweet), so it can be used as a training set, with the other 50% to be used as a test set later (for your sentiment tracker / price predictor, etc.)