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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.
It was good advice at the time. The chances of it being so successful were rather slim.
Wow. They are now even warning us of their own slashvertisements. What has this site become...
The jury is still out on long term viability. BTC is just barely starting to make the transition from tech elite plaything to something a wider audience finds utility in. There is a lot of hype and a lot of fiat money being poured into BTC right now, but telling if something is ramping up or a bubble is difficult. After all, tulips were a great investment too, till they crashed. On the other hand, things like credit cards, where people were skeptical that they would ever be mainstream and anything other then a passing fad have found a permeant and profitable place in the economy.
So still too soon to tell.
Yes, although at that rate $10 invested back then would be over $200,000 today. I sure wish I'd put $10 into it.
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You'd have to say BTC are a lot more like tulips than credit cards. Credit cards are not really a good with constrained supply that a market can put a price on.
Stolen credit cards, on the other hand...
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Normally I'd respond with snark about tulips and CROX, but Cyprus is a financial post-apocalyptic wasteland where neither the people nor the institutions trust the kleftes, the bankers and the Russians who now run the smoldering remains of the bank. Plus, Cyprus has been in corralito since the meltdown, which effectively means the Cypriot Euro is worth less than the EU Euro, since the two are not functionally interchangeable across the capital control lines. In Cyprus, Bitcoins actually make sense for all parties to a transaction, because nothing else is safe (Cyprus even lost its gold during the meltdown).
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.
what if it starts going the other way and you invested 200 dollars in it and now it is only worth 10 dollars?
i dont know about you but i want any alternative currency to be more stable
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
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).
$200 is less than most electronic gadgets and those will certainly depreciate to $10 in a few years. It may not be the most prudent investment but if you have the cash lying around it's a fun bet with far better odds than the lottery.
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
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!
Bitcoin is not used for pricing... it's used as a payment method... just like Visa, Master Card, Paypal or western union. People should stop looking at the price of bitcoin and learn how great this technology masterpiece is. All currencies are based on trust. USD is based on the trust that the US gov will not print a gazillion dollars, the Amazon dollars is based on the trust of amazon. Bitcoin have no trust except in the cryptography, nobody can move your Bitcoin, add Bitcoin to the eco ecosystem without following the rules determined by the majority of the users. THAT is what makes Bitcoin unique and masterpiece!
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.
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.
> It was good advice at the time.
Actually, no it wasn't. Good advice would have been: Use your brain. Research Bitcoin until you understand how it works, what it is and what it isn't. Then, decide if it is workable and worthy. If it is, decide how much you are willing to risk investing in it. Don't invest more than you can afford to lose. Note that this is good advice for any new technology.
This is what I did early in 2011. At first I was like most people: "That can't possibly work." But I researched and I found it could and DID work. And I wanted it to succeed, so I did whatever I could to help it (which included investing in it).
When I finally figured out what it was all about I got a weird feeling. I can best describe the feeling as "This Is Important". I got the same feeling when I first found out about the Internet.
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.