Students at the Burnaby Mountain campus of Simon Fraser University in Canada could soon have the opportunity to pay for on-campus purchases with bitcoin, if officials at the University give a pilot project a seal of approval, reports News1130.
As soon as this upcoming Fall semester, students may be able to pay for things like food and books using digital currency, which could even open the door to bitcoin ATMs being installed on the campus down the line.
“We’re looking to fully integrate into the SFU bookstores,” said Michael Yeung, who’s spearheading the project. Yeung also heads the Simon Fraser Bitcoin Club. “All three should be ready to take Bitcoin payments as soon as early October,” he told News1130.
The plan has been in the works for over six months at this point, according to Yeung, who was quoted saying, “We believe that Bitcoin has the potential to impact world finance [and] world commerce, the same way the Internet has done in the last 20 years.”
If approved, Simon Fraser University will stand as one of the few educational institutions in North America to dabble in bitcoin and digital currency as a whole.
And while that’s certainly a good thing in the eyes of cryptocurrency enthusiasts, some may be disappointed to learn that the University has no plans to allow students to pay for their tuition with bitcoin for the time being.
University officials are also considering hosting a three-day bitcoin expo on its campus in Vancouver later this year.
Here in the United States, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is also dabbling in bitcoin (thanks to its bitcoin club) by offering each enrolled undergraduate student the ability to collect $100 worth of bitcoin for free. The idea is to spur crypto-economic activity in the area, which is already home to a number of bitcoin-friendly businesses.