Besides land, stocks, art, and cash, donors can now offer crypto gifts to colleges and universities. For instance, last week, the University of Pennsylvania declared that it received Bitcoin worth $5 million from an unidentified donor.
However, gifts might seem like a drop in the ocean compared to the remarkable donations that the university had received. For example, in 2019, the law schools received $125 million worth of gifts. Also, the medical school made headlines in 2011 after the donations worth $225 million. The BTC worth $5 million was in the spotlight since it is the highest crypto donation that the university ever gifted.
John Zeller, a development official, said that the gift was a big deal since it indicates that universities and colleges can receive any amount of crypto in donations.
Some years ago, there was no way universities could involve in cryptocurrency transactions. However, as the virtual market expand, donors approach learning institutions with crypto gifts such as Ethereum and Bitcoin. Since they cannot turn away from the offers, universities and colleges have tried to develop infrastructure to facilitate crypto dealings. Some of them prefer to work with firms that could process the crypto gifts for them.
Zeller stated that the Penn. University had previously received crypto donations ranging from $35,000 to $50,000. He further declared that virtual coin gifts account for less than 1% of the institution’s 2021 fundraising revenue.
Penn University utilizes the NYDIG third-party services to process cryptocurrency gifts. A donor will send the virtual coins to NYDIG. The firm then liquidates the digital objects and transfer money to the institutions. However, the university’s website states that it will consider crypto donations worth over $10,000.
Nevertheless, countless colleges had received cryptocurrency donations in the past few years. Berkeley University received Bitcoin worth over $50,000 from EchoLink Foundation. Also, Puget Sound University received BTC worth $10,000 from an alum.
Puget Sound liquidated its cryptocurrency gifts immediately to avoid volatility risk. Penn University has taken a similar move, liquidating the $5 million BTC right away. The institution stated that they are not focusing on speculation or investment business.
The move by universities to accept crypto gifts gives donors many options to use when supporting learning institutes.
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