Cryptocurrency: Wharton School is the first Ivy League institution to accept crypto for tuition via Coinbase

Wharton School is now the very first Ivy League school to get into blockchain by accepting cryptocurrency as tuition fee payment for an online blockchain course. The institution tapped Coinbase for transactions involving virtual currencies such as Bitcoin.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania will start allowing participants of the blockchain course program to use cryptocurrencies when paying for their tuition fees. As of the moment, only Bitcoin (BTC) and USD Coin (USDC) were mentioned, and it is not clear if the university will also accept other types of cryptocurrency.

The school announced its plan to accept crypto payments on Thursday, Oct. 28. According to CoinDesk, Wharton business school is introducing its six-week "Economics of Blockchain and Digital Assets" course. The program is intended for business and technology professionals who would like to learn about blockchain and digital assets.

"We designed this program for business professionals and executives from a range of backgrounds, including traditional finance, management, and tech," Kevin Werbach, the program's academic director, Wharton professor, and blockchain author, said in a statement.

The Ivy League school teamed up with Prysm Group, a blockchain consulting firm, to offer the said certificate program. The online course is set to start in January 2022, and the tuition fee is said to be $3,800.

Even with the hefty cost, students are expected to flock to the school to enroll. Wharton School will partner with Coinbase Global Inc., America's largest crypto exchange, so it can smoothly receive digital currency payments.

"It's' a program about blockchain and digital assets, we felt that we talk the talk and walk the walk," Bloomberg quoted Prysm Group's managing partner, Guido Molinari, as saying in an interview.

While there are other universities and colleges that have already touched on and experimented with cryptocurrencies in the U.S., Wharton is the first on the list of premier business schools to actually accept it as payment for a short program.

Finally, one famous alumnus of Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is Elon Musk, the Tesla founder and currently the richest person in the world. He graduated in 1997 and started his tech businesses that also include SpaceX.