Through a partnership with Musket and CoinCorner, Lomond School has become the first UK school to accept Bitcoin for fee payments.
Leveraging the FCA-approved providers, Musket and CoinCorner, the Scottish boarding school will begin taking payments this month in preparation for its Autumn term. Lomond School explains that driving its decision to accept Bitcoin is flexibility and education.
Claire Chisholm, Principal of Lomond School, notes that the institution is known for nurturing thinkers and open minded risk-takers, highlighting that the inventor of the television, John Logie Baird, is a former pupil.
She said: “We were the first boarding school in Scotland to house both boys and girls under the same roof and recently moved away from the Scottish Government‘s SQA curriculum and introduced the International Baccalaureate, a globally-renowned qualification favoured by Universities and employers worldwide.”
Lomond will initially convert the payments into GBP, and will potentially build an asset reserve – a small scale version of US President Donald Trump’s plans for a federal Bitcoin reserve.
In a FAQ section on its website, the school explains its decision to accept Bitcoin, citing the cryptocurrency’s fixed supply, which it likens to “digital gold.” The school also emphasises Bitcoin’s decentralised nature, which makes it more accessible to individuals across the globe.
More than just fees
Lomond has emphasised that its decision to become the first school to accept Bitcoin is about more than just fee payments. The institution plans to incorporate Austrian economics and decentralised technology into its curriculum, aiming to expand students’ understanding of digital currencies and the assets’ underlying principles.
Beyond education, the school is exploring additional ways to integrate Bitcoin into its operations. Lomond has shared that it is considering paying staff using Bitcoin in the future.
While the decision to accept Bitcoin was partly in response to requests from parents, the school is also considering offering discounts on fees for those who choose to pay using the digital currency, seeking to further incentivise its use.
