Anonymous Philanthropist Donates Bitcoin Worth Rp71 Trillion For Student Research

A philanthropist donates Bitcoin to the campus (Cryptonomist)

JAKARTA – An anonymous donor donated USD5 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) or rp71 trillion equivalent to the University of Pennsylvania. The university did not know the identity of the donor.

The donation of 118.46 Bitcoins from anonymous benefactors was intended to support a financial technology research institute, the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance at the Wharton School of Business. The Wharton School is a University of Pennsylvania-owned business school.

Stevens Center Senior Vice President John Zeller told MarketWatch that the university immediately liquidated all donations in the form of the cryptocurrency.

"Once we received (bitcoin donations) we sold it," Zeller said.

He also added that the university could still hold him or HODL. The donation was channeled through a crypto investment company, New York Digital Investment Group.

According to a report from Cointelegraph, the university can still accept other cryptocurrencies but must reach a minimum donation amount of 10,000 US dollars.

Zeller revealed that the university does not make cryptocurrencies as a means of investment, but rather as a new way of payment systems. The university did not explain in more detail the reasons behind the sale of BTC and did not vote for HODL.

He only revealed that the bitcoin cryptocurrency donation came from a university alumnus last January. In addition to the anonymous donors, another figure who has donated cryptocurrency to his campus is Nikolai Mushegian, a former MakerDAO contributor.

Nikolai donated $4 million to his alma mater last year. The donation is intended for the development of a decentralized application research program.

Students at the Wharton School of Business have the opportunity to learn about the cryptocurrency ecosystem through an online course on financial technology.

In the program, students can learn a number of lectures and case studies related to payment systems, cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, crowdfunding and so on.

The price of Bitcoin itself has declined in recent days. But the price of cryptocurrencies is gradually recovering. The price of Bitcoin when this news was written on May 21, at 17:39 was in the range of 40,976 US dollars or the equivalent of Rp 589,019 according to data from Coingecko.