VANCOUVER—Will that be debit or Bitcoin?
A British Columbia university has started accepting the digital currency Bitcoin at all of its bookstores, allowing customers to open their mobile wallets in what’s believed to be a first for post-secondary institutions in Canada.
Simon Fraser University has also installed automated Bitcoin vending machines on its campuses in Burnaby, Vancouver, and Surrey.
“It is still a very new, techie kind of subject and it takes, I think, for the average person, a lot of time to be able to understand it and be comfortable using it,” said Michael Yeung, who founded the SFU Bitcoin Club that spearheaded the venture.
“The way we’ve integrated it at the bookstore, allowing you to quickly buy bitcoins under 10 seconds and spend it under 10 seconds, makes it a lot easier.”
Bitcoin is a virtual currency that is transferred online without the help or regulation of any central bank. Students can either load up their mobile wallets apps by exchanging Canadian cash at the new vending machines or pay with bitcoins they already have.
They’re able to buy everything sold at the store, ranging from textbooks to T-shirts and mugs.
The university broke new ground last year when it became Canada’s first post-secondary institution to accept Bitcoin donations.
But Simon Fraser won’t be amassing piles of the alternative currency—and that’s how it mitigates any risk.
As soon as the bookstore receives bitcoins, it’s channelled directly to a U.S. payment processor that exchanges it for Canadian dollars.
