Share this article
Swiss Public University Begins Accepting Bitcoin
Switzerland's Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts has announced that it will accept bitcoin as payment for student expenses.
By Wolfie Zhao
Updated Dec 12, 2022, 12:43 p.m. Published Oct 6, 2017, 10:00 a.m.
Switzerland's Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts is now accepting bitcoin.
The public institution is taking the cryptocurrency as payment for student-related bills through a partnership with Bitcoin Suisse AG. As might be expected, the university itself won't handle the bitcoin – rather, the brokerage firm will exchange incoming payments into Swiss francs on a weekly basis, according to an announcementhttps://www.hslu.ch/en/lucerne-university-of-applied-sciences-and-arts/about-us/medien/medienmitteilungen/2017/10/03/bitcoin/.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
"Bitcoin Suisse AG will bear the risk of any exchange rate losses and currency fluctuations," the university notes.
Immediate adoption by most students is not expected, however. Only those who are savvy about finance or are interested in pursuing an education in this area are expected to choose the payment method, the release indicates.
The move makes it the latest publicly funded higher education institute to embrace bitcoin as an alternative payment, following the King's College New York, The University of Nicosia in Cyprus, and The University of Cumbria in the U.K.
Yet the move is perhaps an unsurprising one, given the interest the university has shown toward the tech to date.
Researchers at Lucerne are involved in a number of blockchain initiatives, including an ethereum-based identity solution being spearheaded by the City of Zug. The university is also a member of the non-profit Crypto Valley Association, a working group dedicated to companies and startups in Switzerland that are using the tech.
Lucerne image via Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
ARK steps in as crypto stocks extend multi-day selloff
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest added to Coinbase, Bullish, Circle, and crypto miners during a continued drawdown that pushed listed crypto equities deeper into the red.
What to know:
- Cathie Wood's ARK Invest purchased nearly $60 million in crypto equities, including significant investments in Coinbase, Bullish, and Circle.
- ARK's strategy involves buying during market drawdowns, as evidenced by their recent purchases amid a multi-day slide in crypto stocks.
- Crypto stocks have been declining, with Bitmine, Circle, CoreWeave, Coinbase, and Bullish all experiencing notable drops.
Top Stories
