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University of Austin Launches First Long-Term Bitcoin Endowment

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University of Austin Launches First Long-Term Bitcoin Endowment

The University of Austin, a new school opening later this year, has launched what it says is the first long-term endowment held in bitcoin, a unique involvement of the cryptocurrency in financing higher education.

The donation is being made in partnership with Unchained, an Austin-based bitcoin financial service whose founder and CEO, Joseph Kelly, donated the first two bitcoins to launch the campaign, equivalent to $138,000.

After securing your initial approval for launch from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in November, the university plans to open this fall in the downtown Scarborough Building with 100 students. The private institution first announced plans to open in November 2021, presenting itself as a school against cancel culture and censorship and an innovative alternative to a national higher education model it claims to be broken.

The university seeks to challenge the norms of higher education, including establishing the endowment in bitcoin, a form of digital currency that can be sold and exchanged without a bank. The decentralized model requires that the majority of the Bitcoin network approve transactions, and transactions are stored in a digital ledger called a blockchain.

Chad Thevenot, senior vice president for advancement and communications at the University of Austin, said the new school is increasing its endowment resources and that this endowment will be part of a diversified portfolio with other stocks and assets to support the university’s future.

The new endowment will go toward general university funding but will be held in bitcoin for at least five years, he said.

The idea came about when he and Kelly, whose office is across from the university’s headquarters, met for coffee and lunch. When Thevenot heard Kelly’s pitch for the donation, he thought it was a great way to engage the bitcoin community.

“Bitcoin as an idea, as a phenomenon, captures the imagination of people at university; captures the imagination of our students,” he said. “In that sense, there is a natural escalation.”

The spirit of the University of Austin captivated Kelly, specifically how the university wants to help students become entrepreneurs. The partnership, he said, can “build a bridge between communities.”

“The more I heard about what they are trying to do in terms of really shining a light on areas of censorship or issues (in) the higher education system, a lot of people in the Bitcoin community that we serve would also benefit greatly. to hear that message or benefit from knowing that UATX exists,” he said. “And then, like me, you can get excited (and) contribute.”

Is cryptocurrency trustworthy?

Universities have been accepting cryptocurrency for years but normally liquidates it to avoid volatility in its value. But by keeping the endowment in bitcoin, the university will demonstrate that it believes in its value as an asset, Thevenot said.

“We’re not worried,” he said of the potential fluctuation in market value. “Every bitcoin we get costs more than $0. Because the alternative is zero bitcoin.”

David DeMatthews, an associate professor at the University of Texas College of Education who specializes in education policy, said using bitcoin as an endowment asset is new to him but not surprising since endowment portfolios typically consist of several different types of assets.

The $5 million is “not a substantial amount considering what it might cost to open a university, but it could be seen as a way to market bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrencies,” DeMatthews said.

Cesare Fracassi, a UT associate professor of finance who researches and teaches about cryptocurrencies, said endowment held in bitcoin offers the benefit of attracting donors interested in cryptocurrencies, but can face fluctuations in value over time, similar to other stocks. of technology.

“Investing in bitcoin is as volatile as investing in Tesla,” Fracassi said. But he added that donating bitcoins brings a tax advantage to donors over cash, similar to donating stocks and bonds to universities.

While the value of bitcoin has dropped significantly in the past, it has also increased significantly, said Shimon Lazarov, chief marketing officer at Unchained.

“Bitcoin has volatility, but it also has tremendous upside,” said Lazarov. “I think $5 million in five years could easily increase 10 or 20 times if you look at the past of bitcoin.”

What is the future of bitcoin in Texas?

Carla Reyes, an associate professor of law at Southern Methodist University specializing in blockchain technology and former chair of the Texas Work Group on Blockchain Matters, who sent a 84-page report of recommendations to the Legislature in 2022, said Texas is considered an important state in the sector, largely due to technology hubs like Austin.

Reyes said the university’s announcement is “really cool” and rare because the donation will be made in bitcoin.

“Universities are very risk averse and very cautious about accepting donations or even granting money in cryptocurrencies very broadly, and so I think it’s probably exceptional that they accept and make a commitment to hold it for five years,” he said. Reyes, adding that Unchained’s management of the donation must keep payments secure, which she thinks is often a concern among universities.

Reyes expects Texas to continue to innovate in blockchain technology and currencies because both the state and industry share “an entrepreneurial and innovative spirit,” and Texas lawmakers, industry professionals, and researchers are interested in seeing its progress. She hopes the announcement will encourage other universities to form similar partnerships.

“Tokens and cryptocurrencies have a bad reputation, which they don’t deserve,” said Reyes. “And I think if universities don’t look beyond that to the real value of the technology and don’t make the effort to figure out partnerships… they will (miss opportunities to) grant money.”

With bitcoin, Thevenot said, “we want to take that kind of risk and integrate into that kind of community in Austin.”

“It’s not just an asset,” he added. “It’s an ethos.”

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Bitcoin Will Surge to $100K After Q4, Here’s Why

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Bitcoin’s Four-Year Cycle Shows Signs of Possible Narrative Shift; $100K Soon?

Dan Weiskopf, portfolio manager at Tidal Financial Group, spoke with David Lin and discussed the future prospects of Bitcoin. The focus was on the future of Bitcoin, especially its potential to reach $100,000. The talk also touched on recent market trends, noting strong interest in Bitcoin ETFs as a possible boost to its price. Looking ahead, there is hope that more platforms will approve Bitcoin ETFs, possibly pushing its price to $100,000.

Forecasts and Volatility: The Path to New Highs

While some predict Bitcoin could go as high as $150,000 or even $1 million, Dan agrees that it needs to hit $100,000 first. Dan also acknowledged Bitcoin’s volatility, saying that large price drops of as much as 50% to 70% could happen, drawing on his experience since 2017.

“We’re going to new highs because I think partly because ETF inflows have been really strong lately. Yeah, and then I think you’ll have more platforms approving spot Bitcoin ETFs in Q4, and we’re going to go up to 100K,” he said.

Big Investors and the Transformative Power of Bitcoin

He also discussed what is persuading large investors to get in on this cycle. He mentioned two key factors. Many argue that if you haven’t invested in Bitcoin, you’re missing out, citing its strong performance over the past decade. This pressure could influence returns and client expectations.

However, he emphasized a deeper reason: if you are not embracing the transformation driven by Bitcoin and digital assets, you may face challenges. This technology has the potential to reshape industries, just as the internet revolutionized business.

“A lot of people look at Bitcoin and crypto and don’t appreciate that with higher prices comes more supply. We talk about 100K, I would expect more supply to come into the market as we go up, and that’s not really new news, but it’s higher demand that’s offsetting that supply,” he added.

Read too: It’s time tor ETH Point ETF: Here’s What to Expect From the Ethereum Price Rally

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Bitcoin Jumps as Markets See Increased Chances of Trump Victory

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Bitcoin hit a two-week high on Monday as betting markets suggested a higher chance of crypto-friendly candidate Donald Trump winning the US presidential election.

The value of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, was up about 5% as of 1:40 p.m. London time to $62,781.48, according to CoinGecko.

The rally follow the dramatic and failed assassination attempt about the former president Trump on Saturday.

“There is a ‘parallel’ to the assassination of President Reagan in 1981,” even though it was not an election year, Ben Emons, chief investment officer at FedWatch Advisors, said in an emailed note.

“After the incident, Reagan’s popularity skyrocketed amid a double-dip recession. The S&P 500, however, fell 9% in the aftermath due to the economic malaise. But in the current strong economy, former President Trump’s favorability is likely to skyrocket and impact markets positively.”

Investors said on the weekend they were hoping that so-called “Trump victory trades” would get a boost. These trades broadened to include several cryptocurrency stocks, such as Coinbase Global and miner Riot platformswhich rose 4.5% and 5.25%, respectively, in pre-market trading.

“Bitcoin’s price rose about 9% over the weekend, which could indicate that investors are hoping that a Trump presidency will create a more favorable regulatory climate for the crypto industry,” Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale Investments, told CNBC in an email.

Trump has yet to lay out any detailed proposals on cryptocurrency regulation, but the Republican candidate is now seen as broadly supportive of the sector — despite his past skepticism. He is set to speak at a major annual bitcoin conference later this month.

Trump’s campaign started accepting donations of the cryptocurrency industry in May and its the message became increasingly positive about the future of these digital assets. He also sought to position oneself against Democrats who are in favor of controlling the industry, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren.

“In addition, macro policy changes under a second Trump presidency — including continued deficit spending, reduced U.S. leadership in international affairs, weaker Federal Reserve independence, and a desire for currency weakness to help reduce the trade deficit, among other things — could introduce downside risks to the U.S. dollar in the medium term. Any downside risks to the U.S. dollar could provide support for Bitcoin’s price,” Pandl added.

Last month, analysts at Standard Chartered said that the US presidential election is the next key catalyst for bitcoin’s price and a Trump victory could push it to $150,000 by the end of the year.

“Cryptocurrencies have not had an easy time in recent months. We are currently in a crisis of previously growing capital inflows into this market that can be measured by the capitalization of stablecoins, which has frozen in the last two months,” Grzegorz Drozdz, market analyst at Conotoxia, told CNBC in an email.

With a higher likelihood of a Trump presidency and the consequent reduced chances of unrest and destabilization in the US, Drozdz now sees a potential “influx of confidence into the markets,” which could positively impact cryptocurrencies and bitcoin in the coming weeks.

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Germany Sells Final Bitcoin Reserves of Initial $3 Billion in Holdings

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Germany Sells Final Bitcoin Reserves of Initial $3 Billion in Holdings

Germany Sells Final Bitcoin Reserves of Initial $3 Billion in Holdings

The German government completed the sale of its remaining Bitcoin holdings on July 12. The final transaction involved 3,846 Bitcoin, valued at around $62,604 per Bitcoin, which were sent to “Flow Traders and 139Po,” entities likely for institutional/OTC deposit services, according to for Arkham Intelligence.

The majority of the 50,000 Bitcoins sold by the German government over the past three weeks originated from asset seizures. This sale marked the culmination of weeks of increased sales activity by the German government, which unloaded tens of thousands of Bitcoins in multiple tranches. This significant liquidation was a key factor in keeping the Bitcoin selloff at a low of $54,000 on July 5.

Despite Germany’s exit from its Bitcoin holdings, market pressures remain due to Mt. Gox’s impending $9 billion repayment plan. The Mt. Gox exchange, which collapsed in 2014 when Bitcoin was still in the hundreds of dollars, has long been a source of market anxiety. The repayment plan aims to compensate creditors, potentially adding significant selling pressure to the market in the coming weeks. However, it is difficult to estimate the impact of Mt. Gox’s repayment on the markets due to several factors.

Amid heightened selling pressure, institutional investors seized the opportunity to buy the dip. Data from CoinShares showed that U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw $295 million in inflows during the week of July 8, reversing a trend of suppressed inflows into these investment funds. This activity suggests that institutional investors remain confident in Bitcoin’s long-term prospects.

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Bitcoin surges as traders bet on Donald Trump election victory after shooting

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Bitcoin surges as traders bet on Donald Trump election victory after shooting

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Bitcoin surged on Monday following an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, as investors increased their bets on the former president winning the US presidential election in November.

Bitcoin’s price rose as much as 9.1 percent to $62,830, its highest level in two weeks, after a shooter hit Trump in the ear at a campaign rally over the weekend. The Republican is seen as the most pro-crypto candidate, having hosted industry executives at Mar-a-Lago and expressed enthusiasm for bitcoin mining in the U.S.

Trump’s campaign also accepted cryptocurrency payments, a first for a major U.S. political party, raising hopes of an end to the U.S. regulatory crackdown on the sector seen in recent years.

“The probability of a Donald Trump victory has increased significantly,” said Grzegorz Dróżdż, market analyst at exchange firm Conotoxia, adding that a Trump presidency would have a “positive impact” on cryptocurrencies.

Shares of Trump’s Truth social media company jumped 60 percent in premarket trading. Trump Media & Technology Group went public in March in a merger with a blank-check company and rallied ahead of the debate between Trump and President Joe Biden last month.

The slimmer chances of a second Trump presidency were also felt in broader financial markets. U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar rose in a more muted version of the reaction that followed Biden’s disastrous debate performance.

Many investors believe Trump’s tax-cutting policies would increase deficits and inflation, hurting U.S. Treasuries and boosting the dollar, in a pattern similar to what occurred after his 2016 election victory.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, rose 0.2% in morning trade, having weakened so far in July as investors increased their bets on a September interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries rose 0.03 percentage point to 4.21 percent, reflecting a small decline in price. Contracts tracking Wall Street’s blue-chip S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent ahead of the New York open.

Monday’s movements “touch[s] with a Trumpian theme given the popular narrative that he is good for business and… his pro-crypto stance,” Rabobank analysts said in a note to clients.

“For markets, the complexities of the US political landscape have boiled down to the assumption that the weekend’s events will lead to a greater chance of Trump winning the November presidential election,” they added.

Bitcoin peaked above $70,000 in mid-March but has struggled to make headway since the so-called halving event in April, when the number of daily bitcoins available for miners to share to secure the bitcoin network fell from 900 to 450. Some analysts had expected bitcoin to rebound after the halving.

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