Google MapsA Scottish day and boarding school has become the first in the UK to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for tuition fees.
Lomond School, a co-educational, independent day and boarding school in Helensburgh, will accept the cryptocurrency at its school for three to 18-year-olds.
Parents can start paying with Bitcoin from the autumn term this year, but initially payments will be converted into GBP to “mitigate currency risk”.
It hopes to build a Bitcoin asset reserve “assuming it gains broader acceptance in the UK and worldwide”.
The school is potentially the first in the world to introduce the payment method for fees and says the request for Bitcoin payments was made by local and international families.
For those based internationally, the ability to pay using the form of crypto has the attraction of removing the “uncertainty” of exchange rates.
The centre educates children from areas such as Helensburgh, Cardross, Dumbarton, Balloch, Glasgow and the Highlands and Islands.
Lomond also houses a number of international pupils located at its co-educational boarding house.
Fees for full boarding start at £38,000 per year, and £27,500 for weekly boarding.
It was also the first boarding school in Scotland to house both boys and girls under the same roof.
The school’s head teacher, Claire Chisholm said: “For generations, this school has nurtured inquirers, thinkers, communicators, and open-minded risk-takers.
“It’s really no surprise then that the inventor of the television, John Logie Baird, is a former pupil.
“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.”
The move was announced at a national Bitcoin conference called CheatCode, attended by the likes of former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss.
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