Romanian University Plans to Accept Cryptocurrency as Payment for Admission Fees

A public university in the Romanian city of Sibiu, Transylvania, said it will allow students to pay their enrollment fees in cryptocurrency.

According to a statement from the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (LBUS) on Wednesday, the university plans to offer cryptocurrency payment options to its more than 11,000 students starting in July. Students will reportedly be able to pay their enrollment fees (about $1,000 per year for undergraduates) using Elrond (EGLD), which the university will then convert into Romanian leu.

LBUS President Sorin Radu said: “Our university has been and will continue to be a supporter of the community and local businesses and the decision to enter into a partnership with Elrond is part of this strategy.

Elrond, which started out as an initial exchange offering on Binance Launchpad in 2019, has an office in the Transylvanian town of more than 400,000 people and its team includes many graduates from local universities. Elrond said it plans to collaborate with LBUS in other areas in the future, including research.

Under legislation implemented in July, exchange providers that monitor the purchase of cryptocurrencies with fiat and the exchange of cryptocurrencies for fiat must now be authorized if they operate in Romania. Many crypto users trading digital assets in Romania are required to use exchanges that include “know your customer” requirements and comply with domestic and foreign anti-money laundering regulations.

Elrond has undergone some major changes recently, including its mainnet switch last year, which turned its ERD token into EGLD. At press time, EGLD is priced at $231, up more than 13% in the past 24 hours.