US-Based University To Accept Donations In Bitcoin

Wake Forest University Alums Alex & Pat equip the university with the tools to accept crypto, according to an official media release.

Wake Forest Alumni (Class of 2016) Alex Wilson and Pat Duffy co-founded The Giving Block. While at Wake Forest, Alex and Pat were first exposed to Bitcoin, despite it still being the early days for the cryptocurrency industry.

While taking courses about economics and finance, they learned about the history of money and other ideas that eventually lead them to cryptocurrency and it’s potential to create a better financial system.

After both graduating from Wake Forest, the two friends moved to Washington DC for their first jobs. Both kept a close eye on the cryptocurrency market, but as recent graduates neither had much money to invest in a relatively volatile and risky asset class. It wasn’t until a few years later that they both began investing in and trading cryptocurrency.

In early 2018, they noticed most nonprofits weren’t set up to accept cryptocurrency donations. As the cryptocurrency industry grew, so did the need for investors to offset their capital gains tax by donating the asset directly to nonprofits.

Since the IRS classifies cryptocurrency as property, that means no capital gains tax for the donor and a fair market value deduction, making it one of the most tax efficient ways to donate.

As time went on, Alex and Pat started to talk more and more about cryptocurrency. At the time, Alex was a management consultant working with Fortune 500 companies on emerging technologies like cryptocurrency, while Pat was working at the 501(c)3 nonprofit, the Lupus Foundation of America where he first heard of the Pineapple Fund.

Eventually, they decided to combine their crypto and nonprofit knowledge to create the first easy way for nonprofits around the world to accept crypto donations. Together, they started The Giving Block in mid-2018. The Giving Block now works with over 70 nonprofits (and have raised millions in cryptocurrency so far); however, Wake Forest is the first university client.

Today, Alex and Pat are excited to have both donated bitcoin to the WFU Student Aid Fund to become the first crypto donors to the institution.

As of today, September 8, 2020, Wake Forest University is setup to accept the following cryptocurrencies:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ether (ETH)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
• Zcash (ZEC)
• Gemini Dollar (GUSD)
• Basic Attention Token (BAT)
• ChainLink (LINK)

This makes Wake Forest the first university in North Carolina to accept cryptocurrency donations, as well as the first university to accept cryptocurrency donations on their annual day of giving.