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Wharton: First Ivy League School to Accept Tuition Payments in Cryptocurrencies

The Aresty Institute of Executive Education at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania announces the launch of its newest online program, economics of blockchain and digital assets. Developed in partnership with Prysm Group, a leading blockchain economic consulting firm, this six-week Wharton certificate program is designed for business and technology professionals seeking to learn about blockchain and digital assets through its value-driving principle: economics. Program participants will be able to pay the tuition fee in cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USD Coin, a first for any Ivy League institution or U.S. business school.

The blockchain and digital assets industry has produced opportunities that were impossible to envision even a few years ago. Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council reported that 83 countries worldwide have begun initiatives relating to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). DeFi Pulse (DeFi), a decentralized finance analytics firm, found that the total value locked in DeFi applications has increased over 1,500 percent in just two years to over $100 billion. PwC expects blockchain to boost the global GDP by $1.8 trillion by 2030, indicating that the applications of this technology are only beginning to reveal themselves. Furthermore, Deloitte found that 83 percent of businesses are discussing or working on cryptocurrencies in the context of solutions or strategies. In response to this fast economic paradigm shift, Wharton Executive Education has designed this program to assist business leaders in identifying and capturing the value generated by this disruptive technology.

With program highlights including introducing a standard valuation methodology for digital assets—the fundamental token valuation (FTV)—seven business school case studies, and over 50 program lecture videos featuring Wharton faculty and industry experts, the program seeks to allow students to align theory with practice and give them the tools necessary to engage deeply with this emerging technology in a business context. 

“We designed this program for business professionals and executives from a range of backgrounds, including traditional finance, management, and tech,” said the program’s academic director, Kevin Werbach of the Wharton School. When asked about the goals of the program, Dr. Werbach said, “Blockchain and digital assets are not going away. We hope to equip business leaders, consultants, and entrepreneurs to identify the value drivers of these innovative technologies and to give them the practical understanding to build solutions.”

With industry case-study topics ranging from how large legacy enterprises can use blockchain to get ahead to what criteria digital asset creators use in selecting which protocol to issue it on, Wharton’s economics of blockchain and digital assets program takes an in-depth look at challenges that business leaders have gone through, discusses how they made their decisions, and explores essential lessons learned.

The goal of this asynchronous, online program is to educate business leaders at their own pace on how this general-purpose technology can be applied to their businesses and unlock value for the global economy. 

The economics of blockchain and digital assets program is now open for limited enrollment for its first cohort, which begins on January 3, 2022. To register or receive more information on the program, visit www.blockchain.wharton.upenn.edu

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