Cash, Check or Crypto? Investor Chris Larsen and his wife, Lyna Lam, along with their non-profit, Rippleworks, chose option No. 3 when they recently donated $25 million to San Francisco State University’s business school — the largest cryptocurrency gift ever. To be exact, the donation amounted to about 56 million XRP tokens in cryptocurrency when it arrived on campus this past November.
It was the largest cryptocurrency gift ever made to a university in cryptocurrency, according to San Francisco State University. “It will transform the College of Business, without a doubt,” by letting the school greatly expand the financial education it provides to students, campus President Les Wong told San Francisco Chronicle reporter Nanette Asimov.
Yes, this was an incredible gift and a testament to the ingenuity of the advancement team at Larsen’s alma mater. Read the article closely to see how SFSU accounted for the crypto gift’s 18% drop in value since the Fall.
The comings and goings of cryptocurrencies are far too complex to cover here. But it is important to note that there are alumni who did well with cryptocurrencies and are sitting on an appreciated asset. For the savvy institution, this represents a potential opportunity.
Just as it did for SFSU. Their success and how they handled the volatility is outlined the San Francisco Chronicle article SFSU Says $25 Million crypto-gift is largest of its kind.
Curious about the nuances of donating cryptocurrencies? Fidelity Charitable has a great write up on how to Donate Bitcon to Charity.
Also on a related note, here is a blog that features Capture Higher Ed data scientists Thom Golden and Brad Weiner — hosts of The WeightList Podcast — discussing how the technology behind cryptocurrencies is being used to award virtual diplomas and credentials at some universities.
By Kevin Bauman, Director of Philanthropic Initiatives, Capture Higher Ed
