Inside the Scottish boarding school where classrooms heated by mining Bitcoin

A Scottish school, which became the first in the UK to accept Bitcoin for tuition fees, is heating classrooms by mining cryptocurrency.

Lomond School, a co-educational, independent day and boarding school in Helensburgh, announced last year that it was accepting Bitcoin for students aged three to 18.

Parents began paying in Bitcoin in the autumn of last year, and the school is now building a crypto treasury.

Lomond says the request for Bitcoin payments was made by local and international families.

Lomond School, a co-educational, independent day and boarding school in Helensburgh Lomond School

Since launching, the school now operate several mining units, devices built by students that supply heat to classrooms.

The school have also introduced live displays of real-time activity on the Bitcoin network in the study and the library.

They are also developing a curriculum to help students learn more about the economics of Bitcoin.

STV News has asked Lomond how much it has made in Bitcoin since launching the scheme.

Now, the school has confirmed that applications are open for a fully funded “Satoshi Scholarship,” made possible by a Bitcoin donation.

The scholarship is named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the presumed pseudonym of the person or group who developed Bitcoin.

This initiative will fund one student place for two years, covering both tuition and boarding at the school.

Applications are open worldwide, with a deadline of May 24.

Why did the school introduce Bitcoin?

For those based internationally, the ability to pay using the form of crypto has the attraction of removing the “uncertainty” of exchange rates, Lomond said last year.

The school also said it is considering the option for staff to be paid in Bitcoin as a voluntary part of their salary under a future scheme.

Bitcoin itself is not directly regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.

The centre educates children from areas such as Helensburgh, Cardross, Dumbarton, Balloch, Glasgow and the Highlands and Islands.

Glasgow & West

Scots day and boarding school first in the UK to accept Bitcoin for tuition fees

Lomond School, a co-educational, independent day and boarding school in Helensburgh, will accept the cryptocurrency.

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.

Claire Chisholm, principal of Lomond School, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to receive this donation. It reflects the excitement and support from the Bitcoin community for the work we are doing at Lomond School.

“We look forward to welcoming like-minded students from across the globe to apply for this truly unique opportunity.”