What if my house be troubled with a rat?

The largest university of Cyprus, the University of Nicosia, has become the first university of the world to accept Bitcoins, the CM reports. 

Umm, should they be boasting about this? 

future students of the Uni of Nicosia

CNN has called Bitcoins a “shady online currency".  The cryptocurrency's associations with money laundering, cyberhacking, theft, deception, and tax evasion have sparked past interest from the FBI.  

The uni's Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Christos Vlachos, told the CM that criminal activities are conducted with all forms of currency.  Oh, that's alright, then!  Thanks, Dr., for telling us the university of Nicosia is not that bothered about financial abuse.

Dr. Vlachos, there is a very good reason why no other university of the world accepts this dodgy payment method.  It makes the university and the country look dodgy.  Can you imagine the Russell Group or the Ivy League doing it?  

Dr. Vlachos unashamedly tells the CM that the University of Nicosia’s decision is designed to “help” African countries!  Ahahahaha.  Good one.  Will these “students” actually be physically attending courses at the university?  Who will be monitoring that?  

The University of Nicosia is an independent (private) institution.  According to the uni's website, non-EU undergraduate tuition fees range from 9,090 euro to 11,550 euro per annum, not including bursaries.  For Masters degree programmes, fees are 10,800 to 18,240 euro p.a.  Not exactly cheap.  I don’t know what those fees are worth in Bitcoins, Congolese francs, or Russian rubles, but according to a Wall Street Journal (NY) report, the value of the Bitcoin is subject to wild fluctuations because it depends on the willingness of users to accept them.  In theory, their value could crash any time, making it impossible for these "students" to continue paying their fees, while the uni pockets the cash.  

In Iran, Bitcoins are used to avoid international currency sanctions. In other countries, the currency is associated with online gambling and pay-to-view pornography, drug trafficking and arms trading.  

A Bloomberg report of March 2013 (around the time the Cyprus financial crisis exploded) suggested the current economic mess of Cyprus is linked to the use of Bitcoins on the island.

A Wired (UK) study of April 2013 showed that nearly half (45%) of all Bitcoin exchanges end up being shut down, with merchants taking their clients’ Bitcoins with them.  

Even the inventor of Bitcoins uses a fake name! 

Oh dear.  In the wake of the Troika's concern about Russian money laundering in Cyprus, is this the sort of public image Cyprus should be advertising to the world?  The University of Nicosia might as well start selling online fake degrees. 

See definition of Avarice.

No man can serve two masters.  For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon. 

- Matthew 6:24 (D-R)