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College Receives First Bitcoin Gift

Bruce Neeld ‘94: ‘This is game-changing technology’ Bruce A. Neeld has always been fascinated by cutting edge technology so it should come as little surprise that the scientist who perfected the self-adhesive postage stamp would provide Wilmington College with its first gift in the form of Bitcoin currency. Neeld is a 1994 WC graduate who serves a senior vice president for new products with Circle Graphics Corp., Longmont, Colo. His work in the lab has resulted in other such familiar products as carbonless paper and dry-erase magnetic paper. Circle Graphics is a leader in large format digital printing. His motivation for giving to his alma mater in such a manner was not only philanthropic, but also educational. “I wanted to contribute to Wilmington College via Bitcoin to help raise awareness and hopefully encourage others to use this game-changing technology, and to provide WC with a gift that, if they hold onto it, I believe will increase in value significantly over the next five years,” Neeld said. While Neeld’s Bitcoin gift came as a pleasant surprise, it required the College to implement an infrastructure for accepting such a contribution. This was readily accomplished and WC proudly includes Bitcoin currency among the myriad of modes available for supporting the institution. Neeld explained his fascination with the cryptocurrency, which provides a distinct worldwide payment system that works without a central bank or financial intermediary. He first heard about it in 2012. “As I learned about it, I was simply blown away,” he said. “Not only is it the first application of triple-entry bookkeeping, but it removes the need for a trusted intermediary — it’s a trustless means of transferring value.” Neeld explained the basis for Bitcoin is the “revolutionary” blockchain technology. “It looks like developing countries will bypass the traditional banking system and transactions can occur via cell phones using cryptocurrency,” he added. “Imagine land titles, your driver’s license, voting — anything that requires you to trust a third party — can be safely stored in the blockchain.” Neeld said the top talents in many fields are focusing on this technology for mass adaptation among merchants, vendors and even Wall Street. “It’s faster, better and cheaper than the current systems — a perfect triad for mass adoption.”