more peers in the network and are executed in a strict chronological order after certain conditions are met, until they reach their end. The best way to describe a smart contract is to compare it to a digital vending machine. After inserting a coin and choosing a product as the required conditions, the process of issuing the product takes place automatically and in a chronological order. The big advantage of the Ethereum-Blockchain is that programmers can create their own smart contracts within it, which is not possible on the Bitcoin-Blockchain, for instance. In the case of the HultToken, Hult should create an ERC-20 Token. This form of a token is the current industry standard and consists of the six mandatory functions: totalSupply(), balanceOf(), transfer(), transferFrom(), approval(), and allowance(). After the initial coin offering (ICO), smart contracts can be used to purchase the HultToken from Hult, to exchange it between all parties, or to spend it on education at Hult.
What is the benefit of an educational token?
An educational token is issued by a university and is backed by its educational services. The token can be purchased by current students, future students, their families or others for educational donations. These tokens can be held and stored, used to pay for the universities program fees, or even traded between different parties. The benefits for students are the speed, affordability, security, and reliability of transactions as relates to cryptocurrency. Universities can use their tokens to reduce operational costs and promote themselves as forward-looking and modern institutions.
Do educational tokens already exist?
No university with a physical location is offering a token yet. But there is an example of an online university, called the Open Source University, that is offering the EDU Token on its platform.
What is the future prospect?
In the long-term, there are more possibilities for educational tokens, like platforms for educational donations (such as GoFundMe), or collaborations between universities to issue and accept the same tokens.
A special thanks to Charity Maddox, who is a fellow master’s student in International Business at Hult in Boston, Massachusetts. The presented idea is the result of our joint project for a course on Blockchain at Hult International Business School.
If you are interested in the technology of Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, or Tokens, please visit the blog of the Blockchain Research Center at Hult here
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