The ever prestigious Yale University, the third oldest institution of it’s kind in the United States, home to the illusive Skull & Bones society and now, home to a new investment into a promising new crypto fund that goes by the name of Paradigm.

We are seeing more and more universities and educational institutions start to peek into the blockchain world, with many establishments now setting up blockchain research centres and even teaching subjects on the matter, the worlds of higher education and blockchain are slowly seeing a merge, though as it stands, we are seeing little in the way of investment into the industry from these institutions, until now of course.

According to Bloomberg:

“Yale University, the Ivy League school that has invested in everything from Puerto Rican bonds to timber in New Hampshire, is getting into the market for cryptocurrencies. The second-largest endowment in higher education is among investors that helped a new fund focused on digital assets raise $400 million, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The fund, called Paradigm, was recently started by Coinbase Inc. co-founder Fred Ehrsam, former Sequoia Capital partner Matt Huang, and Charles Noyes, an ex-employee of crypto fund Pantera Capital.”

Moreover:

“Paradigm, which also counts venture-capital firm Sequoia Capital as an investor, plans to invest in early-stage projects focused on cryptocurrencies, new blockchains and exchanges, Noyes told Bloomberg News in June. The firm declined to comment for this story. In addition to investing directly in digital coins, a number of crypto funds also invest in other funds and buy stakes in blockchain companies.”

What does all of this mean for Yale?

This isn’t a case of Yale directly investing in cryptocurrency, therefore we can keep the institutional investment hype at bay here. What it does mean though is that this could spur on some further interest from other institutions in this industry that need to be seen to keep up with competition. If other Universities want to keep on top of Yale and actually be seen to be investing in this sector, now is the time, otherwise they could very much be left behind, something that key educational institutions will want to avoid. Education and the blockchain are merging, every University should be a part of it.

References
Bloomberg