HKU Business School not yet accepting bitcoin payments, but exploring options

2 October 2025

Many social media posts in Chinese inaccurately claimed the university began accepting cryptocurrencies in September this year.

A post on X claimed on Aug. 31 that the University of Hong Kong’s Business School “will now accept bitcoin payments for tuition fees and donations.”

Similar content circulated widely on Chinese social media platforms, such as Xiaohongshu, in September, suggesting the university has already begun accepting bitcoin payments.

They were mostly posted by study-abroad agency accounts (archived links are listed at the bottom of this article). Versions of the same claim also reached Korean audiences on X.

The claim appears to stem from a remark by the school’s dean, which those agents and users seemingly misinterpreted. As of now, the HKU Business School has made no official announcement to formalize the acceptance of bitcoin payment.

Dean Hongbin Cai mentioned the possibility of accepting cryptocurrency for tuition fees and donations at a university-hosted forum on Aug. 27, a few days before the claim spread online.

Screenshot of Cai’s comments (left) with translation by Annie Lab (right) (Source: Xiaohongshu clip by winston彦)

Annie Lab found a clip of Cai’s speech posted by a Xiaohongshu user, in which he mentioned that the school was exploring the use of cryptocurrencies for payments and donations.

He went on to say, “technical details had been essentially sorted out.” He did not mention when such a plan might be put into effect, however.

The South China Morning Post reported on the same forum in a story published on Aug. 30. A spokesperson for the Business School told the newspaper that it was “actively exploring” the bitcoin payment option.

Annie Lab reviewed the school’s current tuition payment instructions for this academic year that started in September, which list accepted methods such as bank transfers, cheques, FPS, WeChat Pay, and Alipay.

Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are not included.