I took the full time web development bootcamp at Codeup in San Antonio Texas. Codeup is one of the most comprehensive and best reviewed developer trainings available. One of the main reasons I choose Codeup is because I was able to pay in bitcoin, the currency in which I receive my income.

I always ask business I might transact with if they accept bitcoin. In the case of Codeup I included this paragraph when I emailed them to enquire about the course.

“By the way if Codeup accepted bitcoin for payments it would be beneficial for both parties. With a payment processor like Bitpay or Coinbase, Codeup gets instant USDs in your bank account for less than half the fees of credit cards or PayPal with 0 chargebacks and 0 fraud. It would also attract international students and suit Codeup’s high tech image and I would be the first customer :)”

How though?

Because Codeup do their invoicing through QuickBooks they easily added the bitcoin payment options with QuickBooks’ excellent PayByCoin feature. This uses Bitpay, the same processor Microsoft, Namecheap, Newegg and others use.

Codeup emailed me the invoice as normal and I was able to pay the $16,000 fee in moments from anywhere in the world as can be seen in this video.

Why though?

To use my credit card for a transaction of that size I would have had to get special approval from the bank who would have had to submit an AUSTRAC (Australian version of FinCEN) form about it. I would have been charged hundreds of dollars in foreign currency conversion and overseas transaction fees. If I tried to use Paypal they would probably have suspended my account as I sent the funds from overseas.

The bootcamp was excellent, although the cohorts are bigger than optimal size. Codeup achieve a friendly and supportive atmosphere and are thoroughly integrated into the local tech scene. Over 90% of graduates receive job offers in the 6 months following the course. Personally I am not taking the course to get hired but rather to take this site to the next level.

If you want to learn web development and pay in bitcoin then Codeup is by far the best option. If you use QuickBooks for your invoicing you should enable bitcoin payments!