UNICEF Wants to Use Your CPU to Mine Monero to Raise Funds for Children
UNICEF Australia, an organization that is dedicated to humanitarian aid for disadvantaged children, is shining the spotlight on a good cause while simultaneously seizing an opportunity for an added revenue stream through cryptocurrency mining. The agency has launched The HopePage, which is designed to use the CPUs of local website visitors to perform cryptocurrency mining, which is the power-intensive process of solving complex equations to create more digital currencies like bitcoin. By donating their computing power to mine the cryptocurrency — in this case it’s reportedly Monero — website visitors are “automatically generating funds for UNICEF Australia.” As of Monday, there were nearly 2,000 people participating. The HopePageFunds generated by cryptocurrency mining are then directed toward helping UNICEF to both protect the rights and save the lives of children, which resembles the social impact that blockchain veterans had in mind when they developed the technology.”We wanted to leverage new emerging technologies to raise awareness about current humanitarian crises and raise funds to support children caught up in them. The HopePage allows Australians to provide help and hope to vulnerable children by simply opening the page while they are online,” according to UNICEF Australia’s Jennifer Tierney quoted in reports. The HopePage asks for user permission to use a browser’s processing power in the cryptocurrency mining process, which is a courtesy that was lost on some companies that attempted to secretly generate profits from browser-fueled digital currency mining. Meanwhile, earlier this month, Google banned cryptocurrency mining programs from its Chrome Web Store. Donating CryptocurrenciesThink of visiting The HopePage as another way of donating, as the revenue generated from the creation of more digital currencies is used to support UNICEF Australia’s mission. It’s unclear if any tax receipts will be sent for those donations, however. UNICEF Australia assures its visitors that “mining is perfectly safe for your computer.” Besides, donating doesn’t mean relinquishing total control to UNICEF Australia. Visitors can limit the amount of processing power they want to be directed toward cryptocurrency mining, which in addition to the length of time that they stay on the site determines how many algorithms are solved and ultimately how much gets donated. The humanitarian organization says the cryptocurrencies that are created from the mining process are then converted into “real funds” that make their way to the needy children in the form of “safe water, therapeutic foods and vaccines.” UNICEF Australia is all in, suggesting that people make The HopePage their home page so that they can continually support the organization. While UNICEF Australia claims to be the first charity to be engaging in cryptocurrency mining, it could catch on like wildfire, especially considering the global influence that UNICEF as an organization has. According to reports, UNICEF Australia is “hoping to raise thousands.”