Bitcoin Forum

Hi everyone. So here goes...

As I've not posted previously, I would like to first introduce myself. My name is Vladimir Baranov. I've been a frequent lurker on Bitcoin talk and some other crypto forums for a good deal of time. Heavily interested in digital currency. I am located in Toronto.

This past spring a team of us here began to pitch the idea of crowdfunding via mining to various clients -- that is asking users to pledge computing power instead of (or alongside) money to funding campaigns. We call it "cloudfunding".

We would like to introduce to you the Pass The Power initiative (www.passthepower.com) which allows you to fund crowdfunding campaigns by pledging you computing power. For our debut campaign, we are sponsoring the Kopernik Give Light campaign (http://kopernik.info/en-us/proposal/light-people-benin) which turns every minute of your computing power into hours of light for a community in rural Africa.

First an foremost, we would like to thank the the strong and passionate crypto currency community for creating the technology and social conditions for us to make this happen.

The Pass The Power campaigns sources computing power to mine cryptocurrency which are converted into fiat and given to the campaign. We offer an easy-to-use, branded graphical miner tool that an inexperienced computer user can install and use with a few clicks, but also a command-line interface for advanced users.

While at the moment digital currency is automatically converted to nominal fiat currency for the campaigns payout (as per client requests) we do intend to give the clients an option of receiving payouts in the accumulated digital currency.

So how do you contribute? Please go to http://www.passthepower.com/litecoin-for-light/ for full details.

We started our initiative with these intentions:
1. To bring crypto currency to a mainstream audience by marketing that which gives the currency real-world value: the work done to secure a ledger and process transactions;
2. To put to use the excess computing power that is in people's homes;
3. To give users who already wish to contribute computing power something other than SETI or Folding@home;
4. To put computing power from 2 and 3 towards something that can benefit a broad range of people.

We now ask for your help in making this a reality and helping bring cryptocurrency to the mainstream. We will be discussing our choice for currency and other details in the coming future. At the moment, we ask you to pledge your mining power and help us bring light to a community in Benin. If you have a campaign that you would like to nominate for this initiative or that you would like to support with your mining power, please let me know!

Pass The Power is an experimental initiative - your input helps us make it better. We would love to hear your thoughts, comments, questions and be able to respond by making We are working on a number of tools for new and experienced miners. Please check back - I will do my best to address any concerns that come up and to answer your questions. And of course... follow us on Twitter @weseedthecloud :)

Looking forward to speaking with you!

Best regards,
Vladimir Baranov

PS My LinkedIn account is here for anyone interested: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/vladimirbaranov/

This is actually quite a spectacular idea IMO.

Hi Vladimir,

Interesting idea and worthy cause. I have been following what Evans Wadongo is doing in Kenya with solar powered lights:

http://www.technologyreview.com/lists/innovators-under-35/2013/humanitarian/evans-wadongo/

and although it is not the same concept (and not related to cryptocurrencies), another project using household computing power: http://www.symbid.com/ideas/3900-nerdalize

I have also been following discussions on bitcointalk for a while but I have not contributed actively yet. I am the co-founder of Seedcoin, www.seedco.in, a bitcoin startup virtual incubator. Seedcoin aims to fund and incubate startups worldwide creating cryptocurrency related products and services such as digital currency exchanges, online/mobile payment solutions, secure wallets, hardware and more. Our goal is to incubate 15 startups the first year of operations, which means between now and July 2014. We have been receiving several interesting applications already.

I am also the founder of another initiative through which I could help you spread the word about your www.passthepower.com. I'll send you a linkedin connection request so we could talk about it. I am based in Hong Kong.

All the best with your ambitious initiative!

Eddy

Thank you! Your support will help us go a long way.


This is very exciting -- I look forward to speaking with you.

Thank you for the great links also.

http://www.symbid.com/ideas/3900-nerdalize -> This is kind of awesome. Installing video cards instead of radiators :)

good idea, and hi from Toronto

nice story, but where's the source code?

Thank you! Are you at any of the Toronto meetups? Give me a shout @weseedthecloud or vbaranov@supporterr.com


Don't worry! It's pre-compiled :)

A very worthy cause. Great initiative indeed! Thanks Vladimir.

that's the reason I worry.

Could be a trojan or any other malware.

Thank you!


Pass The Power is not itself an open-source project.