Bitcoin Forum

http://bitcoin.mit.edu/announcing-the-mit-bitcoin-project/

Wow $100 for free, like the students at MIT need more free money.  How about giving it to a homeless shelter instead?

The matter of the fact is a homeless does not make or break a Bitcoin business, but an MIT student does. So business reaches out to their prospective customers.

p.s. Same thing happen at the time of election for the homeless. Political parties woo them with gifts for vote.

Hard Reality !!!

now how would a homeless person use 100$ in bitcoin and also the fact that all of these mit students are going to learn about bitcoin is going to open the eyes to a whole new amount of people and its going to be good for bitcoin overall and hopefully will spread more knowledge as well

VERY cool!

Nice project! Will be fun to see what the students will do with it. This will probably spark some bright minds, or just

Slowly but surely this baby is going mainstream :D

this is completly right think about how many big things in the news weve heard and yeah its not that major but its steps in the right directions. believe and hodl and bitcoin will be booming soon

Are they going to give Bitcoins to the students, or are they going to convert the coins to fiat cash, and then distribute the proceedings among them? I hope they don't convert the coins.

They are giving them BTC I assume.  Hmm I wonder how they are going to give them to the students though.  Like would they force everyone to install qt or give them a blockchain account?  I got the impression they are going to buy the BTC though, that was my point, they're using fiat to buy BTC.

Nope... they got the coins mostly through donations from the alumni. A total of $500,000 worth of coins... that must be some BTC1,100 to BTC1,200. Pretty impressive... have to say.  ;D

Not only they will give away $100 bitcoin to each student, they are planning to boost merchant acceptance around the campus.

This is not just a great promo to boost the future price of BTC.
Also, bright young minds are turned onto the ideas behind "freedom money".

i think mit students are the least people in the world who need free money

Yeah that's what I was saying at first.   I think they could do this project but what about giving money to some charities as well.  Well I bet MIT is more interested in technology than people LOL

So give it to a homeless shelter so homeless people cant spend it on their phones they don't have. Or give it to one of the top ranking schools in the world, with the top ranking intelligence in the world, with people moving into the most advanced sectors on the planet.

I will take MIT over a homeless shelter.

The homeless people don't need a phone to be benefited from the donation, say for example, the bitcoin can be used for a charity organization to provide food for homeless people.

I wonder where they got the bitcoins they are giving away?  It wasn't clear in the article.  Maybe they mined them in the beginning from MIT hardware?  Cool idea!  I wish my University did this. 

I don't think that this is about free money. This is about spreading knowledge and essentially some coins.

Looks like the funds came from alumni donation mainly. :)

And the people who donated the coins donated it for a purpose - getting it into the hands of a lot of very technically minded students who can do development for it.  If someone else want to donate to a homeless shelter, no one is stopping them.

Honestly Bitcoin isn't about helping homeless people, anyone can fund raise for them. The benefit of helping homeless people which will get zero attention from anyone but the person exchanging the coin to cash vs some of the smartest techies on the planet. Id take the techies.

Pretty hard to believe. I mean you must be loaded if you are going there, or have a bright future.

If I were an MIT student, I would be looking for the weak hands right away.

Haha nice point.  Bet like half the students would sign something to give you their $100 in BTC for like $20 cash right now.

I went to the MIT museum in Boston... I don't think they had even one working robot. I remember coming out and thinking these were some of the dumbest students in the world.

We should raise money to do this for other Universities too!

Cool indeed.

They should be loaded on a free Trezor.

quoted from article: “Giving students access to cryptocurrencies is analogous to providing them with internet access at the dawn of the internet era,” said Rubin.




i happen to remember the 'dawn' of the internet. i was on the internet before it was even available to the public. had to access it through a teachers unix account at some school. that was when the BBC's ruled the world. if this is where we are now with this technology is the 'dawn' it makes me really wonder about the potential. the internet technology developed very fast.

The Universities should do this on their own.

If what bitcoin needs is to encourage some additional development and acceptance then this is a good thing.  Even if all they do it turn around and sell it, it will at least introduce bitcoin to a lot of new users.

Fine work!

Just heard back from Dan Elitzer, one of the MIT Bitcoin Club Founders, on our twitter account (https://twitter.com/CoinCadence):

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s91/sh/c5257180-9ed3-4e69-9ae4-ea531cee1715/cad55981eaa6c8917f5a242294919199/deep/0/Twitter---Notifications.png (https://twitter.com/CoinCadence)

It looks like they are considering payment to a Bitcoin address after the student authenticates in some way.

I really like this idea! It encourages adoption, forces students to set up a wallet (rather then sell a key or voucher), and will help Bitcoin continue to grow.

I really like this idea, and how MIT is getting their students to be involved with Bitcoin.
I most definitely need to get into MIT now :P

Quite false. Most students are on some kind of financial aid and/or in debt up to their eyeballs (though with a good degree from MIT the debt load is probably reasonable). The main reason these schools are so expensive is so they can soak it to the relatively few rich, often foreign (Chinese, Saudis, etc.), students by charging them sticker price.

Anyway, this is a strategic pro-BTC advocacy move (and a smart one) not charity. If anything think of the $100 as a small rebate on the $60K/year it costs to go there (again sticker price)

Generous amount & the perfect demographics:
This is the best BTC giveaway we have seen in quite a while.

There will be a boom of gambling and porn sites no doubt.

This is hands down one of the most important things that bitcoin has ever done.  It has in effect created a full and complete micro-economy.  Anything near or associated with MIT will now accept bitcoin.  This is the first time ever that bitcoin actually has a full working economy.  It was a very smart move to make MIT the starting place for the first economy.  MIT students are tech savy and would completely dive into this. 

If this is successful.  Look for bitcoin whales to finance another high tech uni, and then another, each one for less and less.  In a couple of years bitcoin could have 10 serious micro-economies.  If they were really smart, they could knock off Harvard and BU and then from there most of Boston would accept and spend bitcoin.  The is the Facebook model that was used by Facebook to not just squash Myspace, but to take over almost every country.  They did it with one very strategically placed micro market after another until all those micro markets combined into one large unstoppable force. 

If they were really smart, they could knock off Harvard and BU and then from there most of Boston would accept and spend bitcoin.
Great idea, Boston was the birthplace of the American Revolution.

The is the Facebook model...
This is the Facebook model AND it is something else, SomethingElse.  :D

Hey I'd love if Bitcoin became more used in Boston.  I thought I saw something about a Bitcoin ATM at South Station but not sure if that lasted.

Yeah, I can see it now, you use Bitcoin to buy snacks at the dining hall.  Is there any way to use your Bitcoin with a "swipe" method? like a credit card.  Otherwise seriously how can you match the convenience of a credit card, or dining hall card.

Companies are working on that now.
There is a huge profit motive to get established as the market leader(s)

There is still a bitcoin atm in South Station and one in a restaurant near Harvard Square. I've used the ATM by Harvard Square once to buy $20 worth of bitcoin and then went to Veggie Galaxy by MIT to spend them on lunch and espresso. You can look up Liberty Teller ATM on google to find their website. It was really cool when I used it, only took thirty seconds.

This is a great campaign. It should be able to get more people to use bitcoin and get more merchants to accept bitcoin. :)

This is pretty awesome I do have to say, on a few different levels

Wow! Sounds good. Certainly a good way to increase bitcoin visibility and have everyone gain familiarity with how it works.

Smart more, and if succesful, easy to replicate on other schools.

This is kind of how a real airdrop is suppose to work.  Not some shady anonymous dude doing a copy and paste trying to airdrop coins for his oppressed people.  Sure, helping the needy sounds great in theory, kind of like communism.  Everybody gets something for nothing so nobody goes to work.   

At MIT what we have is a practical and well thought out airdrop that is being dropped via funds from real people with real money.  The shops that accept the coin can think that there is a real history and therefore real value in the coins they accept.  The end result is the whales giving money away might actually be richer from this in the long run because the bitcoin they still do hold will become more valuable. 

If more whales step forward and fund more well thought out air drops targeting specific communities that have the power to later be market movers, then yes, this will have been a defining moment in the history of bitcoin. 

This little stint at MIT to me is hands down the best advertisement/stunt since Doge sponsored the bob sled team.   That was cool.  This is cooler.  Since then Doge has been trying to sponser this team or that cause.  But they already got most of the low lying fruit with reddit and the bobsled team.  Now each effort brings less and less people in.  Where as these MIT like air drops in select targets will not just be a one time bump.  They will keep on giving and giving (if done right and I understand it correctly).

$100 for free? I'll never believe this!

How about an "airdrop" for small businesses in a certain region or city, trying to get local mass adoption, to show the world or bigger companies what they're missing out on?

The other major colleges in the Boston area would make a great target, then the exciting experiment will spread beyond the MIT neighborhood.
This was suggested by someone else in another thread.

MIT grads tend to have really good jobs, so the biggest challenge was making a good presentation and appearing to be trustworthy.

well i think this move is to find some fresh brains & eventually they will feed some whales on day trading ^^

Airdropping bitcoin into what is one of the most technically literate groups in the world is the perfect move.

And just think, they are the ones who will be going out into jobs with knowledge of bitcoin, and can spread it to their coworkers, friends family, and come off as knowledgeable on bitcoin.  It should help spread adoption.

It will be interesting to see what happens ten years after giving the next generation of computer scientists bitcoin. there are some smart people at MIT, any one of them may produce the killer app needed by the mainstream.

Just the beginning friends!

These will be the people the takers will look to for ideas.  And those ideas will have a BTC flavor!

The problem with your thought is that they will blow it on something, MIT students MIGHT and maybe spend it on useful things?

And spreading the main idea of bitcoin!

These guys are just not giving away bitcoins, but just getting everyone aware of the bitcoins and how it works. That is really good idea indeed.

The revolution will be monetized!
I Love this story:
Boston will be a high priority place to visit in a couple years.
Also, beyond the local impact (like you pointed out) there could be many more lasting effects.

As a college student myself I'd love to be a part of this... I guess I need to transfer to MIT.

Breaking News January 2015.  After getting $100 in free bitcoin in 2014, a small group of MIT students dropout of school and invent a 2nd generation cryptocurrency that smashes bitcoin and goes on to be rapidly accepted by the whole world.  Hahahaha

Just saying... stranger things have happened.

Or better, ask the alumni from your college / university  to do some BTC fundraising and distribution, just like those guys did there at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  ;D

Exactly.
IMO, seeking donation from alumni is the easy part, asking them to support a bitcoin event may be a little bit hard, especially if they "learn" about bitcoin from mass media. :)

Not sure what school we are talking about here, but I'd be surprised if at least a few alum were not aware of the benefits of Bitcoin and already invested ;)

I believe the MIT donations were made in BTC.

It's an experiment.

So stop all science and give it to the homeless... Is that what I understand?

I once did an online course from MIT. I should claim the $100 :D

Ha!  Glad Cryptsy will be there to offer shares five seconds after the first block is minted.

I had not thought of that, but now that you mention it:
Oops.

I think BTC will remain #1 (similar the the .com domain extension) and at least several alts will survive long-term.

Some Groups in this life Donate for a purpose to achieve something(like BTC to MIT students) and other donate to help human being(Like diff charity support programs),,,,So there is no worry we two groups here with diff ideology ,,it is a nature of human being,..Perhaps BTC foundation can support Both of them.

Great effort. Two students able to rise half million for good cause. The more and more bitcoin acceptance is good for bitcoin community. 

Yes... the credit should also go towards the alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who contributed significant amounts of money to achieve the objective.

Students and free money ?

To much movies.


Idea is interesting still. I hope there will be more situations like this one.

Great going! This is a great initiative. Hope we see more of this. :)

Owning a little bit of bitcoin is a great way for students to learn about economics as well, not just technology.  Economics schools would do their students a fine service to offer them a small bitcoin investment.

Well... Bitcoin combines technology with economy. And Technology students would more easily understand its merits and demerits when compared to the others. MIT was a great choice.  ;D

The point of this experiment is not to give students money but rather get them interested in this new technology, to study it and to hopefully try to change technology for the better

this should create at least a dozen new BTC bullish pontificators on this forum.  Money well spent.  :)

-bm

Odds of an MIT student producing or using a new application or seeking a way to monetize something interesting?  Maybe 5%. 

Odds of a homeless shelter resident producing or using a new application or seeking a way to monetize something interesting?  Maybe 0.0005%. 

That's why.

What better way to evolve bitcoin than to pique the interest of the future innovators of the world?
This is great news.

And I couldn't have more respect for MIT, since bitcoin is often associated with drugs, and I could see negative media articles published about how MIT is "enabling" students to purchase illegal things...But they are smartly looking beyond that possibility.

That plus, in my experience at least, giving money to a homeless person usually results in the purchase of drugs and/or alcohol.

Giving a new kind of money to a college student would likely inspire ideas.

What will likely happen is the very smart students at MIT will find net and better uses for bitcoin

This is fantastic. Putting it in people's hands and letting them play with it is a great to get people--the smartest people in our country--interested.

This should and hopefully will lead to further innovations in the crypto currency market

Yes. Right now we should focus on popularizing Bitcoins among the tech savvy population. Storage of Bitcoins and other stuff are a bit complex for the non-tech savvy population currently.  ;D

AND drugs... thats at least two things  :D

who knows 10 years from now, it could be a world of bitcoins

hacks brainstorm ...

https://en.bitcoin.it/w/images/en/d/df/Blockchain.png


http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5120/7099740317_0e612f3a00_z.jpg

I don't think very much (if any at all) of the MIT bitcoin money will be used for (illegal) drugs. The students have too much to lose by risking using drugs while a student there.

I know you mean well, but you do not understand what you say. In order for BTC to ever help anybody, it needs to first be adopted by people who will actively develop it as a useful tool. Sorry, but that excludes every homeless person I have ever known. I am sure you could hunt down one or two homeless people who would actually start some sort of business or organization based on bitcoin if you gave them $100 of it, but personally, I would bet on the student having a better chance at helping to grow the network.

Where could a homeless person even spend it? Seriously, you would not be helping anybody at all if you did that, and, in fact, you would ultimately be hurting the bitcoin network growth and indirectly harming the homeless people by stymieing any sort of benefits that bitcoin might have ever been able to give towards wealth equality.

Give the homeless person $100 if you want, but don't do it in bitcoin. We aren't even close to the point in time where that would be helpful for anybody except to make you feel better about yourself.

The difference between giving it to a homeless person and giving it to a student as a prestigious university is that a homeless person will ultimately use it to buy drugs/alcohol while the student will get inspired and will be able to further innovate  

EDIT: one person will be contributing to society while the other will be draining society

He said "a homeless shelter"

You completely changed the topic.

The only reason the Bitcoin won't be used for drugs is because MIT students can already afford drugs and their dealers probably don't accept Bitcoin.

The notion that smart kids don't do drugs is laughable.  Smart kids do the most drugs; they're smart enough to not get caught.

yes, bitcoin know how to defend himself in a way that we never expected. indeed he had several times fallen, but he immediately got up and fought again

No, that doesn't change my message at all. Giving bitcoin to homeless shelters is not going to spur innovation either. MIT students are far more likely to start some sort of program for the homeless using bitcoin than some overworked shelter which barely has enough manpower to hand out soup and blankets.

You are living in a fantasy world. Give it to the students who will create the innovations in the network that will allow it to serve the homeless population well. Homeless shelters are not really known for technological innovation, in case your dumb ass didn't notice.

You think anymore than maybe 1% or 2%, if even that, on these boards are using it for innovation? No they are no even spening it. They are holding and bullshitting about how rich and eliet they will be someday.

You dumb ass.

I would say that they are smart enough not to do drugs on campus and/or associate their drug use with their school.

That is why bitcoin is generally not given away for free on these forums.

The people giving away the bitcoin are giving it to people who are likely to innovate as a result of their "gift"   

This is a great promotional as it will bring more young people to know and use Bitcoin.

I agree. Along those same lines I gave my young nephew a paper wallet loaded with a little bit of BTC for his birthday.

Because charity is unethical (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpAMbpQ8J7g) - it only serves to legitimize the utterly repugnant system that is capitalism.

Very cool idea and hopefully something ingenious comes out of this!

yes you can also use for greeting big days like Christmas. Halloween and so on. that's one way to introduce them to their bitcoin accustomed

Doing this could end up teaching your nephew some bad lessions about security and keeping private keys safe.

I wrote him a note explaining the basics and how he does not want to lose his "wallet". I closed the note by telling him to talk to me about what software to use and how to do it. Which he did, and he is good to go. He swept the wallet into our wallet of choice successfully. But you are correct, next I do need to make sure he has it backed up. He does live a distance from me, I can not hold his hand the whole time, and he does have parents who do understand the need to backup computer data.

Edit: And the value, while may be substantial to him at his age, is not a great deal if it is lost.

Regards,

You know I hear cash has been used a couple times to buy drugs.

Are we really going to correct the guy who said that he is glad that for once people can see past the prejudice, by explaining to him how the prejudice, which he is glad people are seeing past, is wrong?

Don't you think he knows that prejudice is wrong? Don't you think that's what he was referring to? Don't you think we are all smart enough to understand what he's saying?

I think you misunderstood the situation. Giving the students $100 in btc was not a charitable donation. Most of these students don't need handouts.Instead they are trying to draw more bright young minds into BTC. A lot of valuable contributions, startups, and innovation could come from a select group like this.

A $100 "donation" to MIT students will likely go a lot further then giving $100 to a homeless person/shelter. The MIT student will likely eventually contribute to society in some way (hopefully this project will make some of them make their contribution somewhat bitcoin related). On the other hand the homeless simply drain from society

I would be interested to know if the bitcoin is sold/traded for something or if it is just held

I wrote a brief paragraph pointing out the history of BTC values and what they may or may not do in the future.

100 dollars is chunk change compare to the amount of tuition the students pay.

It sounds like you got him a lot more then $250 worth of bitcoin. From what it sounds like you gave him a vast amount of knowledge regarding bitcoin.

If enough young people get interested in using bitcoin then many more merchants will likely start to accept bitcoin as many companies look to trends of the youth as they have a lot of discretionary income (be it either from their own earnings or from their parents). 

Where did they get 1/2 a million dollars?

Young usually also mean gullible. And yes, if you enough gullible people join the currency revolution, it will happen.

also by MIT students

I misread that at first thinking you said people were buying MIT Students.
I've not slept for some time.

When did I say we should give $100 worth of bitcoin to people on this board? You seem confused, in general.

I didn't say you did, DUMB ASS.

I am agreeing that giving the bitcoin to MIT students was a good idea/investment.

Many homeless people need to live in homeless shelters and the homeless shelters are at least partially funded by taxpayers and donations (by society). Your typical homeless person does not have a job or other earned income/assets. Therefore they give nothing to society (in the form of working, and earning their own way) but they use tax money (money from society - money that is given to the shelters) and therefore are a drain to society. This does not even take into consideration the amount of police, prison, and medical resources that crimes of the homeless commit and the fact that many homeless people have drug addiction issues (more using of societies resources and no contributing to society).

Oh, I'm sorry. You very obviously implied that I did say that, and now you are going back on your word. Please forgive me for being a man of integrity and intelligence, unlike yourself.

 The shops that accept the coin can think that there is a real history and therefore real value in the coins they accept.

Sounds good. :)