8 Years ago today, $500,000 worth of bitcoin was distributed to MIT students.

[Accardo]

 image from Pete Rizzo

In 2014 two students of MIT Dan Elitzer the founder of MIT bitcoin club and Jeremy Rubin a computer science student launched a project aimed at making bitcoin a case study by students and professors to birth an ecosystem for digital currency in MIT. To begin the project the founder of MIT bitcoin club coupled with Jeremy Rubin was curious to know how students will spend bitcoin if given the chance to hold bitcoin. So they raised more than 500k with the assistance of the bitcoin community and MIT alumni which was enough to distribute 100 dollar worth of bitcoin (0.290272 BTC) each to 4,528 enrolled in the institution. This free bitcoin distribution made MIT campus the first place in the world to have widespread access to bitcoin.

On the 29th of October 2014, a survey that lasted for 5 days was hosted by the MIT Bitcoin club to enable students to claim their bitcoins. Students who received the free bitcoin had the option to spend it on books at the school library where bitcoin was accepted. And on Fireflies a program that enabled MIT students to crowdsource products and services for bitcoin.

A link below shows how students spent their money and the few who held the free bitcoin.

https://news.bitcoin.com/thousands-mit-students-free-bitcoin-2014-6-year-holders-13000-gains/


Giving-away free bitcoin to thousands of people is the best vehicle to Mass adoption.

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2014/10/29/mit-undergrads-can-now-claim-their-free-100-in-bitcoin/

[2stout]

Congrats to the hodlers, showing once again why you should be in this for the long haul; although, there is nothing wrong with showing utility, meeting a need(s), or pushing for mass adoption.

[DapanasFruit]

According to that article cited above, the $100 worth of Bitcoin gathered around 13,000% ROI so far meaning that if one just hold the said coin then the holder has now $13,000 in his/her account. In case, some recipient's just forgot about it (of course, not forgetting the keys) and never used the said amount to buy anything then certainly it would be a big surprise. Now, am just wondering if we can categorize this story as a big success or just another ho-hum as we are searching for real and visible mainstream adoption for Bitcoin...

[noorman0]

The most widespread airdrop I think. And lucky if some of those students held up to last year's ATH, they could buy more goods or services.
Just wondering how the distribution of bitcoin was at that time, because considering the article said bitcoin could only be spent on things related to education.

[LoyceV]

(0.290272 BTC) each to 4,528

There's not a single Bitcoin address that holds that exact amount:

16UNkG2YsbSLiByRmPNk55HnJvuJfKFU1H      2422902724
bc1qpm3aqzee0lqadklu5afsu59x7um2fmjgzw2wg9      60290272
3386rou7hopVHtyDtKB29FW8e9hmJwRsF5      32902722
35u6oQXz1rujyX1YtHZMBJZeTUzJgDmQHS      29027268
389HfGsgLvW1VpwwWbiNqBs3yPVjCbDEsi      29027236
bc1q3r7qvkyrgazcfs0c7m3peyhg54szyc4d8jywn3      29027221
3G8dUhww2D5BGwuovdVc7Msdtje2G285Sk      29027213
3L37yPTWy2uear1qg7wpoE5NbZkpPc5oNp      12902720
bc1qslr22g4mmdhzvag043jqengu4hpp5958344jus      11290272
3LfW3QzwBjiKrFf3Mh8yjcVrQsRuSttPij      9290272
1P9LLuSVx2qDBaZXNV9NKnpEfLXnY8uCYi      4290272
bc1quexfzxlq9rdmkjpun9l6tc0c4xlxd538p3qkj4      2902728
378PkJGK8cfYyWkutPV1Tjozn6M9g1jxVE      2902728
bc1q3cf86rs45tgycgcx9rvaqxejwfwxsgr9j67kt3      2902723
37AgmawdQkCVwnFxnao4NAu5MMAY7aAs3k      1290272
bc1qchu45a9qzd42wnhq8ehsg8tfvh7fey5rwy2ptj      1290272
bc1qzxs9q9f3gkmefksn64pd4p4awkcjmq3hfg4e82      1290272
bc1qx5plkfvvmqd3s2x2uadlcda93743u5t47rfem9      290272
1GpzaFKWVbcp7ucuYRGsj33XEuW9SEyCgv      290272
3BdzQdqRYFPczaQFZdBgTHGgmxdt6uVCCy      290272
13hM8xij7iGDc89TiRCAs9PeKVf4GwMayv      290272
1Q2qwbKWY57tUe1wB1GUjfLQPGEBoarxc5      290272
1L4sPepNKbNvpQg7dYGWgLyvDVhQEDU7b1      290272
32wC75ep13sBoTYaZQkWHaLFYrycCkqPsn      290272
13NNPR5beGugNkXd8BYQjsYArHMszD28dr      290272
3NUVgzCLAujp5yJ7RHURAkpHSzHmzjsYf5      290272
bc1q6cmkuenvlg0mypw5r5s7mrftduyqey7cvakr3y      290272
bc1qc4n7pp2tdvsr5q3j30xwf0dc46effgnq548whp      290272
1QAkiYSZ31wY2nmQTzMfmcLQqrJyhA3rRf      290272
1FAyfZp2eay6zuNWXbdRHR42BW4sMiRe27      290272

I'm curious to see the list of addresses involved. My guess is it was a different amount, or someone spammed all involved addresses with dust. It's unlikely all of those 4528 addresses were emptied.

[Accardo]

(0.290272 BTC) each to 4,528

There's not a single Bitcoin address that holds that exact amount:

16UNkG2YsbSLiByRmPNk55HnJvuJfKFU1H      2422902724
bc1qpm3aqzee0lqadklu5afsu59x7um2fmjgzw2wg9      60290272
3386rou7hopVHtyDtKB29FW8e9hmJwRsF5      32902722
35u6oQXz1rujyX1YtHZMBJZeTUzJgDmQHS      29027268
389HfGsgLvW1VpwwWbiNqBs3yPVjCbDEsi      29027236
bc1q3r7qvkyrgazcfs0c7m3peyhg54szyc4d8jywn3      29027221
3G8dUhww2D5BGwuovdVc7Msdtje2G285Sk      29027213
3L37yPTWy2uear1qg7wpoE5NbZkpPc5oNp      12902720
bc1qslr22g4mmdhzvag043jqengu4hpp5958344jus      11290272
3LfW3QzwBjiKrFf3Mh8yjcVrQsRuSttPij      9290272
1P9LLuSVx2qDBaZXNV9NKnpEfLXnY8uCYi      4290272
bc1quexfzxlq9rdmkjpun9l6tc0c4xlxd538p3qkj4      2902728
378PkJGK8cfYyWkutPV1Tjozn6M9g1jxVE      2902728
bc1q3cf86rs45tgycgcx9rvaqxejwfwxsgr9j67kt3      2902723
37AgmawdQkCVwnFxnao4NAu5MMAY7aAs3k      1290272
bc1qchu45a9qzd42wnhq8ehsg8tfvh7fey5rwy2ptj      1290272
bc1qzxs9q9f3gkmefksn64pd4p4awkcjmq3hfg4e82      1290272
bc1qx5plkfvvmqd3s2x2uadlcda93743u5t47rfem9      290272
1GpzaFKWVbcp7ucuYRGsj33XEuW9SEyCgv      290272
3BdzQdqRYFPczaQFZdBgTHGgmxdt6uVCCy      290272
13hM8xij7iGDc89TiRCAs9PeKVf4GwMayv      290272
1Q2qwbKWY57tUe1wB1GUjfLQPGEBoarxc5      290272
1L4sPepNKbNvpQg7dYGWgLyvDVhQEDU7b1      290272
32wC75ep13sBoTYaZQkWHaLFYrycCkqPsn      290272
13NNPR5beGugNkXd8BYQjsYArHMszD28dr      290272
3NUVgzCLAujp5yJ7RHURAkpHSzHmzjsYf5      290272
bc1q6cmkuenvlg0mypw5r5s7mrftduyqey7cvakr3y      290272
bc1qc4n7pp2tdvsr5q3j30xwf0dc46effgnq548whp      290272
1QAkiYSZ31wY2nmQTzMfmcLQqrJyhA3rRf      290272
1FAyfZp2eay6zuNWXbdRHR42BW4sMiRe27      290272

I'm curious to see the list of addresses involved. My guess is it was a different amount, or someone spammed all involved addresses with dust. It's unlikely all of those 4528 addresses were emptied.

I don't think they is a means of tracking the addresses of participants as the link to the survey is down. And its possible that those who held bought more bitcoin making it impossible to see an address with the exact balance. Moreover, how does your site operate? is it possible to go far back to 2014 transactions? or it searches generally on all addresses with a particular amount you want to check?


[/quote]

The most widespread airdrop I think. And lucky if some of those students held up to last year's ATH, they could buy more goods or services.
Just wondering how the distribution of bitcoin was at that time, because considering the article said bitcoin could only be spent on things related to education.

They had the fireflies application that enabled them to crowd source goods and services for bitcoin. But on the other article it was stated that some stores in the school stopped accepting bitcoin. However, as at 2014 bitcoin was getting more adoptions unlike the 2010 - 2011 era. I think for the school library to accept bitcoin then they'll be other means of spending bitcoin in the campus as bitcoin won't be a new term to them. Remember, MIT is a tech school and their students are IT geeks. They all spent their bitcoin, only few held even the fireflies programmer stated that he got his degree that's what matters when he was asked why he didn't hodl.

[noorman0]

-snip-

If my guess is correct, this is a kind of practice-based survey. Only with a centralized application can all spent bitcoins be known, of course for IT schools it is not difficult to build an application like this. In conclusion, the transaction does not occur on-chain because it is not intended for the technical development of bitcoin. cmiiw

[ThemePen]

Read both articles. One thing is puzzling me. What were the exact number or students. One article is showing 4500+ student.

The fund-raising objective was to distribute the funds in bitcoin to the more than 4,500 undergraduates enrolled at MIT to spur academic and entrepreneurial activity at the campus.

And if we go to the next article it is showing the 3100 students.

a couple of scholars distributed $100 in bitcoin to 3,100 students.

This a big difference. Almost 1400+.

By the way congrats to those who hold it.
Now one wallet has almost $6000+ if they hold.

[Flexystar]

Free distribution of bitcoins? Nah, that’s really bad idea. How much you think can be free dropped just like MIT event because in the current era the bitcoin is highly costly and highly in demand. If someone even host event like that then there will be rat race to acquire those free bitcoins and if it’s a mega airdrop then dam we gonna loose the demand from exchanges and p2p transaction and it could cause nice dump to bitcoins trading chart. I’m pretty sure we should not be doing that again.

[Rruchi man]

Giving-away free bitcoin to thousands of people is the best vehicle to Mass adoption.

It may not be so efficient. If free bitcoins are still distributed to people, More than 40% of these persons will quickly convert to fiat to spend it without considering to HODL. Things that are easily and freely gotten are usually not valued so much that is why you will still have some people squander it all immediately instead of hodling. When free things are given, you also need to tell the people the reason and the value of the what they have received so that they can be encouraged to Hodl.

[m2017]

Good results for those students who have hold bitcoin all these years. $100 then is ~$5,800 now or ~$20,000 at last peak price. It's not millions, but still, good bonuses. As you can see from the article, there were few of them. Mostly, many took it as a joke, and also, then few people saw the potential in bitcoin. But of course, this event in its own way influenced the crypto industry as a whole. After all, people bought something for btc, even those books in the library or food, when bitcoin went up in price 3 times, as described in the article. In any case, commodity-money transactions for btc took place and it is for these purposes that bitcoin should be used.

[Lucius]

This a big difference. Almost 1400+.

One number is obviously wrong, although it is not too important how many students received $100 worth of BTC, but how many of them then realized what they actually received. The data from the article, which by the way is from 2021, says that after two years a survey was conducted in which it is stated that 14% of those who received free BTC were still actively using it. We can't say that any of those students are more or less smart because they spent Bitcoin or kept it, because as one of the students who is from the whole story says :

A robotics engineer at Pendar Technologies, Selam Gano, said she sold her BTC for $300 worth of food when it increased 3x in value. “It was free money, I don’t have any regrets,” Gano said during her interview. “I got an MIT degree, which is the most important thing to me,” Gano added.

The most important thing is that Bitcoin has helped some in their studies, and it has obviously interested some to be active in Bitcoin today. In my opinion, the experiment was successful.

[Z-tight]

Free distribution of bitcoins? Nah, that’s really bad idea. How much you think can be free dropped just like MIT event because in the current era the bitcoin is highly costly and highly in demand. If someone even host event like that then there will be rat race to acquire those free bitcoins and if it’s a mega airdrop then dam we gonna loose the demand from exchanges and p2p transaction and it could cause nice dump to bitcoins trading chart. I’m pretty sure we should not be doing that again.

BTC is more expensive than it was in 2014 and it is surely harder for people to give out free BTC because of that, but it does not mean that people aren't doing it, but not just to over 4528 people, which is a lot by the way.

Free distribution of BTC was great for the network many years ago, and still is, it helped more people to have and use BTC and is a contributing factor to the growth in BTC you see today. Here is one event of BTC being given out in the past, which was of great help to the network. People who give out BTC are not concerned about what will happen to centralized exchanges (which in itself wasn't originally part of the network), but for more people to get to use BTC and take the network closer to mass adoption.

[LoyceV]

BTC is more expensive than it was in 2014 and it is surely harder for people to give out free BTC

$500,000 was a lot of money in 2014 too, and it doesn't matter how much that's worth in Bitcoin. If you'd raise the same amount today, you can still give $100 to 5000 people. They'll just get 0.005BTC each instead of 0.29BTC, but the purchasing power is about the same.

[Z-tight]

BTC is more expensive than it was in 2014 and it is surely harder for people to give out free BTC

$500,000 was a lot of money in 2014 too, and it doesn't matter how much that's worth in Bitcoin. If you'd raise the same amount today, you can still give $100 to 5000 people. They'll just get 0.005BTC each instead of 0.29BTC, but the purchasing power is about the same.

I know. But it could be that people who gave out free BTC to a large number of people in this way were miners back in the days and they didn't have to raise the huge sum of money in fiat first, but had easily mined the BTC themselves a lot earlier and gave them out to people when the chance came to do so. It isn't even only about the current price, people now see BTC as having a lot of potential to rise to unthikable prices, so surely it is harder to give out free BTC today than before.

[tranthidung]

Not all of students who claimed Bitcoin in that event were able to hold it more than 3 or 4 years. They very likely missed the bull run in 2017 and they mostly sold their Bitcoin to get $100 back and used it for personal demand.

I think you should edit the topic title because $500,000 is a big figure and readers can think each receiver received $500,000 in Bitcoin (2014) or received an amount of Bitcoin that worth $500,000 at 2022 price.

A better topic title is like:

• "8 years ago today, totally $500,000 was distributed to MIT students, $100 for each

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/29/mit-student-bitcoin-wall-street-donor

[UserU]

It isn't even only about the current price, people now see BTC as having a lot of potential to rise to unthikable prices, so surely it is harder to give out free BTC today than before.

Imagine it reaching 6-figures in price, how are those few bucks transactions are gonna be processed with those rising fees I wonder.

Then there are always altcoins for that.

[Ultegra134]

What startled me is that (almost) no one has already mentioned the extremely poor "conversion rates" of this experiment. From what I understood, according to the article, another experiment was conducted two years later in order to see how many students who took part in the bitcoin give away were still using bitcoin. Unfortunately, only 14% claimed to actively use Bitcoin. Isn't that a tiny percentage for students studying in such an advanced technological institute?

Thus, it's pretty safe to conclude that giving away free money isn't the key to Bitcoin's mass adoption. Most will simply convert it to fiat and cash out the money, which is quite a common option according to the article, as students claimed that it was "free money" and not an alternative way of holding value and conducting transactions.

[Lucius]

What startled me is that no one has already mentioned the extremely poor "conversion rates" of this experiment. From what I understood, according to the article, another experiment was conducted two years later in order to see how many students who took part in the bitcoin give away were still using bitcoin. Unfortunately, only 14% claimed to actively use Bitcoin. Isn't that a tiny percentage for students studying in such an advanced technological institute?

You obviously didn't read all the posts (and there aren't many of them), so you would have seen that I mentioned exactly that part that talks about 14% active after 2 years. But what did you expect in the period 2014-2016 when Bitcoin was still quite uninteresting for the majority? Students do not necessarily have to be people who can be expected to have a high level of understanding of some new technologies such as Bitcoin...

[Ultegra134]

What startled me is that no one has already mentioned the extremely poor "conversion rates" of this experiment. From what I understood, according to the article, another experiment was conducted two years later in order to see how many students who took part in the bitcoin give away were still using bitcoin. Unfortunately, only 14% claimed to actively use Bitcoin. Isn't that a tiny percentage for students studying in such an advanced technological institute?

You obviously didn't read all the posts (and there aren't many of them), so you would have seen that I mentioned exactly that part that talks about 14% active after 2 years. But what did you expect in the period 2014-2016 when Bitcoin was still quite uninteresting for the majority? Students do not necessarily have to be people who can be expected to have a high level of understanding of some new technologies such as Bitcoin...

Corrected it, I suspect that my grammar corrector (Quillbot) opted it out in the process of simplifying the sentence without noticing. Apart from your reply, I didn't notice anyone else claiming it. Anyway, the truth is that you're right, 2014-2016 was a pretty uninteresting era for Bitcoin, and it's quite ironic because I signed up here in 2014, but I was nowhere to be seen in less than a year. Thus, it's hypocritical for me to call these students out, because I myself have lost interest in Bitcoin. I wasn't given a free airdrop, though, but chances are that I'd do the same.