Free BTC at MIT

[darkidoe]

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.

[Dannie]

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

[Ghepetto]

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

[friendlyelmo]

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

[RomertL]

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

[SomethingElse]

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).

[xsmoffx]

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

[Jcw188]

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).

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?

[Bit_Happy]

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).

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.

[Bit_Happy]

Two MIT students have raised half a million dollars to distribute $100 in bitcoin to every undergraduate student at MIT this fall.

How do they manage to raise so much money

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

[CoinBreader]

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

[Arghhh]

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

[jcoin200]

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.

[RodeoX]

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.

[Beef Supreme]

Just the beginning friends!

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

[DeboraMeeks]

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

[MegaHustlr]

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

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

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.

And spreading the main idea of bitcoin!

[monsterbitty]

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.

[Bit_Happy]

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.

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.

[thok422]

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