Cryptocurrency mining — the process in which computing power is utilised to address algorithms, in turn producing coins — is increasingly becoming more prevalent on college campuses across the U.S, notably in individuals where power is portion to pay in their tuition fee.
Joey Dilliha, an 18-year-old freshman at Western Kentucky University who admits he’s making $30 a week cryptocurrency with his Bitmain Antminer. “I believe more people should be doing it,” Dilliha told MarketWatch. “It’s a super fun, and cool, cheap way to be introduced to the market of mining.” Dilliha, who bought his rig for about $250 on eBay, has turned into a profit of $180 so far.
According to cybersecurity firm Vectra, some 60% of mining traffic arises in computers using IP addresses connected with universities and colleges, with medical care being another greatest industry for mining traffic in only 3%. That is probable because mining takes a good deal of power, causing students and crypto-enthusiasts to benefit from this endless source of free power available in university provided housing.
“Students are more likely to perform crypto mining personally as they don’t pay for power, the primary cost of crypto mining,” chief of security analytics in Vectra, Chris Morales, explained.
The entire energy usage of the Bitcoin network consumes as much power as 2 million U.S. domiciles — up to 215 kilowatt-hours of energy per transaction; and mining one Bitcoin could cost anywhere from $3,000 to nearly $10,000 in a few states, depending on the cost of power in the region (according to statistics in Morgan Stanley).
The practice has been explicitly outlawed by many schools. For instance, in January, Stanford University cautioned students that mining has “compromised systems, misused university computing equipment, and possessed mining apparatus with campus power.”
“Per university policy, Stanford resources must not be used for personal financial gain,” the blog post read. “As such, community members are prohibited from using university resources (including computing equipment, network services, and electricity) for cryptocurrency mining activities outside of faculty sanctioned research and coursework.”
Dilliha said his mining set-up is banned, but not because it’s using the university’s power, because it’s a fire hazard, stated at Western Kentucky University. “On dorm room check days, I have to turn it off and put a blanket over it,” he said. “Nevertheless my RA [resident adviser] wants to come in and chat about it with me personally”, Diliha added.
University students across the country have shown an increasing interest in cryptocurrencies since the price of Bitcoin shot up at the latter part of the previous year. According to recent information gathered by the Student Loan Report, one in five students report with their student loan money to buy cryptocurrency.
