New Screensaver Mines Monero for Change.org Foundation
Update 7/20: Change.org reached out to CCN.com to clarify that the program was launched by an outside marketing agency — not the Change.org Foundation — and that the revenue will solely support the organization’s work in Brazil. The article has been updated to reflect this.
Supporters of popular social petition platform Change.org can now install a screensaver that will mine monero on behalf of the for-profit organization’s charitable foundation to contribute to its work in Brazil..
Change.org Supporters Can Mine Monero for Charity
Dubbed “The Mining Screensaver,” the tool — which was created by Brazil-based marketing agency TracyLockeBrasil — activates whenever a user steps away from his or her computer for a set period of time. As long as the device remains powered on, the tool will use the PC’s idle processing power to run software that mines monero, a privacy-centric cryptocurrency that cannot currently be mined using specialized mining hardware called “ASIC miners.”
Even so, it’s still not very profitable for a user to mine monero on a single PC. However, if thousands of supporters pool their resources to mine on Change.org’s behalf, the organization could net a significant windfall to help fund its charitable arm.
The screensaver is currently only available for Windows devices, and it is not clear from the announcement whether the project’s backers will release it for other operating systems.
CPU-Based Monero Mining Grows in Popularity
Change.org isn’t the only organization that has asked its supporters to mine cryptocurrency to contribute to social impact projects. As CCN.com reported, UNICEF Australia created a dedicated website called “The HopePage” that harnesses the processing power of visitors’ computers to mine monero for the organization while they have the page open in their browsers.
For-profit companies have experimented with monero mining as well, primarily through CoinHive, a JavaScript-based mining script. Earlier this year, Slate conducted a trial in which it allowed readers to donate their computing power to mine monero in exchange for an ad-free browsing experience.
However, criminals have taken advantage of these JavaScript-based tools as well, which can easily be hidden in browser extensions or injected directly into the source code of websites with subpar security.
Nevertheless, the project’s promoters want supporters to know that, despite some nefarious associations, the initiative is above board and otherwise safe for users.
“This is legal, safe, simple and has nothing to do with hacker activities, viruses or any other digital threats. It’s actually an alternative economic system that has the potential to revolutionize the way money circulate[s] in the society,” the organization said. “So why not using (sic) this system to create something good?”
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