Spectrum News: UC students to mine cryptocurrency

Tech entrepreneur Adam Koehler donated a crypto mining rig to UC. After repairing the rig, a computer that solves complex formulas to find cryptocurrencies, UC students will use it to mine Ether, a type of cryptocurrency.

The money raised by mining cryptocurrency will be donated to SCPA Fund, which supports the School of Creative and Performing Arts' academic and creative endeavors. The money will help maintain 254 student instruments, provide 1,000 pointe shoes for ballet students, produce 295 annual student performances, and supplement hiring additional staff and adding new equipment.

Koehler donated the rig to UC after a discussion with Michael Jones, an economics professor who teaches a cryptocurrency class for undergraduate honors students.

“Adam mentioned to me that he had a crypto mining rig that was no longer working, and he thought it would be a pretty neat project if some of the students could get some experience seeing if they could get it back up and mining cryptocurrency again,” Jones said. “I knew Adam worked with SCPA, and we just started to have a conversation about different models for nonprofit funding, and we thought it’d be pretty neat to send over whatever we mine to SCPA.”

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