VOLUNTEER YOUR COMPUTER’S SPARE POWER TO GET PEOPLE OUT OF JAIL
“What are you donating when you run Bail Bloc?
Your computer is being used to verify transactions for the Monero cryptocurrency ledger. This process of reward is known as “mining” and is an incentive to participate in the upkeep of the network. When you run Bail Bloc, you are donating a small percentage of your overall computing power to this task, which results in money for bailing people out of pre-trial detention.
Why Monero?
Monero is an ASIC-resistant cryptocurrency, which means two things: that computers designed for the singular purpose of mining cryptocurrency are unable to mine it, and that consumer-level computers can mine it in a financially viable way. It also has a stable value relative to other high value cryptocurrencies. The open source code base for Monero mining software made this a tenable project for our team.
Doesn’t mining have a large environmental footprint?
Mining cryptocurrency requires energy. It is important to make the distinction, however, between Monero mining and Bitcoin mining. The latter has been in the news for its considerable environmental impact. Bail Bloc is a very small mining operation compared to what is referenced in those articles. “Bitcoin Farms” generate hundreds of thousands of dollars per day; Bail Bloc, on the other hand, generates–on an individual level–mere cents per day. Bail Bloc is set to utilize only an additional 10-25% of your computing power, and so your environmental impact will be 10-25% greater than is usual for your computer.
Will my electricity bill go up?
On an individual level, the funds generated by Bail Bloc are negligible (we estimate that each computer will generate $3-5 per month), and so the increase in your electricity bill should be negligible too. If you’re worried about even a small increase in your electricity bill–we’re talking $1-2–try using Bail Bloc in a place where an institution pays the bills and allows you to run moderate computing tasks (e.g. gaming or watching YouTube videos). For example, at your place of employment, at school, or at a gentrifying coffee shop.”
