File photo.

Nathan Menkveld, a senior computer science major, had an idea to harness Calvin’s computing power to generate extra cash by mining cryptocurrency, which could be put towards a department scholarship, as computer science chair Joel Adams suggested, or used to replace equipment in the computer labs, as Menkveld originally hoped, but for reasons technological, political and economic, this idea never came to fruition.

Cryptocurrencies have ignited a firestorm of interest within the techie and anarcho-capitalist communities as of late. Bitcoin, the first and most popular cryptocurrency, has been joined by others, including Litecoin and Namecoin. These currencies use cryptography and peer-to-peer file-sharing technologies for pseudonymous, decentralized monetary transactions. They differ from typical currencies in that they are not backed by any central authority and make nearly anonymous transactions possible.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can be purchased, but they can also be “mined, ” the term for the process of generating new coins. Anyone can run a program on his or her own computer that “mines” cryptocurrency by solving hard math problems in what is called a “proof-of-work” scheme. The hardness of the problem is automatically adjusted to control the rate at which new units of currency are released.

Menkveld’s initial mining experiment nearly melted his laptop. A clog in the heatsink meant that the heat generated by his graphics processing unit (GPU) couldn’t dissipate quickly enough. The GPU reached 103 degrees Celsius (217 degrees Fahrenheit), exceeding the boiling point of water. For reference, normal operating temperatures are between 75 and 85 degrees Celsius. The extreme heat left internal burn marks, but the damage was only cosmetic. Once Menkveld cleaned years of dust and dog hair from his laptop’s air vents, the GPU functioned normally and he was able to mine the equivalent of several dollars a day.

Source: www.calvin.edu