Unicef Australia turns to cryptocurrency mining for fundraising
Unicef Australia has announced The Hopepage, a browser-based cryptocurrency mining platform that uses a third-party computer's processing power to automatically generate funds.
When on The Hopepage, an individual's browser uses the computer's processor to solve cryptocurrency algorithms -- users can select how much processor power they want to donate to the task.
The longer the browser is open, the more processor power is donated, which means more algorithms get solved, earning cryptocurrency.
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"Mining is perfectly safe for your computer. If you're ever worried about power consumption, turn down the amount of processing power you're donating," Unicef explains.
The cryptocurrency is then automatically donated to Unicef Australia and is turned into real funds that the organisation said reach children through supplies such as safe water, therapeutic food, and vaccines.
"We wanted to leverage new emerging technologies to raise awareness about current humanitarian crises and raise funds to support children caught up in them," Unicef Australia director of fundraising and communications Jennifer Tierney said. "The Hopepage allows Australians to provide help and hope to vulnerable children by simply opening the page while they are online."
The donation platform is powered by Coinhive's AuthedMine.com, which offers a Monero miner that can be embedded into other websites.
AuthedMine.com only allows a site to use a visitor's CPU after the user opts in.
Must read: Android security: Coin miners show up in apps and sites to wear out your CPU
Unicef is a global humanitarian and development agency focused on children's rights. Although it is the United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef is not funded by the UN; rather, it provides assistance from voluntary donations.
According to Unicef, The Hopepage is currently supporting the organisation's response to the Rohingya crisis. It said all funds raised through The Hopepage will help provide supplies to Rohingya children who fled their homes in Myanmar and are now living in refugee camps in Bangladesh.
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