With Change.org, the computer became a strong tool to create changes in the world. But millions of computers stay inactive for hours, in offices and houses worldwide. So what if we could use them to help too?

So we created THE MINING SCREENSAVER. A screensaver that mines cryptocurrency to fund social causes.

Every time you get out of your computer, it will dedicate its processing power to solve blockchain operations. Each operation completed generates fractions of cryptocoins, donated to the Change.org Foundation.

To make the screensaver viable we used the Coinhive API that mines the Monero cryptocurrency through JavaScript. Since the computer is not being used while the software is running, there are no problems of performance for the user.

We also took care of all the security protocols in order to make the software safe for both PC and MAC platforms.

It is available via download on themininscreensaver.com since April 30th, and the intention is to make it a permanent tool for donations to Change.org.

THE MINING SCREENSAVER was launched in April 30th, so there are no concrete results to the day of the project entry in the festival.

But there are counters updated in real-time on theminingscreensaver.com, analyzing number of downloads and total minutes mined.

The project has the potential to reach huge results, since just the base of users from Change.org has more than 200 million people, without counting partner companies and other users.

We wanted to target our own base of users, as well as other people, interested in helping the world somehow without having to make a big effort.

To achieve a good amount of donations, we need several people using the screensaver, since mining cryptocurrency is very hard on regular personal computers. With more computers connected, we can multiply the processing power.

We have to go big, so our strategy is to start in South America, where Change,org is very strong, and going global depending on the level of engagement achieved.

To gain even more scale, the screensaver will be installed in the computers of partner companies’ offices.

Change.org is a global platform with more than 200 million people changing the world by creating online petitions and pressing authorities on several issues, like economy, health, environment and human rights.

But one of the main ways to fund the company, so it keeps growing and helping people, is through donations from the users. And even though our base of users is huge, few of them actually donate constantly.

So the challenge was to create a tool to facilitate donations from users and capable of creating a regular and constant form of funding.