One of the smartest guys I know likes to get on me about the environmental impact of mining Bitcoin. I asked him how he would react if Bitcoin didn't cost so much energy to mine, what if there was a cryptocurrency that you could mine on your phone? Well, he still objects but since he isn't spending his Decembers campaigning against folks who hang Christmas lights, I had to stop paying attention.
That's where the Pi cryptocurrency came in. Pi can be mined with a cell phone. Your computer can turn into a Pi Network node. There are something like ten million users so far so it's still relatively early and hash rates are still decent.
Of course, he's right insofar as the MLM for grown men. That's where I get a little bit wary... did they find a couple of folks with degrees to lend their names to something, or, is the project being run by people with solid academic credentials? One thing about projects though, in business, a track record is worth more than academic credentials. Of course, everyone has to start somewhere, right?
Pi looks to be an interesting project. I'll throw my hat in. I think there's some value in geospatial data - it's one of the primary reasons I use my cell phone to navigate in my own city - traffic patterns matter and change over time. The flu spreads every year and cell phone apps can make that spread easier to identify. Some day, we are going to be faced with another pandemic.
