Norton is really thinking outside the box here. Who would have expected that the antivirus you used to set up for your parent’s computer can now be used as a crypto miner? Many laptops come pre-installed with the software so we can guess Norton’s angle here. In their press release, they said that their aim was to put all of the guesswork and research aside. People no longer have to search the internet for the “top ten crypto miners for bitcoin”.
In their press release, the company said that “Norton Crypto is yet another innovative example of how we are expanding our Cyber Safety platform to protect our customers’ ever-evolving digital lives”. Norton Crypto allows consumers to safely and easily mine cryptocurrency through the Norton 360 platform.
You can opt for an early adopter program starting today that will allow consumers to try the miner and mine for Ethereum. According to Vincent Pilette, CEO of NortonLifeLock, “As the crypto economy continues to become a more important part of our customers’ lives, we want to empower them to mine cryptocurrency with Norton, a brand they trust”. The consumer’s crypto wallets will also be stored on the cloud using their own Norton Wallet. They’ll even allow users a choice if they want to pull their money into Coinbase.
Many crypto miners right now needed the user to disable their anti-virus software while using them so I guess the solution Norton came up with was to make their anti-virus software, a crypto miner. The idea is really unique and not a bad way to get more people into the mining scene but this does raise environmental concerns.
Hundred of new miners mean, well, more mining which means more carbon emissions. Many people shy away from entering the mining scene due to the amount of research and searching they have to do. Not to mention finding the right miner and setting it up. Take that away and you’ll see a spike in the mining scene.
Many have expressed concerns over the environmental implications of mining. Not to mention how many watts of electricity mining setups use. Iran had to ban mining for the summer due to the number of blackouts in recent weeks. The country just didn’t have enough energy to sustain mining operations during the summer.
Guess I won’t be buying any graphics cards anytime soon.