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Student Makes $24,000 With Simple QR Code

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BitcoinTake College Game Day, Bitcoin, and a QR code, put them together and what do you get?  $24,000 in the wallet of a poor college student.  Wish I had thought of this.

This is a perfect example of the possibilities of a QR code and the practical benefits.

For those who don’t watch college football, College Gameday is a live ESPN broadcast from a college campus where typically one of the biggest college football games will be played on that given Saturday.  This typically draws huge fan support, and as with every Gameday, most of these student fans bring signs to show off to the camera and the television viewers.

Well one smart student brought a sign that read simply “Hi Mom Send” with a large QR code and Large Bitcoin photo underneath it.  To anyone familiar with QR codes they would understand that the student was indicating that they could donate Bitcoins by scanning the QR code (Bitcoins, for those that are unfamiliar, are a private form of e-currency).

To the amazement of many, likely including the student with the sign, the student received 22 Bitcoins from over 100 people (1 Bitcoin = ~$1,100 FRN’s currently).  Totaling ~$24,000.  Probably more than this student has made in all his summer jobs put together.  A successful College Gameday for one fan, no matter the outcome of the football game.

This highlights, in a fantastic way, just how powerful a QR code can be.  At least 100 people, who also used Botcoins, saw the code, scanned it, and voluntarily donated to this student and received nothing in return.  If you are a company selling something, anything, think of the number of transactions you could see just by using a well placed QR code in your advertising campaign.  I suspect more people would prefer to receive something in return for their Bitcoins, or even more likely for fear of losing value, their Federal Reserve Notes.

If you aren’t using QR codes on your physical advertising, you are missing out.  This student is a great example of how.