--- description: It's not quite free money, but it's close title: MIT Students to Get 100 Free Bitcoins image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d3ec40577cb24d3/69868d3406f2c1089532eac3/bitcoin-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # MIT Students To Get Free Bitcoins This Fall by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 30, 2014 6:38 PM CUT  It's not quite free money, but it's close. It's not quite free money, but it's close.Thomas Trutschel—Photothek/Getty Images by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 30, 2014 6:38 PM CUT Next year, MIT undergrads will pay $43,498 in tuition year, but hey, at least they’re getting 1oo free Bitcoins. MIT’s Bitcoin Club arranged the giveaway in hopes of turning the cryptocurrency into a viable payment model. The Bitcoin Club raised $500,000, most of it coming from a wealthy MIT alumnus, to make the project a reality. Few stores in the Cambridge area currently accept the currency, but with 4,528 undergrads having 100 Bitcoins burning a hole in their digital pocket, that could yet change. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/83023/mit-bitcoin-undergrads/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/83023/mit-bitcoin-undergrads/"},"headline":"MIT Students To Get Free Bitcoins This Fall","datePublished":"2014-04-30T18:38:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:02:07.522Z","description":"It's not quite free money, but it's close","url":"https://time.com/83023/mit-bitcoin-undergrads/","keywords":["Tech","Bitcoin","MIT","Cryptocurrency"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d3ec40577cb24d3/69868d3406f2c1089532eac3/bitcoin-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d3ec40577cb24d3/69868d3406f2c1089532eac3/bitcoin-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MIT Undergrads to Recieve 100 Bitcoins","caption":"It's not quite free money, but it's close.","creditText":"Thomas Trutschel—Photothek/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/83023/mit-bitcoin-undergrads/","name":"MIT Students To Get Free Bitcoins This Fall"}}]}] ```