Event made possible thanks to generous contributions from ChangeTip, Cavirtex, Coinsetter, Bitcoin Alliance of Canada, and Satoshi Counter.

The McGill Cryptocurrency Club is excited to announce that day 1 of this year’s #McGillBitcoinAirdrop was a complete success. The club gave away hundreds of dollars worth of bitcoin to students using ChangeTip, Twitter, and the innovative Tips on a plane application. The goal of the campaign is to foster interest in Bitcoin amongst students and promote adoption and use on campus.

The event began on Wednesday, September 3 when McGill Cryptocurrency Club founder Michael Gord and the executive director of the Bitcoin Alliance of Canada and CAVIRTEX VP Kyle Kemper convened at the Bitcoin Embassy in Montreal to prepare for the Airdrop. ChangeTip, the San Francisco based Bitcoin and social payments company, is the leading sponsor of the event and it was through their platform that the Airdrop took place. Using ChangeTip, bitcoins were given out over Twitter and loaded onto paper airplanes. The paper airplanes were loaded with $5, $10, and $20 of Bitcoin and featured a QR code and a unique URL that once inputted delivered bitcoin to the recipient.

Over the course of the day, Gord and Kemper distributed Bitcoin to students, faculty, security guards, and other interested parties. At times, the two were swarmed by groups of 1st year “frosh” students eager for Bitcoin and to learn more. As it turned out, the “frosh leaders” were familiar with the Airdrop having participated in it the previous year.

While outside the business management building on McGill campus, Kemper had the chance to interview Peg Brunelle, Career Advisor at McGill, about Bitcoin. Brunelle was enthusiastic about the domestic and international opportunities that Bitcoin creates and saw the airdrop as an innovative way to highlight this emerging technology to students and faculty. She even indicated that the frequency that students are asking about bitcoin is noticeably rising.

As evening approached, Kemper and Gord entered OAP where they continued to distribute Bitcoin and interview students. Towards the end the day, the Montreal band Clut Classic participated in the Airdrop and tossed some Bitcoin loaded airplanes to the crowd.

“This year’s McGill Bitcoin Airdrop has only begun and the McGill Cryptocurrency Club is off to a great start”, says Michael Gord. “We’ll be hosting events for students to get free Bitcoin all year”. McGill is quickly becoming an international hub for cryptocurrency and Gord is optimistic that the University will begin to accept alumni donations in Bitcoin.

All of this was made possible with the help of sponsors. ChangeTip provided funds and also an incredible tool for spreading Bitcoin. Cavirtex, the Canadian Virtual Exchange, is the countries leading online exchange for Canadians looking to buy, sell and trade Bitcoin; for more information go to www.cavirtex.com. The Bitcoin Alliance of Canada is a national not-for-profit association dedicated to promoting Bitcoin education and adoption; for more information go to www.bitcoinalliance.ca. Satoshi Counter, located in the Bitcoin Embassy on Rue St-Laurent just minutes from McGill campus, allows people to buy and sell bitcoin in a safe and professional environment; for more information for to http://satoshicounter.com/.

The McGill Cryptocurrency Club accepts donations over the clubs twitter, @McGillCrypto, via ChangeTip. For more information about the AirDrop or the club, please contact Michael Gord (michael.gord@mail.mcgill.ca) or Kyle Kemper (613.862.1808, kylek@cavirtex.com). More details can be found at bitcoinairdrop.ca. To receive some free Bitcoin follow @McGillCrypto on Twitter and @bitcoinairdrop Instagram and watch the hashtag #McGillBitcoinAirdrop to see what happens next. A video recap of the event will be published soon.