(CNN Business) —
Mining for bitcoin and different cryptocurrencies is usually completed by firms that personal huge server farms working exterior of the United States. But cybersecurity firm NortonLifeLock is hoping to convey mining to your desktop.
NortonLIfeLock
(NLOK) introduced Wednesday morning that it’s launching a brand new characteristic for a choose group of early customers of its Norton 360 platform that will enable them to mine for ethereum, the world’s second most respected cryptocurency, on their private computer systems.
“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,” mentioned Vincent Pilette, CEO of NortonLifeLock, in a press release.
NortonLifeLock is the patron cybersecurity firm previously referred to as Symantec. The firm modified its identify after Broadcom
(AVGO) purchased the enterprise security software business (which focuses on huge company customers) of Symantec in 2019.
The new characteristic, dubbed Norton Crypto, will be out there solely to a small group of customers, however the firm mentioned it hopes to increase it to all of its practically 13 million Norton 360 customers within the coming months.
“While the company will start slow, with a focus on helping customers safely mine Ethereum, NortonLifeLock is considering adding reputable crypto currencies in the future,” the corporate mentioned in reply to questions from CNN.
While the corporate’s press launch didn’t say whether or not it was wanting so as to add different high cryptocurrencies, the corporate mentioned it initially “will be focused on top cryptos that allow our members to get the highest reward for their computing capacity.”
Crypto mining sometimes has been a dicey endeavor for common customers. There have been considerations about folks having their cash stolen after disabling their safety as a way to run mining software program. Individual miners additionally run the chance of getting ransomware planted on their PCs.
There’s additionally the extra mundane challenge of individuals shedding entry to their crypto wallets as a consequence of misplaced passwords or arduous drive failures.
NortonLifeLock claims to have solved these issues with its Crypto Miner service as a result of it options added safety and in addition shops crypto earnings in a Norton Crypto Wallet that’s saved within the cloud versus a person’s arduous drive on their PC.
“We are proud to be the first consumer Cyber Safety company to offer coinminers the ability to safely and easily turn the idle time on their PCs into an opportunity to earn digital currency,” mentioned Gagan Singh, chief product officer at NortonLifeLock, within the press launch.
“With Norton Crypto, our customers can mine for cryptocurrency with just a few clicks, avoiding many barriers to entry in the cryptocurrency ecosystem,” Singh added.
The timing of the information comes at a tumultuous time for the world of cryptocurrency investing. Bitcoin, ethereum and different main cryptos suffered their biggest monthly drop in nearly a decade in May.
Tesla
(TSLA) CEO Elon Musk spooked traders final month when he introduced that Tesla
(TSLA) would not settle for bitcoin as fee for its automobiles as a consequence of considerations in regards to the environmental affect of bitcoin mining, which tends to require lots of power.
NortonLifeLock was not out there for remark about worries relating to crypto mining and the atmosphere, both.
For his half, Musk softened his stance barely after crypto bull Michael Saylor, the CEO of software program firm MicroStrategy
(MSTR) and a serious bitcoin investor, arranged a meeting between Musk and executives of high bitcoin mining companies to handle power utilization considerations.
Worries about elevated rules on bitcoin from China and the US have additionally spooked crypto traders these days, nonetheless.