Kodak-Branded Crypto Miner-for-Rent Scheme Fizzles Out

A Kodak-branded Bitcoin miner rental scheme will not go ahead as planned, the company's licensee Spotlite told the BBC July 16.

Spotlite USA is one of many firms that licenses the Kodak brand to put on its own products, such as Kodak LED Lighting.

Spotlite USA presented the Kodak-labelled KashMiner on Kodak's official stand at the CES technology show in Las Vegas in January.

According to Spotlite's plans, the mining equipment was originally intended to be rented out, with an up-front fee of about $3,400.

While Spotlite's chief executive Halston Mikail had announced plans to install units at Kodak's Rochester, New York headquarters, Kodak told BBC that the scheme was never officially licensed.

"While you saw units at CES from our licensee Spotlite, the KashMiner is not a Kodak brand licensed product. Units were not installed at our headquarters."

Economist Saifedean Ammous said, "There is no way your magical Kodak miner will make the same $375 every month." Many critics also suggested that the scheme did not take into account the fact that Bitcoin mining is becoming more complicated.

Mikail told the BBC that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission prevented Spotlite from moving ahead with the miner rental plan.

On Jan. 9, Kodak announced plans to launch its own cryptocurrency on the KodakOne platform.

On Jan. 30, just a day before the initial coin offering was set to start, Kodak delayed the launch of the new cryptocurrency, citing the need to evaluate the status of potential investors.