Korea's 'poop-coin' project was rejected in February, inventor reveals

There wasn't enough interest in the project, and it couldn't stand on its own, according to the Korean professor behind the Beevi project says.

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The South Korean government has shut down a science program that created toilets designed to turn human waste into electricity, heat and digital currency.

The Science Walden project was revealed in July 2021 much to the amusement of the crypto community and the general public - introducing the BeeVi toilet, which turned human feces into methane and rewarded its "depositors" with a digital currency called Ggool.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, however, Science Walden head and Professor Cho Jae-weon revealed that in February this year, the further development of the BeeVi toilet and its associated digital currency Feces Standard Money (FSM) s was "unfortunately" discontinued after the planned end of the project's five-year funding:

"My project, Science Walden, unfortunately ended in February of this year, with FSM and BeeVi [...] I think they thought they had supported it enough and I think Science Walden should stand up to be independent."

Cho noted that there are still a few BeeVi restrooms inside the campus in his science cabin on the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology campus, but that is the only place where such toilets currently exist.

Since its invention, BeeVi users have been relieved to earn the digital currency Ggool, a transliteration of the Korean word for honey, and tokens to supply power to the university. The currency could be used to buy on-campus goods such as coffee and snacks, but the market hasn't been active for most of 2022 so far.

South Korean professor Cho Jae-weon invented a toilet that turns poo into energy and pays people in digital currency.

One person defecates ~500g/day converted into 50 liters of methane which generates 0.5kWh.

Toilet users earn Ggool, a true sh3t coin. pic.twitter.com/DCn3WteII5

— Brian Roemmele (@BrianRoemmele) August 17, 2022