Originally published by SacBee.com on June 28, 2018

The Sacramento Kings have accomplished a new record, but it’s not in points, assists or steals. The Kings are officially the first team in the league – and in the world – to mine digital currency.

The Kings have teamed with cryptocurrency group MiningStore to install mining machines in Golden 1 Center, which the team says houses the world’s most advanced technology infrastructure. The mining will fund a multiyear scholarship program called MiningForGood, according to an announcement by the team Wednesday.

Through grants, the partnership aims to support workforce development and technology education programs in Sacramento.

The first partner for the program will be the Build. Black. Coalition, which is described as a group of “community leaders organized to support transformational change for Black communities in Sacramento.” The team is already working with Build. Black. Coalition on its Kings and Queens Rise co-ed, inter-community summer youth basketball league that tipped off on June 9.

“Opportunity begins when technology allows the world to find innovative solutions to complex problems,” Kings principal owner Vivek Ranadive said in the announcement. “Through MiningForGood, we aim to inspire the next generation of tinkerers and thinkers to create change in their own community and around the globe.”

“Imperium” models of MiningStore’s cryptocurrency mining machines will be used to mine Ethereum, which is a “public, open-sourced Blockchain-based platform,” according to the news release.

The “Imperium” machines are currently priced on MiningStore’s website at $4,950 each.

Cryptocurrency works by using the machines to “verify other coin user transactions by solving complex mathematical problems.” The result will be a portion of transactions contributing to the MiningForGood program.

The Sacramento Kings were the first professional sports team to accept Bitcoin, partnering with BitPay in 2014.

This story appeared in the Sacramento Bee print edition for July 1, 2018 in the local section on page 5B.