Vertcoin is a digital currency that can be sent from peer to peer over the internet and focuses on resistance of ASICs (Powerful computers specialised for crypto mining). It is very similar to Litecoin and Bitcoin, except Vertcoin’s design prevents huge companies from monopolising the mining process and instead goes down the route of owners of simple GPUs and CPUs having as much opportunity to mine the cryptocurrency as anyone else. Vertcoin never had an ICO and is developed by volunteers, with funding totally coming from donations.
Vertcoin is a very simple cryptocurrency. It uses a proof of work algorithm, and what makes Vertcoin different to the likes of Litecoin and Bitcoin is that it is dedicated to stopping miners using ASIC mining hardware to mine the coin. This means users now only need GPUs and CPUs from everyday computers to mine the coin. This keeps it incredibly accessible for the general public to begin mining and earning money with relatively standard hardware.
Vertcoin first started in 2014 with the Scrypt-N algorithm which has since had specific ASICs developed that are build to mine Scrypt-N based PoW coins. This means that the Vertcoin algorithm was rebuilt from scratch so that it could remain resistant to the miners that use ASICs.
What was developed was a brand new algorithm which they called the Lyra2RE algorithm. This was produced as the result of a fork of Vertcoin, and according to the whitepaper of the Lyra2RE algorithm the team have managed to develop a process that is said to “change memory usage and time cost independently, giving us more leverage against ASICs.”
In 2015 this algorithm was again forked and the team implemented the new version of the Lyra algorithm, the Lyra2REv2. This was needed as there was an apparent botnet that had managed to take control of the network’s hashing power.
Lyra2REv2 is the current algorithm and has so far done a great job at keeping the Vertcoin teams vision intact and only allows mining to take place with consumer grade GPUs and CPUs.
So, as Vertcoin is aimed at people who can mine the coin with basic mining hardware, such as commercially available GPUs and CPUs, surely there must be some software for people to easily mine the coin as well?
Luckily there is! The Vertcoin 1 Click Miner is exactly this. The 1 Click Mining Software is a super easy miner that was created for the exact reason mentioned above. It’s allows absolute newbies who have no crypto experience and limited computer knowledge to easily start mining a cryptocurrency.
In some regards, Vertcoin is like the much more recent Electroneum. A coin that is dedicated to helping new users experience what cryptocurrencies are about. Albeit Electroneum is doing in on a mobile platform where as Vertcoin is solely based on PCs.
Read our review of beginners guide to Electroneum for more information about what they are doing and if it’s worth investing.
The Vertcoin miner is available to be downloaded from the Vertcoin website. Once it’s been downloaded you’ll have to enter a wallet address for any rewards you earn and select a mining pool to join. You also need to tell the miner if you’ll be using a GPU or CPU. After this setup you can run the miner and start earning some Vertcoin.
Currently there are several projects that are in progress. For example they are focusing heavily on the Vertcoin wallet. They want to add more wallet support, improve the user experience and interface with a new design and even create an iOS wallet.
Having a team that is actively working in their spare time to create a cryptocurrency that is completely open source without anything in return is quite an achievement.
Read our reviews of Coinbase and Coinmama to get a better idea of what you need to know when buying Ethereum or Bitcoin.
If a long term solution isn’t for you then the Vertcoin core wallet or the Coinomi mobile wallet are what we recommend.
Cons
For more Electroneum news and information, follow our Twitter and like our Facebook page.
