[INFO] How to mine cryptocurrency for the benefit of science and society (and without video cards): BOINC, Gridcoin and SPARC projects

As you know, BTC works on the POW principle, that is, proof by work, however, as the popularity of the currency grew, more and more miners joined it. Over time, this led to a significant increase in the complexity of the Bitcoin network and high energy costs for its maintenance. According to the most conservative estimates, today the number one cryptocurrency network consumes approximately 500 megawatt hours of electricity per year, which corresponds to the energy consumption of a million-plus city for the same period.

This did not go unnoticed, and soon new cryptocurrencies based on the POS (proof of ownership) mechanism or mixed POW/POS cryptocurrencies began to appear, the advertising campaign of which aggressively highlighted the fact that they, unlike Bitcoin and the like, are environmentally friendly, “green” cryptocurrencies and consume significantly less energy for their operation.

However, there were those who thought in a completely different way. From their point of view, the main problem of such cryptocurrencies is not that they consume a lot of energy resources, but that their networks “heat the air” for nothing. In the process of generating new coins using the POW principle, a hashing process takes place, that is, essentially, ordinary mathematical calculations.

In Bitcoin, this process is aimed only at encrypting the currency itself, and the complexity of the calculations is intentionally increased, which means that most of the resources are wasted. And then a rather interesting idea arose to combine cryptocurrency and real useful scientific calculations, which would benefit not only business, but also science, and therefore humanity as a whole. It is one of these currencies, namely Gridcoin, that we will try to tell you about today.

Description

Gridcoin uses a scientific research verification algorithm in partnership with the Berkeley Open Platform for Network Computing (better known as BOINC). The protocol is designed in such a way that participants are rewarded for completing computational tasks in BOINC. The system is based on the connection between the CPID project user ID and the Gridcoin wallet. The award is issued in the GRC in proportion to the RAC value earned, depending on the degree of contribution to a particular project.

BOINC supports a number of scientific projects that require significant computing power but do not have the financial means to use supercomputers. At the same time, most cryptocurrencies consume a lot of electricity to calculate new blocks in the blockchain. Gridcoin is focused on using computing power not to form a blockchain, but in tasks that can benefit humanity. Only a small portion of the computation goes into securing the blockchain.

Gridcoin allows for near-instant peer-to-peer transactions with low transaction fees. The Gridcoin software is open and everyone has the opportunity to participate in the improvement and development of the project.

Gridcoin additionally supports a blockchain-based voting system, which makes it possible to initiate proposals and participate in issues under discussion. One of the main topics of voting is the list of BOINC projects recognized by Gridcoin. It is designed to prevent some users from being unfairly rewarded by maintaining a high RAC when other established projects do not provide it. There are also a number of fun and informal surveys to encourage new users to participate in the project.

Gridcoin rate and forecast

The GRC rate skyrocketed very strongly at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2018, when almost 20 American cents were given for one Gridcoin coin. This was primarily due to the rapid growth of the entire cryptocurrency market, but after the excitement passed, prices for GRC also fell. So, today the official GRC rate to the US dollar is 0.05 USD per coin, while the Gridcoin rate to the ruble is 3.15 RUB per coin.

According to experts, Gridcoin will be able to strengthen its position in the future. For this, cryptocurrency has all the possibilities, namely open source, advantages in positioning as a serious currency and support from the scientific community. Of course, the fate of this coin largely depends on how well the cryptocurrency market in general and “big” cryptocurrencies in particular will feel. However, if major shocks do not happen, then Gridcoin has a good chance of consolidating its successes and even growing in price.

Story

Gridcoin was officially launched on October 16, 2013 by developer Rob Halförd. Like most cryptocurrencies, Gridcoin is decentralized - it works without the intervention of a third party.

On October 11, 2014, a transition was made between protocol versions - from the original Gridcoin Classic to Gridcoin Research. Gridcoin Research uses a hybrid issuance system that combines proof of work and proof of stake. The transition eliminated non-BOINC calculations. The amount of computing power used to secure the blockchain is minimal, unlike typical cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Additionally, with the transition to Gridcoin Research, the level of security for proof of participation has been improved.

SPARC

Gridcoin isn't the only coin you can and will earn for research. Not long ago, a new project called SPARC - Supercomputer Coins appeared. There is a topic on BitcoinTolk and the official website is https://sparc.network. GRCPool already credits you with SPARC for your work - although you won’t be able to withdraw them yet. The project is preparing an ICO for September 1 this year. You can try the alpha version at the following address: https://alpha.sparc.network or look at the demo dashboard. Well, it won’t be superfluous!

Influence

Several news sites have written about Gridcoin’s impact on the global cryptocurrency space:

Hacker News https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8964375
The Coin Telegraph https://cointelegraph.com/tags/gridcoin
News BTC https://www.newsbtc.com/2015/10/11/gridcoin-a-crypto-that-empowers-scientific-research/
The Merkle https://themerkle.com/gridcoin-cryptocurrency-scientific-distributed-computing/

Gridcoin has had an impact on scientific research, and the cryptocurrency is mentioned in scientific publications and official documents. This includes reports:

original scientific paper on Gridcoin https://gridcoin.us/images/gridcoin-white-paper.pdf
report on the Sidecoin blockchain mechanism https://arxiv.org/abs/1501.01039
about distributed consensus technologies in cryptocurrency applications https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.674.1781&rep=rep1&type=pdf
crowdfunding report on government GPU computing resources https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7396166/?reload=true&arnumber=7396166&tag=1
principles and applications of blockchain technologies https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2662660
on metrics for transformation of participation shares in cryptocurrency communities https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2725415
about new methods of using decentralized software https://crpit.com/confpapers/CRPITV159Herbert.pdf

And others:

https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/2810103.2813659
https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=IXmrBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR4&dq=%22gridcoin%22&ots=9AfWlsGmPW&sig=RSe-m82voXpCa3raybP1PPP9eBs#v=onepage&q=%22gridcoin%22&f=false

BOIN vs Bitcoin

Since 2002, the BOINC community has volunteered to help solve scientific problems in a variety of fields. At first, the number of crunchers grew rapidly - it seemed that there would be no end to it. For many, computers no longer performed tasks at half capacity during idle periods, but around the clock and at the limit of their capabilities. Their owners were not bothered by inconveniences such as noisy coolers and an electric meter spinning like a fan. Ordinary people were united by the global idea of the good and the eternal.

However, one idea was not enough. Most didn't stay long because they didn't feel the feedback. You count a month, two... but where is the result?

At first, BOINC members informed each other about new publications based on joint calculations and were happy that their computers were accelerating the development of science. They helped in the study of new proteins and promising materials. The emergence of new drugs and diagnostic markers was approaching. New stars and new horizons opened up before them - everything was like in a fairy tale. Then Bitcoin appeared, then other cryptocurrencies, and the fairy tale became scary.

To date, all over the world, only three to four hundred thousand actually operating accounts remain from the multi-million army of BOINC crunchers. Eight percent of all registrants continue to actively process BOINC jobs. The rest have turned into dead souls who take more resources than they provide themselves.

The main reason for the mass exodus is simple: the most efficient calculations were GPU-optimized, and owners of cool video cards rushed to count hashes in the hope of easy profit. We plan to prepare a separate article about how real this is and which cryptocurrency is better to choose. For now, let's talk about one specific one - Gridcoin.

Reward calculation mechanism

Gridcoin rewards can consist of two parts: proof of stake (Proof of Stake) and proof of research (Distributed Proof of Research (DPoR).

Proof of Stake represents the generation of new gridcoins based on the current wallet balance and an interest rate of 1.5% per annum. Proof of research is issued by the GRC to those participating in BOINC projects listed on the special Gridcoin list. The number of GRCs distributed depends on the number of other users who participate in the BOINC program.

Proof of the research is the accrual of the amount for the BOINC rating. The amount is divided among all participants in proportion to the relative contribution of each. The amount depends on the number of projects in the white list; statistics recorded in superblocks; Magnitude unit and user magnitude. The magnitude for an individual project is calculated using the formula:

Magnitude = 115000 * (relative contribution to the project) / (number of projects in the white list) Reward per project = magnitude * (magnitude multiplier) Reward for all projects - the sum of the rewards for individual projects.

My discontinued projects

If you have any questions about these projects please write me, contacts are in section below

From 2019-03-01 Reverse gridcoin pool — mine monero with coinhive, receive Gridcoin instead
From 2019-05-26 Stronghands Online Wallet – manage Stronghands (SHND) funds online (with RPC)
From 2019-05-26 Litecoin Wallet – manage Litecoin (LTC) funds online (previous version)
From 2019-06-01 Hivepool (hivepool.arikado.ru) — mine monero or webchain in browser, receive any cryptocurrency instead
From 2019-10-01 Bananominer (bananominer.arikado.ru) - first version of banano browser miner
From 2019-10-01 Stronghands Masternode Online Wallet – manage SHMN funds online (with RPC)
From 2019-10-01 FreeSHMN (shmn.arikado.ru) – SHMN faucet
From 2021-08-02 Banano powerplant (powerplant.banano.cc)

My other projects:

Current Bitcoin block — shows current Bitcoin block with big digits
NiceHash-to-Banano converter — mine with NiceHash, receive Banano instead. Fastest way to become potassium-rich.
NiceHash-to-Dogecoin converter — mine with NiceHash, receive Dogecoin instead.
Bitcoin Online Wallet — same wallet for Bitcoin.
Litecoin Online Wallet — same wallet for Litecoin.
Dogecoin Online Wallet — same wallet for Dogecoin.
Dash Online Wallet — same wallet for Dash.
Microgrid (github) - distributed calculations in your browser
Melody player — playing melody from old ringtone texts: 8f#1 8f#1 8f#1 8f#1 4g1 8f#1 4e1 8e1 8a1 4f#1 4d1 2-