Vertcoin: A Guide to Mining, Buying, and Storing

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Vertcoin is a cryptocurrency that allows for ASIC-resistant mining, making it a popular choice for those looking to mine cryptocurrency without the need for expensive hardware.

Vertcoin uses the Lyra2REv3 algorithm, which is designed to be resistant to application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining.

To mine Vertcoin, you'll need a computer with a decent graphics card and a reliable internet connection.

Vertcoin's mining difficulty adjusts every 10 minutes, which means that miners can expect a steady stream of new blocks being added to the blockchain.

Mining Vertcoin can be done solo or in a pool, and the cryptocurrency's block reward is 1.33 VTC per block.

What Is Vertcoin?

Vertcoin is a fork of Bitcoin that took place in January 2014, created as a GPU mined version of Bitcoin to ensure decentralization and network security. It's a community-governed coin that remains open-source and not controlled or funded by any entity.

Vertcoin was created to counter the issue of ASIC mining, which makes it impossible for normal users to mine major coins with computing power, requiring expensive equipment to make mining profitable. Vertcoin can be mined by anyone using a GPU, ensuring that mining can be profitable for everyone again.

Vertcoin is known as "The People's Coin" because it remains committed to the ideals of the Bitcoin whitepaper, where one CPU is equal to one vote, and the community has ensured it remains this way despite three hard forks.

Curious to learn more? Check out: What Is Gpu Mining

What Is?

Credit: youtube.com, What is Vertcoin? Vertcoin for Absolute Beginners

Vertcoin is a fork of Bitcoin that took place in January 2014, created as a GPU mined version of Bitcoin to ensure decentralization and network security.

It was designed to remain accessible to individuals who can mine using standard personal computers, rather than requiring specialized and often expensive hardware.

Vertcoin is an Open Source, community governed coin that is mined without ASIC mining equipment, and it's not controlled or funded by any entity.

Vertcoin's mining process is based on GPU, which makes it possible for anyone to mine and earn mining rewards, unlike other cryptocurrencies that require ASIC mining equipment.

The community of volunteers that support Vertcoin have ensured it remains free from ASIC miners and botnets, even after three hard forks.

Vertcoin is also known as "The People's Coin" because it remains committed to the ideals from the Bitcoin whitepaper that kept voting power of the network with the individual.

Expand your knowledge: Bitcoin Gpu Mining

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It ensures that voting power of the network remains with individuals and everyone can mine and earn mining rewards.

Vertcoin's Verthash mining algorithm is designed to adjust the mining difficulty with every block, promoting fairness and adaptability in the mining landscape.

This approach is facilitated through the use of the Verthash mining algorithm, which bears similarities to Ethereum's Ethash, ensuring that the mining process remains ASIC-resistant.

Vertcoin was among the early adopters of Segregated Witness (SegWit), a protocol upgrade that solved transaction malleability issues and improved block capacity.

The community around Vertcoin is notably active and supportive, contributing to its reputation as 'The People's Coin'.

The VTC Token

The VTC Token has had a wild ride since its launch in 2014. It started trading at $0.07 but quickly tripled to $0.20 on its second day.

By February 5, 2014, the price had skyrocketed to $10.12, a staggering increase from its initial value. This spike was short-lived, and just a week later, the price had dropped to $3.47.

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In September 2014, the VTC Token had declined to $0.07, a loss of 99.25% from its high. By May 2015, it had hit an all-time low of $0.005343.

The price of VTC then bounced back, reaching nearly $0.20 by May 28, 2015. By the end of 2015, it had nearly tripled again to almost $0.60 each.

Vertcoin's price declined from there and was around $0.02 as 2016 began. The token remained in the range of $0.02 to $0.06 throughout 2016 and into 2017.

In April 2017, a new rally began, with levels reaching above $1 by June.

Halving and Mining

Vertcoin halvings happen every 4 years, just like Bitcoin. This means the mining reward is cut in half, making the asset more scarce.

The first Vertcoin halving occurred on December 11, 2017, and the second one on December 8, 2021. Both halvings reduced the mining reward by 50%.

Here's a table showing the past and future halving schedule:

The next Vertcoin halving is anticipated to occur at the beginning of December 2025.

Mining and Hardware

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Vertcoin was created as an ASIC-resistant cryptocurrency, allowing everyday GPU miners to access and earn VTC with their personal computer. This was a deliberate decision to prevent the dominance of ASIC mining machines, which can eliminate competition and centralize the mining ecosystem.

The team behind Vertcoin has been working on a new algorithm called Verthash, which is similar to the Ethash algorithm used by Ethereum and will secure the blockchain for fair mining. This algorithm is designed to maintain the security of the network and prevent 51% attacks.

To make mining easier for users, Vertcoin has developed a 1-Click Miner, which allows users to download and install the software with minimal effort. The 1-Click Miner is available for Windows only and requires a wallet capable of storing Vertcoin and a Vertcoin mining pool.

The 1-Click Miner uses your computer's power to help with calculations and can be downloaded from the Vertcoin website or GitHub. To use the miner, you'll need to specify CPU or GPU mining, wallet address, and mining pool, and you're good to go.

Suggestion: Mining Pools

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Here's a quick rundown of the requirements for the 1-Click Miner:

  • Download the 1-Click Miner from the Vertcoin website or GitHub
  • Specify CPU or GPU mining, wallet address, and mining pool
  • Run the miner and start collecting VTC rewards

Some coins can be merged mined with Vertcoin, including Unitus, Parallaxcoin, and Monocle, but the selection is limited due to the lack of available coins to merge with VTC.

Fair Mining

Vertcoin is committed to fair mining, and it's not just a buzzword. Vertcoin wants to counter ASICs, so that everyone can mine again using their own computer (CPU or GPU).

The developers believe that everyone should be able to mine to keep mining fairer. This is the reason that VTC strives to have the transactions checked (mining) by as many users as possible.

This way it remains fair, and the price is influenced as little as possible. Vertcoin's goal is to keep its fair mining standard, which means that the project will continue to live on with at least a small, but dedicated community of miners and users.

The team has said the new algorithm, Verthash, will be similar to the Ethash algorithm used by Ethereum and will not only secure the blockchain for fair mining, but will also maintain the security of the network.

1-Click Miner

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The 1-Click Miner is a game-changer for Vertcoin mining.

It's a software developed by Vertcoin to make mining as simple as possible for users.

You can download it from the Vertcoin website, but unfortunately, it's only available for Windows.

To use the 1-Click Miner, you'll also need a wallet capable of storing Vertcoin and a Vertcoin mining pool.

You'll need to specify which mining pool to use, what wallet address to send rewards to, and whether to use CPU or GPU mining.

The 1-Click Miner is easy to install and uses your computer power to help with the calculations (mining).

Here are the basic steps to get started:

  • Go to GitHub or Vertcoin website and download Vertcoin 1 Click Miner.
  • After downloading Vertcoin 1 Click Miner, open the software and create a strong password.
  • Click on Start mining, and your VTC mining will start.

This is the easiest way to mine any cryptocurrency, and it's a great way to get started with Vertcoin mining.

Merged Mining

Vertcoin has enabled merged mining, allowing users to mine more than one coin at a time.

Currently, there aren’t many other coins that can be merge mined with Vertcoin, but Unitus (UIS) has been available to be merge mined since the beginning.

According to the information at Give Me Coins, you can also merge mine Monocle and Parallaxcoin through Vertcoin.

Buying and Storing

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Buying and Storing Vertcoin can be a bit tricky, but don't worry, I've got you covered.

You can buy Vertcoin on exchanges like Bittrex, CoinEgg, Upbit, or Poloniex. However, be aware that the trading volumes on these exchanges are quite thin, which can lead to liquidity issues.

If you're planning to buy or sell large blocks of VTC, you may encounter slippage on your orders. Trade carefully to avoid any losses.

Once you've purchased Vertcoin, it's essential to store it safely offline to protect your funds from exchange hacks. Consider using a hardware device like a Ledger Nano, which will keep your keys secure and interact with the Ledger PC client through a USB cable.

Alternatively, you can use Vertcoin's Electrum Wallet, which is a light wallet that connects to remote nodes and doesn't require you to download the entire blockchain.

If you're looking for a multi-currency wallet with mobile support, Coinomi could be a great option. It supports over 500 cryptocurrencies, including Vertcoin.

A different take: Wallet Crypto

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Here are some recommended wallets for storing Vertcoin:

  1. Vertcoin Core Wallet: A forked version of the Bitcoin Core wallet that allows you to manage your private keys and download the entire transaction history.
  2. Guarda Wallet: A user-friendly wallet that supports storing and managing VTC tokens.
  3. Atomic Wallet: A multi-asset wallet that supports over 30 coins and 500 tokens, including Vertcoin.
  4. Electrum Wallet: A simple and easy-to-use wallet that's another recommended option for storing VTC tokens.
  5. Hardware Wallets: Physical devices like Trezor or Ledger that store your private keys offline and provide an extra layer of protection.

Team and Community

The Vertcoin team has historically been a loose group of volunteer developers, but this is likely to change with the creation of the Vertcoin Foundation, which will help the project take advantage of tax-exempt status and provide a legal framework for filing trademarks and copyrights.

The team has close ties with MIT, with many developers coming from the school, and some work even coming from other MIT projects. This has allowed for some free development for Vertcoin.

Vertcoin has a strong community with over 9,400 members on its official Discord channel and over 62k followers on Twitter. The community is active and engaged, with regular discussion on the social media front.

The community is also present on Reddit, with two subreddits having 33k and 3.8k members respectively, and an official Medium blog that shares updates on the project every month.

Team

Vertcoin has historically been a loose group of volunteer developers, but an application has been filed with the IRS to create the Vertcoin Foundation, which will give the project a legal framework to file for trademarks and copyrights.

Business team in informal meeting, sharing ideas in a modern setting.
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Many of the developers working on Vertcoin have come from MIT, which has close ties with the school.

The downside to working solely with volunteer developers is that they've inevitably left for better-paying work over the years, negatively impacting the project.

The Vertcoin Foundation will be able to offer salaries to the lead developers, giving the project a more consistent development atmosphere and maintaining top talent.

Vertcoin depends on its community for funding, which means it's had to deal with developers leaving due to low pay.

A professional team with market-competitive salaries is the biggest need for Vertcoin to compete in the crypto market.

The Vertcoin community is active and encouraging, with a strong presence on Twitter, Reddit, and Discord, boasting 56.5K Twitter members, 33.8K Reddit members, and 2123 Discord members.

Community

Vertcoin has a strong community that's actively engaged through various channels. The official Discord channel has over 9,400 members, with lively discussions taking place.

Credit: youtube.com, 15 Ways to Empower Your Team and Community

Their Twitter account has a significant following of over 62k, and they regularly keep their community updated with the latest news and developments.

Vertcoin also has two active subreddits on Reddit, with the official one having over 33k users and the vertcoin mining subreddit having 3.8k members.

The community is well-informed through the official Medium blog, which shares updates on the project every month.

Development and History

Vertcoin was created and launched back in 2014 as an ASIC-resistant hard fork of Bitcoin.

Vertcoin is mostly community-driven, with developers contributing their time without being paid for their work.

Looking at the commit activity on their GitHub repositories, we can see that the developers are still actively pushing code, with a total of 383 code commits over the past 12 months, ranking them at number 383 on Cryptomiso.

This is less than some newer projects, but it's worth noting that Vertcoin was built off the Bitcoin core, giving them a head start in terms of development.

Hard Forks

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Vertcoin has undergone several hard forks since its launch in 2014. The first hard fork occurred after one year of launch, when Vertcoin switched to the Lyra2RE algorithm to keep itself away from ASIC mining.

Vertcoin's team found that a botnet had taken control of over 50% of Vertcoin mining capability, prompting a second hard fork to the Lyra2Ev2 algorithm. This was done to keep the network away from ASIC use.

In 2018, China developed an ASIC capable of mining crypto using the Lyra2REv2 algorithm, leading to a third hard fork to the Lyra2REv3 algorithm. This was to avoid ASIC mining on Vertcoin.

The fourth hard fork is scheduled for January 30th, 2021, when the Lyra2REv3 algorithm will change to Verthash. This new algorithm is designed to protect users from unfair mining and provide extra security features for the Vertcoin network.

Verthash is similar to the Ethash algorithm used in the ETH blockchain and will ensure that mining remains accessible to everyone.

Development

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The development of a project is a crucial aspect to consider when evaluating its potential. Vertcoin's public code commits on GitHub show a steady pace of development.

Looking at the commit activity in Vertcoin's three most active pinned repositories, we can see that the developers are still actively pushing code.

This is reflected in the number of commits over the past 12 months, which may seem low compared to newer projects. However, it's essential to consider that Vertcoin is a more established protocol built on the Bitcoin core.

As a result, the developers didn't have to start from scratch, which explains why some newer projects like Insolar have more commits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Vertcoin worth anything?

As of now, Vertcoin's current value is around $0.0527 USD, indicating a relatively low market price. However, its actual worth depends on various factors, including market trends and investor sentiment.

Does Vertcoin have a future?

Vertcoin's future is uncertain and dependent on various factors, including project developments and the overall crypto environment. Its potential growth or decline will be influenced by a range of variables, making its future trajectory unpredictable.

Is Vertcoin profitable to mine?

Based on the provided mining inputs, Vertcoin mining is not profitable with a daily loss of $0.49. However, the profitability may vary depending on the specific mining setup and costs.

Caroline Cruickshank

Senior Writer

Caroline Cruickshank is a skilled writer with a diverse portfolio of articles across various categories. Her expertise spans topics such as living individuals, business leaders, and notable figures in the venture capital industry. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, Caroline crafts engaging and informative content that captivates her readers.

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