Cryptocurrencies are relatively new and they have taken the markets by storm. The advent of digital money started off with Bitcoin which has been the predominant cryptocurrency for a while now. Even though other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum have risen at a fast rate, they owe their new-found popularity to the Bitcoin. Though a trendsetter, Bitcoin has had to make way for other digital currencies such as Vertcoin which was released with the aim
of becoming bigger than Bitcoin.
Vertcoin is another altcoin which has also experienced a quick rise in the world of digital currencies. The altcoin was released in 2014 and uses the Lyra2Rev2 as its proof-of-work algorithm. Vertcoin payments can be done using addresses, which are essentially digital signatures of a string of 33 letters and numbers always starting with the letter V.
Vertcoin as an alternative for Bitcoin and Litecoin
When Vertcoin was launched, the primary focus was to bring back the decentralized mode of operation that Bitcoin and Litecoin started out with. At its inception, Bitcoin developers could not foresee the challenges
that would come with their framework. The developers spent millions of dollars so that a number of companies could build application-specific integrated circuit computers (ASIC) which was supposed to monopolize mining. For this reason, Bitcoin mining was no longer possible for CPUs and GPUs and needed large data centers with lots of investment to mine.
The idea didn’t turn out so great as large companies with the computational capacity can easily reach 40% PoW power. Companies like Cex.io, which can do this on a daily basis will soon be able to perform 51% attacks whenever they so choose. Such attacks allow a single
entity to monopolize the blockchain ledger.
Where Vertcoin comes in
Vertcoin’s Scrypt algorithm includes “Adaptive N-Factor” which was introduced to limit the number of hashing functions. The limitation is enabled by the N-Factor and essentially stops any companies from coming up with hardware that is dedicated to mining. The N-Factor determines how much memory is needed to carry out hashing functions and increases over time thus discouraging dedicated mining. N-Factor achieves this by encouraging the spreading out of verification tasks across a number of individual users’ PCs.
The new framework won Vertcoin a lot of support
As ASIC currencies were succumbing to monopolies and becoming weaker, Vertcoin increased in value at such a rate that at one point it rose from $0.73 per Vertcoin to $6.19. Such a rise was unprecedented even for a market that was used to wanton volatility. With a 300% increase, Vertcoin became one of the fastest rising cryptocurrencies since the inception of digital money. Vertcoin carried all the hopes of people who were against ASIC currencies.
Even though the coin enjoyed some success at the beginning, it has lost a lot of its popularity in recent times. One of the main reasons for this was the load of alternative digital currencies which were more popular thus putting up competition that the digital currency just could not keep up with.
Wallets to use with Vertcoin
For digital currencies, a wallet allows you to use your altcoins for different transactions and also acts as a way to safeguard them. The cryptocurrency offers a web wallet that does not require installation on your computer or the use of any app in the case of smartphones. The web wallet makes using the digital currency much easier since you can easily log in and carry out your operations from anywhere. Other wallets that users can opt for include
Coinomi and Cyptonator which are known to offer reliable services for many types of cryptocurrency.
Exchanges where you can trade Vertcoins
Owing to its fast global rise, online exchanges for cryptocurrency have added Vertcoin into their list of traded altcoins. Users can go to online exchanges such as:
- Coinedup
- Cryptsy
- Coinmarket.io
- BTER
- Freshmarket
- Poloniex
- Coin-swap
With VTC/BTC markets available in all these online exchanges, users can exchange Vertcoin for Bitcoins and vice versa.
What’s next for Vertcoin?
As a decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency, Vertcoin has enjoyed some support which is bound to grow. Like any other cryptocurrency, Vertcoin developers have a tendency to keep improving the framework for the altcoin. One of the key things on Vertcoin’s agenda would be to increase the number of exchanges that accept it. Merchant Monday is an initiative that was initiated by Reddit users to this effect which saw a lot of exchanges comply. Vertcoin is keen on reintroducing the initiative among other things to bolster
their position in the cut-throat market that cryptocurrencies are currently operating in.
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