RE: Gridcoin: Helping Find Cures for Zika/Aids/Cancer and Analyzing LHC Data for Crypto? Sign Me Up!
Hey Luke,
Fantastic summary! I think you nailed it, and am stoked for you that you have staked your first block. You're a GRC man now!
I thought I'd chip in and clarify the stake weight screenshots you posted. The reason that your stake time fluctuates so heavily is due to the network weight changing. When a wallet stakes, some of its coins are moved to the staking field in on the overview tab of your wallet (this means they have just staked a block). They remain here for a while and do not participate in staking.
As a result, when a whale stakes (or a few whales in a row) a lot of coins are not actively staking for a short time. This massively reduces the network weight, and makes it a lot more likely for everyone else to stake a block.
Finally, I wanted to thank you for presenting Gridcoin how it actually is - a method to contribute to science and be reimbursed some crypto. It is not a get rich quick scheme, and it takes a lot of time and patience. If more people understood this coming into it I think we would be a lot happier as a community. Then again, for all I know GRC could skyrocket and we will all be driving Lambos next year.
Thank you for the mention too, much appreciated. Looking forward to having you around!
Lambos all around!
Heheh. Thanks @dutch. I really appreciate the kindness and patience of the community. It's been really fun learning about this and knowing my little efforts can actually help move some science along. I too would love to see the price go up, but you're completely right. With this one, people should set their expectations correctly and realize this about more than just making a quick profit.
Now that I created my first block, I saw how my stash did get moved to Staking. That makes perfect sense how that would impact the difficulty if a few whales did that in a row. The first block was the main hurdle, I think, because my magnitude was low so even though I had interest accruing from my staking, my POR was too low for a block creation (from what I understand). Also, there was an unusual delay in Superblock creation when I first started so my account info wasn't being added right away. There's so much here to learn about and comprehend. But I'm having fun, and I'm excited to see it is actually set up correctly. :)
You're very welcome. I only got started with GRC in May, and also found the community was exceptionally kind and patient.
For staking, your chance to stake every block is your DPOR divided by the network weight. Your DPOR is in turn the sum of your mature coins and your magnitude (if you have not just staked a block). As your coin balance grows, and your magnitude peaks (which takes about a month) you should find you'll stake more often. =)
I had wondered for a while why staking numbers seemed to always be out of wack. Your explanation has shed some light on the subject - thanks for your detailed explanation.