Gridcoin -- An Introduction for an Updated Whitepaper

As most of you already know, Gridcoin is in a period of rapid development. The code is being cleaned up, protocols are being updated, and the community is beginning to find focus behind a direction for Gridcoin. To that last point, the Gridcoin Whitepaper is currently being revised and updated. We invite anyone who wants to help into the conversation on steemit, slack, reddit, github, irc, discord, whatever.

Slack join the #whitepaper channel.
Github

Here is an introduction I have proposed for the whitepaper. I eagerly welcome feedback and discussion.

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Introduction

An increased quality of living in a society often coincides with an increase in that society’s ability to freely gather and process data. Distributed processing, also known as grid computing, offers a tool by which massive quantities of data can be processed at speeds tens of thousands of times faster than any centralized super computer. This speed is directly proportional to the advancement of processing technology, currently progressing in accordance with Moore’s law.

At the same time, the Idle Processing Potential (IPP) which already exists in digital societies is severely underutilized. From cell phones to personal computers to office workstations, the combined IPP of the world overshadows even the most robust decentralized super-computer, Bitcoin.

Gridcoin seeks to create a decentralized and sustainable distributed processing network which prioritizes both the utilization of IPP and the creation of a free to host ecosystem for researchers and individuals with data to process.

To accomplish this goal, Gridcoin has created a block-chain based digital asset which rewards individuals and entities who volunteer their IPP to the grid computing network, BOINC. A single GRC represents the value prescribed to a volunteered unit of IPP on the BOINC network. The Gridcoin blockchain is secured through Proof of Stake. Rewards are distributed through a protocol developed by Gridcoin called Distributed Proof of Research, or DPoR.

BOINC, The Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing, is an open-source distributed processing network which provides scientists and enthusiasts with a means to host data for free. BOINC has been operating since 2002 and has and continues to process data that helps map the Milky Way, detect near earth asteroids, find prime numbers, fold proteins, test cures and vaccines, test chemical and molecular combinations, Search for Extraterrestrial Life (SETI), and more.

By directly rewarding those who volunteer their IPP to BOINC, Gridcoin creates an ecosystem in which valuable data, or a worthwhile project, is defined by an “open market of science” instead of a market of “pay-to-play”. In other words, volunteers will move their IPP to projects which they deem of value with no need to consider the reward they will receive.