Investing

Why Invest in Gridcoin?

Secure the Network

Holding GRC in an online wallet helps secure the network, which is vital to ensure the miners are paid fairly for their research contributions.

Earn Interest

As thanks for securing the network, you are awarded 1.5% interest per annum on your GRC holdings. This is paid incrementally at every block you stake, and therefore compounds.

Grow with GRC

The Gridcoin network is continuing to see rapid growth in the number of miners doing research, the number of the projects it supports, and the value of the coin. Get aboard the rocket before it launches.

Setting up the GRC Wallet

What is the Wallet?

The Gridcoin wallet works a lot like the wallet you use on a daily basis. While it does not hold your coins themselves (these are stored on the blockchain), the wallet holds the keys that allow you to access your coins. The wallet also enables you to receive and send payments.

Furthermore, the wallet is your gateway to taking part in the official side of the Gridcoin community. It allows you to vote in polls, as well as begin your own poll such as a funding request for development work, or a change to the project whitelist.

Installing the Wallet

Download the wallet installer that matches your operating system, be it Windows, Linux (opensuse/fedora) or Linux (debian/ubuntu) or Mac OS.

When the installer has downloaded, run the installer and follow the onscreen instructions to install the Gridcoin wallet. When the installation is complete, run the wallet, which will prompt you for an email address. As you are investing, you can skip this step.

You will now need to download the blockchain. Select 'rebuild blockchain' and then 'download blocks'. Your wallet will begin to sync with the network, which will take a long time. If you are on a slower internet connection, the download may also appear to hang at 99%. Be patient, and let the wallet do its thing.

After the sync is complete, you can send GRC to your wallet for safe keeping. Any GRC retained in a wallet connected to the internet is helping to secure the chain and earning you interest on your holdings.

Backing up Your Wallet

It is vital that you regularly back up your wallet. Under a default Windows install, the wallet can be found in the directory C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\GridcoinResearch. The file containing your Gridcoin keys is wallet.dat.

Ensure that you keep a copy of this file somewhere safe, on a different hard drive. If you lose all copies of your wallet.dat file, there is no way you, or anyone else, will ever be able to access your Gridcoin again.