LONDON, May 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Vertcoin, a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and open source platform released under the MIT/X11 license earlier this year, could be a worthy challenger to Bitcoin.

Vertcoin is designed to be resistant to large scale mining operations, instead favoring the individual with consumer-grade hardware.

This is possible since "vertcoin punishes miners who use powerful machines and work together in 'pools' to monopolise the mining market," The International Business Times wrote a month after the coin's launch.

Vertcoin accomplishes this leveling of the playing field with a sophisticated algorithm that changes over time to operate the network, and this newer "adaptive" algorithm is a way of ensuring future long-term stability for all of the currency's users and investors.

And as with Bitcoin, those who use Vertcoin to buy or sell products benefit from radically fast payment confirmations, almost no fees, and the ability to store coins long-term using an offline paper wallet.

And since the project is decentralized worldwide, its fate is not tied to any one institution, government, or organization.

The Vertcoin economy has grown rapidly, and can now celebrate the following milestones:

* A total market capitalization above $3.1 million USD.

* The successful crowd funding, development, and launch of Vertigo, a breathtakingly fast lightweight wallet client that operates without needing to download the entire blockchain first. (http://vertigowallet.org)

* The acceptance of Vertcoin by more than 50 merchants; Vertcoin can now be used online to buy gold/silver bullion, web hosting, Reddit Gold, artisan roasted coffee beans, health foods, and many other items.

* The announcement of a Vertcoin-dedicated payments processor, VertPay, which could become the BitPay or Coinbase of the Vertcoin ecosystem. (http://vertpay.com)

* Successful development and inclusion of the Vertcoin wallet app for Android phones in the Google Play Store--now anyone with an Android device can manage their Verts on the go.

* Successful crowd funding, development, and launch of vtc.li, Vertcoin's first zero-trust Web wallet--a significant technological achievement. (http://vtc.li)

* The surprising developer-backed launch of a sophisticated merged mining system, which could have huge implications for Vertcoin's future value as a cryptographic wealth backbone.

Of all the recent developments, however, few are as important (and as misunderstood) as Vertcoin's merged mining innovation.

"With the shakeout happening in altcoins at present, it's inevitable that the market is going to find a core of strong players to concentrate around. The advent of merged mining on the VTC chain sets the stage for Vertcoin to be one of the 'backbone' blockchains on which new innovations are built," explained Paul Bradley, Vertcoin developer and a UK press contact for the coin.

Monocle (MON) became the first cryptocurrency capable of being merge mined on Vertcoin's blockchain. "As new clones of MON come online, a win-win relationship takes place between Vertcoin and these other blockchains, with their miners adding to the network security and hashrate of Vertcoin, rather than competing for hashrate as has been the case in the past," said Bradley.

With merged mining, Vertcoin may have through code turned a long-term liability — the proliferation of new currencies and payment systems over time — into a valuable asset, further differentiating Vertcoin from other emerging digital currencies.

More information:

http://www.vertcoin.org

"What is Vertcoin?" animated video: http://vimeo.com/93022009

Press Contact:

Paul Bradley

Email

+44 (0)7795 322607

SOURCE Vertcoin