Cryptocurrency hard forks are usually bullish as they are mostly implemented in order to improve the network or, in older times, offer the equivalent tokens held on the new chain. Grin is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency project that is about to undergo a significant upgrade.

The altcoin market pump is already starting to subside but some are holding bullish. Today is the day scheduled for the Grin hard fork to shift the project into version 3.0. Grin was launched a year ago in January 2019 and has come a long way since.

What Is Grin?

Grin is built around the integration of the much-heralded privacy protocol Mimblewimble and it aims to become a stable and less storage-intensive privacy coin.

The protocol, named after a spell from the Harry Potter novels, leverages cryptography to allow past transaction data to be removed with no compromise on security which lightens the load on the blockchain.

To achieve greater privacy, Grin removes both the address-based system and references to transaction amounts. Grin transactions are based on the interaction between two or more wallets that exchange information with each other.

Hark Fork Incoming

The fork, scheduled at block 524160, includes an algorithm change of the Cuckarood29 to the new Cuckaroom29. The new algorithm has been implemented in order to discourage manufacturers from building specialized ASIC hardware for mining Grin and to keep it decentralized.

Miners will need to upgrade their software to support the new fork if they wish to continue mining. An official announcement details all of the upgrades that will occur as Grin evolves to v3.0.0.

There are four scheduled hard forks in the first two years after launch, which are set in the code to occur in intervals of roughly every 6 months. This upgrade is the second iteration in the series.

Grin Price Reaction

Prices have already started to move. From less than a dollar earlier this week, Grin shot up 23% to top out at $1.17 yesterday.

A pullback has since dropped token prices back to $1.00 and it appears that the forking FOMO is already abating. Grin has a market capitalization of around $31 million which puts it outside the top-100 cryptocurrency assets.

Low-cap altcoins have struggled over the past two years, mostly due to low liquidity despite network improvements and ongoing work on project development.