Will Grin, the first popular project before going online, become the next speculative outlet?
In the cold winter, the Grin mining complex was quite hot.
Grin is a popular project in the US crypto VC community some time ago. Thanks to the support of several Chinese speculators, the popularity has recently spread to China. Investors who don't understand technology are gnawing at technical documents and searching the Internet to find mining methods, hoping to invest in the development of ASIC miners.
According to the official website, the Grin program will go live on January 15, 2019. In other words, at a time when the crypto market is currently at such a low point, this project hasn't gone live yet, making a large number of institutions eager to try it out.
The project is popular, but the founding team is quite Buddhist. They don't seem to be interested in investing. The Grin project did not split coins in advance, did not accept investments, and did not have ICOs; all coins needed to be mined by miners themselves. The team's fundraising mostly depends on donations, so it was a bit difficult for them in the early stages of the latest fundraising phase (although they needed to raise 16 BTC). Core developer Michael Cordner said in an interview, “Our community funding model does face some challenges, but it's the only one we think is fair to everyone.”
The CEO of BlockCypher, the sponsor of Grin's US conference, even denounced some investors and institutions, saying, “Our tickets are for developers, so don't impersonate developers to buy tickets for the Grin US conference.”
All of this imbued the team with idealism and ironically boosted the hype's enthusiasm.
A user from the Chinese mining group commented: “The author (founder) really didn't want Grin to be the target of hype. But everyone in the group wanted it to be the subject of hype.”
According to various sources, the reason why this project was initially popular was that the underlying agreements and projects were published by anonymous people. The decentralized and idealistic atmosphere of the community was quite mysterious and attracted the attention of many early Bitcoin community members; second, the team did not accept investment, and everyone could only obtain it in the form of mining, which is also similar to Bitcoin. xDAG attracted a number of miners last year. Furthermore, Grin's monetary policy is special: there is no issuance cap, steady growth, and hopes for no inflation or deflation.
Daily Planet Daily would like to sort out this recent small project. The following is the detailed information.
Cryptocurrency dedicated to providing “privacy”
The official website explains “What is Grin” in one sentence: Everyone's electronic transactions are not subject to censorship or restrictions. It also suggests that its three characteristics include: private (private), expandable (scalable), and open (open).
Unlike other projects that are coded in C++, Grin relies on the coding language Rust. Its underlying protocol uses a privacy-preserving blockchain format called MimbleWimble, which makes tokens interchangeable, and users will have a strong guarantee of anonymity.
The Mimblewimble project first appeared in mid-2016, when the Mimblewimble white paper was anonymously published for the developer Tom Elvis Jedusor (Voldemort's name in the French version of the Harry Potter series). The white paper argues that Bitcoin scripts should be abandoned and used a new way to record transactions.
Mimblewimble was initially defined as an improvement over Bitcoin. However, the Bitcoin network's adoption of this technology has been slow, and Mimblewimble wants to make it a reality, choosing an independent cryptocurrency is probably the best way. Grin was created in November 2016 and was the first example of applying the Mimblewimble protocol. A second implementation attempt, Beam, appeared in April 2018.
Currently, cryptography lacks real money as a medium of exchange between parties, because cryptocurrencies cannot have the four cornerstone attributes of global digital cash: price stability, scalability, decentralization, and privacy. Grin hopes to improve these four issues through the underlying protocol Mimblewimble.
How does the core protocol MimbleWimble work?
Bitcoin transactions (or any currency trading system) must meet two conditions: they must be able to verify that the number of transactions on the receiving end and the sender side is equal, and ensure that everyone can only make electronic transfers from their own account, that is, account transactions can only be completed by the private key holder. To meet these two conditions, the sender address, recipient address, and number of Bitcoin transactions for each Bitcoin transaction are publicly traceable, and cannot be called complete privacy.
As mentioned earlier, Mimblewimble was initially defined as an improvement to Bitcoin. Running a complete node is an expression of the decentralized principle advocated by Bitcoin at the beginning. One problem with Bitcoin now is that the number of units running a complete node is decreasing, and a complete node carries the entire blockchain history, which makes the storage cost of becoming a node higher and higher.
Compared to the Bitcoin protocol, Mimblewimble is more anonymous and lighter.
MimbleWimble is based solely on elliptic curve cryptography, altering this Bitcoin model by creating a multi-signature for all inputs and outputs. The parties involved in the transaction create a public multi-signature key that can verify the transaction. There are no addresses in the system because the two parties involved in the transaction share a so-called “blind factor” (an encryption technology used for electronic money), and only those two parties know that they are making a transaction, thereby protecting online privacy.
The blind factor is a shared secret between two parties that encrypts the input and output of a specific transaction and the public and private keys of the transaction party. MimbleWimble uses a Pedersen promise scheme in which the full node subtracts the amount of encryption on the receiving end of the transaction (output) minus the amount of encryption on the sender side of the transaction (input).
A balanced equation means that coins will not be generated out of thin air, meaning that the node never needs to know how much the transaction amount is.
Here's a simple example of how the blindness factor works:
1 + 2 = 3//1 + 2-3 = 0
It's just a simple balance equation showing that no new money has been created (by rearranging to show a net zero balance).
1 (5) + 2 (5) = 3 (5)
Here, the secret number 5 is multiplied by all variables, which obscures the original values.
5 + 10 = 15
The value and blind factor are now private, and you can still prove that no new capital was created.
Will Grin, the first popular project before going online, become the next speculative outlet?
The creativity of MimbleWimble is that its blind factor is actually a combination of the transaction party's private key and public key, so by using this equation, I can prove that the number of transactions is equal and that I am the holder of the key.
At the end of the transaction, you'll get multiple signatures for this deal. This is much lighter than publicly keeping all the inputs and outputs of the entire blockchain on a complete node and throwing away the extra data.
In MimbleWimble's block format, we can combine two events when one output comes directly from another input. In other words, A gives B a sum of money, and B gives all of it to C. At this time, B is equal to not participating in the transaction, so B's data will not be recorded on the chain.
Most of the output between blocks will sooner or later be consumed by another input, so all output can be safely deleted, and the entire blockchain can be archived, downloaded, and fully verified in a few gigabytes or less (assuming the number of transactions is similar to Bitcoin).
This means that Grin can scale based on the number of users (unused output) rather than the number of transactions. Transactions within a block will not be recognizable unless you directly participate in the transaction.
MimbleWimble is cheap and easy to run a full node. Not only because it only stores a small amount of data in the blockchain, but also because of its other characteristics.
Early mining algorithms are ASIC resistant
Like Bitcoin, Grin uses a proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism, but uses a different algorithm called Cuckoo Cycle, an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) resistant mining algorithm that mainly uses memory strength to try to resist ASICs, thereby encouraging miners to decentralize. Currently, the design is resistant to placeholder ASICs, and will gradually transition from being completely ASIC-resistant to algorithm over the course of a few years to being ASIC-friendly.
Michael Cordner “Yeastplume”, one of Grin's core developers, mentioned in an interview that the Cuckoo Cycle algorithm was initially aimed at making ASIC development more difficult, but with communication and thinking with many ASIC developers, the current purpose is to support development in both directions at the same time.
We believe ASICization is inevitable, so instead of treating ASICs as enemies, we want to modify this memory-hard POW to make ASIC development a little easier — eventually, there are different vendors offering more ASIC choices. ASICs themselves aren't bad, it's just that they often lead to centralization pressure—usually only produced by very few vendors.
To ensure that Grin is released as fairly as possible, the team wanted to use Cuckoo Cycle's own ASIC resistance in Grin's early days to enable the GPU community to compete in mining in the first few years of Grin's development. Early 90% of the blocks will be generated by an ASIC-resistant algorithm and slowly drop to 0 over two years, that is, from the initial 90% GPU, 10% ASIC to 100% ASIC, giving manufacturers two years to complete the development and production of ASIC miners.
The team maintained its ASIC-resistant characteristics by adjusting the algorithm's parameters every 6 months, hoping to achieve true decentralized mining.
Since Grin is currently still in the test network stage, the main network is still not online, so there is no profit for Grin that has been mined for the time being. However, at present, the entire mining process of the test network is basically the same as the mining process after the main network is online, so you can experience it in advance. The mining efficiency is to mine a block in 1 minute, and each block rewards 60 Grin.
Currently, the test network shows that by using a brand new Macbook Pro (2018 i9) and Raspberry Pi (Raspberry Pi) or SSD disk, it will have a net mining value of about 1/1000 blocks, and this data will be enough to run a complete node. This means running a full node is cheap and easy, and the new node will be able to synchronize quickly and effectively with the network. This could be very competitive when the main network goes live.
Everything seemed perfect, but there were also a few things that were puzzling.
Inexplicable monetary policy: What makes Grin more of a currency?
There is no upper limit on the total amount, and Grin's monetary policy of issuing 60 cards every minute is puzzling to many investors. Grin's monetary policy uses a linear supply plan, and the speed at which coins are issued will not change; in other words, the inflation rate will gradually approach zero. After Grin has already been released in large numbers, the inflationary impact of the new Grin generation will be far less than in the early days.
Michael Cordner mentioned the reason for this policy in an interview. He said: First, if monetary policy is deflationary, early miners will inevitably benefit more than later miners — this is not what we want to see. Second, we think it would make Grin easier to become a currency rather than a store of value like Bitcoin. If the value of Grin is unlikely to change, people will be more willing to use it rather than speculatively hoard it.
This kind of monetary policy has caused some cryptocurrency researchers to revisit comments made by cryptocurrency pioneer Wei Dai (Wei Dai) about Satoshi Nakamoto and Bitcoin in 2013. He mentioned, “I think Bitcoin's failure lies in its monetary policy, causing its price to fluctuate too much, causing users to pay a heavy price. They either take bad risks or use expensive hedging to use Bitcoin.”
Some people speculate that some criticism of Bitcoin's monetary policy in Dai Wei's comments may be the source that inspired Grin's monetary policy design. Of course, this is just a guess; there is no way to consider it.
A low-key team: two anonymous founders “from Harry Potter”
The Grin team is quite low-key. There are reports that a well-known VC agency in the US also donated money to the Grin team just to get access to Grin's core team contact information.
According to the compilation, the core members of the Grin team include:
John Tromp: inventor of Grin's PoW algorithm Cuckoo Cycle, a Dutch computer and mathematical scientist known for studying mathematical problems in Go;
Ignotus Peverell: An anonymous character, Ignotus Peverell's name comes from the owner of the cloak of invisibility in “Harry Potter.” Ignotus Peverell is the founder of the Grin project and the biggest contributor to the code;
Antioch PeverellanITOCH: anonymous person, senior Grin developer, Harry Potter character, second only to IgnoTusPeverell for code contributions;
Michael Cordner: Also known as @yeastplume, is the core developer of Grin and a top three code contributor. He previously represented Grin for a radio interview on whatbitcoindid. Since the first two are anonymous people, they are often statements or communications made by Michael Cordner;
Daniel Lehnberg: A bearded hippie who is more famous for his Grin Weekly Ecological Weekly Report (similar to Evan Van Ness's WeekineEthereum);
Will Grin, the first popular project before going online, become the next speculative outlet?
Daniel & Quentin
Quentin LesCeller: A member of the Blockcypher team and one of Grin's developers. His main job at Blockcypher was developing Grin's mining pool Grinmint.
According to Michael Cordner's “Yeastplume” interview, Grin's governance structure is not a strict top-down management structure; it has basically evolved very organically and spontaneously. There is currently a core committee that includes developers and long-time community members to make some decisions about Grin's development. However, this is currently only a phased state of Grin's development; it is still evolving. The team wanted to strike a balance between the governance structure and development, and ultimately make Grin's development as transparent and decentralized as possible.
In addition to keeping a low profile, the Grin team also seemed quite “poor.”
100% community-driven, only donations accepted
According to the official website, Grin is testing a 100% community-driven funding model. The project has no ICO, upfront, or founder rewards, and is maintained only by donations.
Will Grin, the first popular project before going online, become the next speculative outlet?
(List of donors shown on Grin's website)
It is worth noting that the images shown above, whether individuals or organizations, are only donations to the development team, not investments. As can be seen from the chart, investment institutions such as Continue Capital, KR1, and Cypher Capital have all donated money to Grin.
Recently, Layer1 Capital, a blockchain fund invested by PayPal's co-founder and famous venture capitalist Peter Thiel, stated that it is “deeply involved” in Grin.
Will Grin, the first popular project before going online, become the next speculative outlet?
Up to now, Grin has initiated 4 fundraising requests, including 3 rounds of funding campaigns for project development and 1 round of individual developer funds raised by Michael Cordner. Currently, the project is raising a safety audit fund to pay for the safety audit of the project. The goal is to raise 16 BTC. Currently, 17.28 BTC has been raised, supporting BTC and ZEC fundraising, and is still open.
Due to similar privacy, many people would compare Grin to Monero/Zcash and think Grin is a new generation of anonymous coins, but the Grin community seems to be more open.
Whether Grin is the “other kind of Bitcoin” mentioned in David's review or a new anonymous coin, just wait and see how powerful MimbleWimble's magic really is until Grin's main network goes live.
Source: Daily Planet Daily
