What type of algorithm is used in BitcoinPlus?

BitcoinPlus is now entirely Proof-of-Stake (PoS). 

Up until block 400,000 it was a hybrid coin in that Proof-of-Work (PoW) was also an option. The reward for PoW was set at zero in BitcoinPlus after the initial coin generation used to bootstrap PoS.

PoS inflation is set at 20%. This means that over the course of 1 year, the total supply of BitcoinPlus will increase by around 20%. These minted coins are shared proportionally amongst staking BitcoinPlus Wallets.

What is Proof-of-Work ?

Proof-of-Work happens through miners trying to create a new block to create new coins by generating a hash that meets a set mathematical criteria. Finding a hash that meets this criteria is basically a brute force guessing game, but checking if a solution is correct is easy. Miners are not able to cheat the system because it takes real-world resources to work out these solutions. As more and more miners try and generate this hash, the difficulty of finding a hash that meets the criteria automatically increases. After a short while it starts to take a huge amount of electricity to generate a new block and keep the network going. This leads miners to have high energy costs and this is increasingly detrimental for the environment.

What is Proof-of-Stake ?

PoS happens by a miner putting up a stake, or locking up an amount of their coins, to verify a block of transactions. The cryptographic calculations in PoS are much simpler for computers to solve, you only need to prove you own a certain percentage of all coins available in a given currency. For example, if you somehow owned 5% of all Bitcoinplus, you would be able to mine 5% of all transactions across BitcoinPlus . 

How Do you Stake Coins PoS in BitcoinPlus? 

  1. Download a Windows, Mac or Linux wallet from our website. 
  2. Fully sync your wallet with the BitcoinPlus network by running your wallet and downloading the blockchain.
  3. Buy some BitcoinPlus on an exchange.
  4. Withdraw BitcoinPlus from the exchanges to your wallet. 
  5. Leave the coins in the wallet for 12 hours. After 12 hours the coins will start staking. 
  • The wallet must be unencrypted for it to allow staking.

What is meant by the term Weight in PoS ? 

The weight of the network is a figure given to the all the coins that are actively staking on the entire BitcoinPlus network. The coins in your wallet that are available for staking also has a weight. If the weight of the network is 8000 and the weight of your coins is 2000 then you have a good chance of minting some new coins. However if the weight of your coins is just 1 then the chance of you minting some new coins are remote and will take longer. The weight of the coin is based on the amount of coin you hold and its coin age. The longer coins from a transaction remain in your wallet, the larger its coin age and therefore weight. Simply, as coins gets older as their chance to stake increases. 

Does my wallet have to be open 24/7 to receive my stakes ? 

It is true that to mine any coins your wallet must be open. If your wallet is closed it cannot take part in staking. However the PoS rewards do not take into account the length of time a wallet is open. If you open your wallet for a few hours once a month you will receive roughly the same amount of coins as someone who is staking 24/7. The 24/7 wallet will receive many more smaller amounts and the wallet open infrequently will receive less but larger amounts. The total will roughly be the same. The issue with doing this is that when a wallet is not open for a long period of time, then is opened again, the amount of potential Staking weight created by that wallet will be very high while the rewards catch up to meet the 365 day inflation calculation. The ideal situation is to leave the wallet open 24/7 so it provides a steady amount of PoS mining power on the network and acts as a node for gaining consensus. 

Are my newly staked coins automically put back into the pot again for Staking ? 

Any new coins and the coins used to mint them are not eligible for Staking again until the coins have received 110 confirmations and are at least 12 hours old. 

How do I mine BitcoinPlus using PoW ? 

After block 400,000 BitcoinPlus PoW was switched off and it is no longer possible to mine BitcoinPlus in this way. The only option to generate new coins is to generate them using Proof-of-Stake.

If I have 500 BitcoinPlus, how many coins can I expect to make per year ? 

The inflation rate for BitcoinPlus is set at 20% annually which is 1 year. The reward is calculated as 20% of 500. Over the course of the year you can expect to create (500 / 100) * 20 = 100. So if you start the year with 500 BitcoinPlus, at the end of 1 year you can expect to have around 600 BitcoinPlus.