Previously we made an article about Keccak hashing algorithm which is a member of SHA family. Another one which we covered about is Blake2b (Blake). This one doesn’t come under SHA family but is one of the SHA-3 finalist chosen by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Here comes another finalist called Grøstl. Along with Blake, Keccak and Grøstl there are two other finalists namely JH and Skein. The combination of all these 5 algorithms is called Nist5. Since we already explained about other 2 algorithms in the list; here we’ll cover about Grøstl.
What is Grøstl algorithm and what are its specifications? Which cryptocurrency is the first to implement Grøstl and what other coins uses this algorithm? In addition to this we’ll also share the miners available for Grøstl / Groestl Proof of Work algorithm.
Grøstl Algorithm
Grøstl Algorithm is a cryptographic hash function designed in 2008 as a candidate for SHA-3 competition organized by NIST. Later in 2010 this algorithm is chosen as one of the 5 finalist that was submitted to the NIST competition.
Grøstl is an iterated hash function where the compression function is built from two fixed, large, different permutations. The design of Grøstl is transparent and based on principles very different from those used in the SHA-family.
More information and specifications about Grøstl Algorithm can be found in the following links:
- Website: http://www.groestl.info
- Grøstl Whitepaper: http://www.groestl.info/Groestl.pdf
- Grøstl Implementation Guide: http://www.groestl.info/groestl-implementation-guide.pdf
Groestl PoW algorithm
The title says Groestl Proof of Work algorithm, but is actually Grøstl. Same as SHA-256 (Bitcoin PoW Algorithm) Grøstl – A SHA-3 candidate is initially designed as a general purpose security algorithm. Groestlcoin is the first cryptocurrency to utilize Grøstl as a Proof of Work hashing algorithm which is also known as Grostl and Groestl algorithm.
Grøstl is a less complex hashing algorithm and it performs well on GPUs and even on CPUs. Also this is one of the most efficient mining algorithm as it consumes very less power per hash compared to other algorithms. Due to this mining this algorithm will be quieter and cooler.
Grøstl is an ASIC resistant GPU friendly algorithm which an average computer user can mine. Groestlcoin uses two rounds of pure Grøstl-512 and there are no ASICs available or in production yet for. However FPGAs are available; there are several guides and implementation on FPGA you can find online.
Note: There is Baikal Bk-X ASIC miner for Myriad-Groestl which is a different implementation and is not capable of mining Grøestl algorithm.
Okay, now let’s see the available CPU and GPU miners for Groestl algorithm. Then we’ll list all the coins that uses Groestl hash function.
Groestl Miner – CPU & GPU miner
As we said this algorithm is highly optimized for GPU and CPU. Miners are also available for CPU and both NVIDIA & AMD GPUs. Following are the miners that you can utilize to miner Groestl.
Groestlcoin EasyMiner which uses both CPU and GPU: https://github.com/Groestlcoin/Groestlcoin-Easyminer
Groestl CPU miner: https://github.com/Groestlcoin/Groestlcoin-cpu-1.0a/releases
NVIDIA miner: For NVIDA GPUs there is https://github.com/cbuchner1/ccminer/releases but that miner is not being updated. So you can use the Tpruvot version ccminer which you can find it here: https://github.com/tpruvot/ccminer/releases
AMD SGMiner: https://github.com/Groestlcoin/sgminer/releases
For more information on miner usage read how to configure and use CCMiner. Soon we’ll make a complete beginners guide on Groestlcoin coin. Also we’ll make a Groestlcoin mining guide which along with that we’ll also share the hashrates for GPUs and CPUs.
Now we’ll list all coins that falls under Groestl algorithm.
All Groestl coins
There are many coins under Myriad-Groestl algorithm such as Myriad coin (XMY), DigiByte (DGB), Verge (XVG) etc. But only one cryptocurrency is powered by Grøstl Proof of Work algorithm and that is Groestlcoin. Diamond coin (DMD) also implemented Groestl but its optional which in addition to that also uses Myriad-Groestl algorithm. Anyways mining phase for Diamond coin has ended and it switched to environmental friendly Proof of Stake technology. Then there is Secure (SRC – Secure chain) which is another multi-algorithm coin that uses Grøstl along with 4 other algorithms. Moreover this coin seem to be less active.
Groestlcoin – GRS
Groestlcoin is fairly distributed and decentralized. It is a fast, secure and privacy oriented cryptocurrency with almost ZERO fees. This is the first coin to implement Grøestl-512 mining algorithm and it also features SegWit and Lightning Network.
Announcement: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=525926.0
Website: https://www.groestlcoin.org
Groestlcoin Specifications:
- Total Coins: 105,000,000 GRS
- Block Time: 60 Seconds
- Coin Type: PoW
- Algorithm: 2 rounds of Grøestl-512 (POW)
- Current Block Reward: 5 GRS (7200 GRS/day)
- Block Reward Halving: None, fixed 5 GRS reward
- Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm: Every block using Dark Gravity Wave
- Premine: 0.2% (240,000 GRS)
If you know any other crypto coins that uses this algorithm or if you know any mining software that supports Groestl then please leave it in comments section.
Mynt coin is another groestl coin. The team behind it worked alongside Vertcoin, Groestlcoin. Would love to hear what you Think about that coin.
And Kazu coin, also groestl and 4 other algos. says its the next bitcoin, (Kazu is a Crypto-Commodity with the sole purpose of being “A Store of Value”.)