You don't need a super-powerful computer to participate to boinc. There are plenty of projects fit for CPUs, GPUs and ASICs. There is a list on the Gridcoin website. If you have a powerful GPU you could participate in GPUGRID, for example. The projects you choose are your choice. You can participate to projects such as ATLAS or LHC@home, you would do physics simulations for the large hadron collider. You could participate in SETI@home to search for extraterrestrial signals. You could participate in rosetta@home, which does protein folding that helps develop cures.
There are also sensor projects. If you don't have a powerful machine you could get a radiation sensor and participate in Radioactive@home. You could use your phone to participate in the Quake Catcher Network.
I recommend participating to multiple projects at once. If you have a GPU-only project, it isn't using your CPU to mine, so you could join a CPU project.
You can encrypt your wallet, when you run the Gridcoin Wallet program and do necessary setup, in the menus there is an "Encrypt wallet" and "Backup wallet" option.
[–] sodypops [S] ago
Sorry for the barrage of questions but I'm just eager and curious
How much is a Gradcoin worth at the moment? also I'm assuming you imagine the future of it is going to do well and take off more than the bit coin if thats where you're putting your money?
[–] Mateon1 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
At the moment it isn't worth much. The price fluctuates quite a bit. As more people get into gridcoin, we can expect the value to increase.
Right now the exchange rate is 0.0000028 bitcoin per gridcoin, which translates to ~0.82 cents per single gridcoin. In a month with a 4 year old computer with some newer parts I managed to mine a bit over 5 000 gridcoin in PoR payments only. So ~4.11 US dollars at current exchange rate in a month. This is a noticeable amount, but nothing spectacular.
An investment is always a risk, but I believe Gridcoin is a stable cryptocurrency. I'm not an economist, but it has a stable base community, and is constantly improving. Gridcoin only needs more public outreach, so more people invest in it, strengthening its value.
Note: You shouldn't trust random strangers on the internet with your money, investments can be risky, Gridcoin being no exception. If you do want to invest, do your own research as well.