I came upon this new under the radar blockchain project called Merit, which is lead by Adil Wali, linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/adilwali and is an invite only network where you can mine the invites as well as the Merit(MRT) coins. Merit uses a controlled-growth model, which creates a slower, but safer growth of the whole ecosystem. Users are also rewarded Merit coins from the Proof-of-Growth Rewards.

The algorithm Merit uses is the Cuckoo Cycle PoW, with the average target block time is 60 seconds and the block reward is 20 MRT. Half of the block, 10 Merit, is rewarded to the block finder and the other 10 Merit goes to the Proof of Growth Rewards. The difficulty is retargeted every 300 blocks, about every 5 hours. The total supply of Merit (MRT) coins is 100 Million with 20M premined in the genesis block, which is locked, and to be used later by the team for advertising, listings, and etc.

There is NO ICO for this project and it is already prefunded, with an initial investment of $1 Million from Adil Wali. BusinessWire Article https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180509005407/en/Merit-Emerges-Stealth-Announces-1M-Funding-Availability

The team consists of 16 members all of whom are developers, found here https://www.merit.me/about-merit/.  The team is currently focused on the development of polished working products before starting their advertising campaign. They are constantly active on github with updates and fixes. https://github.com/meritlabs/merit  There is complete and full transparanecy in this project, and what is best, already has working desktop wallets for mac and windows, and mobile wallets for android and iphone. There is also a working exchange, that has BTC escrow, https://market.merit.me/, with plans to be listed on major exchanges in the future.

This coin is mineable with CPU and GPU, however, currently only nvidia is supported with the Cuckoo Cycle Algorythm, but AMD support is currently in development.

This is a rough estimate of GPU mining performance. https://imgur.com/a/ihagQG4

This is a mining calculator for profitability. https://dashboard.merit.me/calculator


If you are interested in this project and would like a invitation, you can use my link here. https://wallet.merit.me/?invite=jaekeem  (I occasionally give out invite tokens and Merit to active miners.)


MERIT - A cryptocurrency focused on growth and ease-of-use.

Merit aims to be the world’s friendliest digital currency, making it effortless to pay friends, buy goods, and manage your wealth.

Merit is a new cryptocurrency that is purpose-built to be used daily by technical and non-technical users alike. Merit believes that a truly human-centered cryptocurrency must be built on three pillars: safety, simplicity, and community. Each of Merit’s innovative features is driven by one of these core principles.

What makes Merit different? Growth mining (through Proof-Of-Growth), a focus on community stewardship, and a much simpler user experience. Because Merit is invite-only, the blockchain keeps track of how impactful each member has been in growing the community.  In addition to rewarding classic security miners, Merit rewards users who increase the network’s reach, use, and diversity.  We believe that adoption is key to the longevity, viability, and security of any cryptocurrency, and made growth a core design-principle of Merit.   


Features

Growth Mining:
Merit’s innovative approach to Proof-of-Growth makes mining a cryptocurrency drastically more approachable to the broader population.  Growth Mining rewards users based on their impact in growing the Merit community.  These rewards help democratize the distribution of Merit and reward activities that are just as valuable to the security and longevity of Merit as traditional security mining.

Cuckoo Cycle POW:
Merit splits block rewards 50/50 between classic PoW security mining and PoG growth mining.  Merit's PoW algorithm is the memory-bound, graph-theoretic, Cuckoo Cycle created by John Tromp.  The memory-bound approach has a number of interesting advantages, such as lower power-consumption, heat-dissipation, and deep ASIC-resistance.

Aliases:
Merit’s invite-dynamics allow users to create an alias that is stored on the blockchain.  Instead of sending to 34-character hexadecimal addresses, you can send Merit to @adil.  It’s as easy to send Merit as it is to send a DM. 

Escrow:
The robust MeritLink protocol allows users to send Merit via SMS or email to users who do not even have a Merit Wallet yet.  If the recipient doesn’t have a wallet, the MRT is stored in escrow on the blockchain for them to access once they are a member of the community.  Further, MeritMoney transactions can have expiration dates and an optional password to make them even more secure. This gives users the peace-of-mind of knowing that they send their Merit to the right person and that only that person will be able to unlock the money. And it is easily re-claimed when the expiration date is reached.

One-Click Mining:
Security mining shouldn’t be restricted to technically advanced users.  We built one-click mining directly into our lightwallets so that anyone who joins Merit can help secure the network.  The Merit desktop lightwallet even automatically detects the GPUs on your machine and lets you select which ones to mine with.

Invites:
Merit is an invite-only network, which drives security and stewardship advantages.  This invite-only dynamic enforces referential integrity for Proof-of-Growth, and also helps to make Merit indestructible.  Merit does this without promoting spammy behavior because Merit Invite Tokens are scarce, so users are best served by being thoughtful about who they bring into the network.  Get An Invite

Invite Explainer Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBkFFr4-YIs&feature=youtu.be


Cancellable Transactions:
The robust MeritMoney protocol also solves one of the most widespread problems in the history of commerce: human error. Accidentally send the wrong amount of Merit to someone?  Or accidentally key in the wrong address? These are everyday occurrences for most of us and, and are handled elegantly with Merit.  Merit’s escrow links can be cancelled up until the point where the transaction has been accepted by the recipient.

Indestructible:
You cannot burn or destroy Merit by sending it to an address that does not belong to another user.  Because Proof-of-Growth Aliases, and Invite Tokens, an address must be beaconed to the network and must receive an invite token before becoming fully valid.  This empowers peers on the network to refuse any transaction that is sent to an address that does not actually belong to someone.

Vaults:
Merit vaults add multiple layers of protection without sacrificing decentralization or forcing a user to understand and use cold storage.  Vaults utilize purpose-specific keys, whitelists and rate-limiting to help keep your MRT safe.  These features are enforced at the protocol-level, not by a central party.  Soon, Vaults will even include decentralized key recovery through Merit’s upcoming Guardian feature.



Merit has done no significant paid marketing to-date, nor has it done an airdrop.  Merit has grown entirely organically through community stewardship.  Merit believes in software over hype.  Merit has never done an ICO.  There will be a total of 100M Merit distribution; with 4-year halving intervals.  Merit has a genesis block, and the Merit Foundation currently has no near-term plans of selling MRT.


Blockchain Details:

    Total Supply: 100m MRT
    Target Blocktime: 1 minute
    Total Coinbase Per Block: 20 MRT
    PoG Reward per Block: 10 MRT
    PoW Reward per Block: 10 MRT
    Genesis Block Size: 20m MRT
    Genesis Block Status: Locked


Links


[Website]https://www.merit.me

[Whitepaper]https://www.merit.me/uploads/2018/whitepaper.pdf

[Bluepaper]https://www.merit.me/uploads/2018/bluepaper.pdf

[Github]https://github.com/meritlabs/merit

[Explorer]http://merit.overcookedpanda.com:3001/

[Market Exchange]https://market.merit.me/dashboard

[Mining Pools]htps://merit.disifi.com/pools

[Mining Calculator]https://dashboard.merit.me/calculator

[Wallets]https://www.merit.me/get-started/#get-merit-desktop

[CLI-Miner]https://merit.me/uploads/2018/desktop/merit-minerd-0.5.exe

[Invite Link]https://wallet.merit.me/?invite=jaekeem
   
   
   
   
Some Media about Merit and Adil Wali.


Adil Wali winning ICO-Pitch Presentation, 2018 Unchain Convention, Hamburg Germany. https://twitter.com/UNCHAIN_Con/status/1006861569433710592  Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfLI2B0UPsk

Adil Wali's article on Blocktribune. https://blocktribune.com/bitcoin-as-modern-money-why-is-it-so-easy-to-destroy/

TechCrunch article on Adil Wali https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/09/a-modcloth-cofounder-just-launched-an-invite-only-cryptocurrency/

Yahoo Finance Article https://finance.yahoo.com/news/merit-emerges-stealth-announces-1m-110000525.html

Proactiveinvestor's Article http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/stocktube/9310/mod-cloth-founder-says-his-invite-only-cryptocurrency-called-merit-will-make-blockchain-more-secure-9310.html

GeekWire Article https://www.geekwire.com/2018/modcloth-co-founder-aims-create-worlds-used-cryptocurrency-new-startup-merit/

BusinessWire Article https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180509005407/en/Merit-Emerges-Stealth-Announces-1M-Funding-Availability

CrowdfundInsider Article https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2018/05/133202-invite-only-cryptocurrency-merit-says-it-has-raised-1-million-sets-goal-of-being-most-adopted-digital-currency/

Seattle Business Journal Article https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/businesswire/press_releases/Washington/2018/05/09/20180509005407

Bitzamp Article https://news.bitzamp.com/merit-worlds-first-invite-only-cryptocurrency-announces-1m-funding-and-aims-to-be-the-most-adopted-digital-currency/

Coin Buzz Feed Article http://coinbuzzfeed.org/a-modcloth-cofounder-simply-launched-an-invite-only-cryptocurrency/

Taiwan News Article https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3426324

BC Focus Article https://bcfocus.com/latest-news/new-invite-only-cryptocurrency-merit-owned-by-the-modlcoths-co-founder-launches-today/8649/

PYMNTS Article https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/bitcoin/2018/bitcoin-daily-winklevoss-crypto-patent-merit-ricky-williams/

Slugfeed Article https://sludgefeed.com/merit-stealth-funding-invite-only-cryptocurrency/

Bits Online Article https://bitsonline.com/modcloth-launches-merit-invite-only-cryptocurrency/

Idea Mensch Interview with Adil Wali https://ideamensch.com/adil-wali/

Merit's Sponsorship of E-Gaming Team, Team VGJ https://www.ethnews.com/when-crypto-and-esports-collide

Blocktribune Article https://blocktribune.com/bitcoin-as-modern-money-why-is-it-so-easy-to-destroy/

CryptoNinjas Article https://www.cryptoninjas.net/2018/08/27/invite-only-cryptocurrency-merit-mrt-launches-p2p-marketplace/