Gridcoin is a cryptocurrency that rewards for specific work done on the BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) platform. The network runs by real work that helps researchers and scientists all around the world. Gridcoin is a Proof of Stake (POS) network, making it more energy efficiant than a Proof of Work (POW) network. BOINC is a platform that has been around since the 2002 and has an extensive user base. Projects like SETI@Home and World Community Grid has around 1,5 million users, roughly 500,000 are active on a daily basis.