Decred is a blockchain-based Cryptocurrency that was launched in 2016 by Company 0.
Decred is much like Bitcoin. Its core concept is to remove the current centralization in Bitcoin. It emphasizes decentralized governance, using the “POW+POS” mechanism to make sure that voting rights will not be monopolized by a few miners or early participants.
This system provides a way for Decred developers to avoid the conflict of interest issues that have created controversy around some Bitcoin development decisions. The main problem: some Bitcoin developers work for a development company called Blockstream which is in the business of creating Bitcoin sidechains. As a result, Bitcoin developers that work for Blockstream tend to vote against adding new Bitcoin features that eliminate the need for sidechains.
Company Message
"Decred is an autonomous digital currency. With a hybrid consensus system, it is built to be a decentralized, sustainable, and self-ruling currency where stakeholders make the rules."
Proof-of-work mining, more commonly referred to as PoW mining, is the activity of committing your computer’s hardware and resources to process network transactions and build the blocks that make up the blockchain in the Decred network. Each time a block is created (by a miner), which is then approved by ticket holders, the miner receives a block reward (newly created DCR). If the block is rejected by ticket holders, the miner does not receive a reward. The block reward adjusts every 6,144 blocks (approximately 21.33 days) by reducing by a factor of 100/101.
To participate in PoS voting, stakeholders lock some DCR in return for a ticket. The amount of DCR locked, or Ticket Price, is adjusted dynamically every 144 blocks (~12 hrs). The current ticket price can be found in Decrediton or on dcrdata.decred.org. Partial tickets can also be purchased using ticket splitting software. Every ticket owned gives its holder the ability to cast a single vote. Upon voting, each ticket returns a small reward plus the original Ticket Price of the ticket.
Proof-of-Stake (PoS) voting is a form of Proof-of-Stake (PoS) security, but the way Decred integrates this as a complement to Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining gives it a distinctive set of roles and characteristics.
Politeia is a platform that supports Decred’s governance. It facilitates the submission, tracking, and discussion of Decred governance proposals by the stakeholder community. The Politeia webplatform facilitates browsing, discussing and submitting proposals.
Reddit-style up/downvoting is used for comment sorting. Up/down votes are not anonymous.
Voting on proposals does not happen directly on Politeia, as it requires signatures from your Decred wallet. Voting can be done from Decrediton or on the command line using the politeiavoter CLI tool.
There are two broad types of proposal:
Decred’s governance is based on the principle of ticket-holder voting. To participate in governance, users must time-lock DCR to purchase tickets. Tickets can then be used to vote on validating blocks, consensus rule changes, or proposals in Decred’s web-based proposal system, Politeia.
Validation of blocks and voting on consensus rule changes occurs on-chain. Voting on higher-level issues, such as how to spend Treasuryfunds, or significant policy decisions (e.g. amend the Decredconstitution) occurs off-chain in Politeia, a web platform where the community at large can submit, discuss and vote on proposals.
To compensate ticket holders for validating blocks and securing the network, 30% of the block reward (PoS reward) is sent to ticket holders for voting on blocks; the remaining block reward is split between PoW miners (60%) and the Treasury (10%) to fund ongoing development. The ticket price (the amount of DCR that must be time-locked) is adjusted dynamically every 144 blocks (~12 hrs), in an attempt to keep PoS returns stable over time.
Ledger
As for using the Ledger Nano S, the first step towards setting up your device is unboxing it and checking if you have received all the accessories coming with it. Once you have it unboxed, you need to configure it and initialize it before being able to use it. The process is quite simple and will hardly take about 20-30 minutes post which you will be set to use your Ledger Nano S device.
Setup guide video: here
Trezor
As for Trezor, installing is really simple. To properly install it users should attach the unit to the computer. After that continue with installing the bridge which allows the Trezor to join with the computer. The first step is to connect the Trezor to device’s USB slot with the cable given in the box. After that, go to myTrezor.com and proceed with installing the browser extension. Trezor can also be used on Android or an iPhone, or on a Windows or Mac computer. Now, initiate the extension and myTrezor will direct you to pick a PIN. After this, you will notice nine buttons but the numbers are hidden. After this, users should check the Trezor’s screen to recognize which numbers are in which place because it switches every time. Now set the PIN. Shortly after, Trezor should present a 24-word wallet “seed”. In short, one word at a time. Note down this seed and save it carefully. If your Trezor device malfunctions or is lost, you can utilize the seed to reconstruct the complete wallet.
Setup guide video: here
Decredition
Decrediton is the official wallet of Decred cryptocurrency developed by Decred developers.It is a full-node desktop client for Decred cryptocurrency and for using this wallet you need to download the whole Decred blockchain. After you have downloaded the blockchain, the synchronization can take up to several hours.
Also, this is the official GUI wallet for Decred using which you can do Decred mining and staking both. And at present, Decrediton is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Exodus
Another good example of a desktop wallet that supports Decred is Exodus, which supports numerous other cryptocurrencies along with DCR and is pretty straightforward and easy to use. Just download the app from the official site(exodus.io) and get straight into creating your wallet. Exodus stores your Private Keys on the machine you choose and not on any server, providing you with a relative peace of mind when it comes to the security of your coins.
Decred Web Wallet
If you are too lazy to use other wallets and what something quick as well as safe, you can look at Decred web wallet developed by Copay.
Decred web wallet is the in-browser wallet for storing your DCR coins, and it is a non-custodial wallet. Meaning, here you control your funds through a wallet recovery phrase (seed). When you agree to the terms and access you Decred web wallet for the first time, the first thing you should do is to back-up your recovery phrase from the settings. For extra security, you can set a ‘spending password’ which is will be asked every time you or anyone else tries to make a transaction from this wallet.
The ways to purchase DCR with credit card are very few and far inbetween.
Coinswitch
CoinSwitch is an all-in-one platform where you can trade cryptocurrencies across a wide range of exchanges. With access to more than 300 cryptocurrencies, here’s what you need to do to place a trade:
CoinSwitch transactions take between 15 and 30 minutes to be processed. Large transactions worth about 1 BTC or more may take longer depending on the size of your transaction and the capacity of the blockchain. CoinSwitch doesn’t impose any minimum or maximum transaction limits. However, if the amount you wish to exchange is too low and isn’t accepted, you’ll need to adjust the amount to make sure it will cover all the network fees a blockchain takes.
Alternatively, you can always go to either Bittrex or Binance if you have some spare BTC lying around. We'd recommend going this route as it's less tedious and the exchanges are almost always available(when CoinSwitch won't be.)
