Verge XVG / Verge

What Is Verge (XVG)?

Verge is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency and blockchain that seeks to offer a fast, efficient, decentralized payments network that improves upon the original Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain. It includes additional privacy features including integrating the anonymity network Tor into its wallet, called vergePay, and providing the option of sending transactions to stealth addresses.

The project describes itself as community-driven, relying on volunteers and priding itself on being open source.

Verge was first launched in October 2014 as DogeCoinDark, a fork of Peercoin (PPC). In February 2016, it was renamed Verge in order to rebrand for easier mass-market adoption and to distinguish itself from Dogecoin (DOGE), with which it has no direct connection. The project is now based on the Bitcoin source code.

Who Are the Founders of Verge?

Verge was launched in 2016 by Justin Valo, also known as "Justin Vendetta" or "Sunerok," a developer with over 20 years of experience in network security and nearly a decade in blockchain technology. He first developed the cryptocurrency as a fun passion project to empower individuals around the world with a greater sense of privacy.

Valo has stated that he has been programming since the age of 8 and became involved in network administration after high school, working for a Fortune 500 company. After a few years, he decided to start his own network security company.

Valo first became interested in Bitcoin in 2011, later getting involved with Dogecoin after its late 2013 launch. He began working on Verge because he believed that none of the altcoins being developed at the time were adequately functional as digital currencies and that the only other serious privacy coin projects --- Bytecoin (BCN) and Monero (XMR) --- were not sufficient.

In 2017, Valo was appointed to the advisory board of TokenPay (TPAY), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency.

What Makes Verge Unique?

According to its "blackpaper," Verge was created as a way to fulfill Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto's vision of a decentralized, trustless electronic payment system while also providing more privacy than is available with Bitcoin.

In order to accomplish this goal, Verge relies on a series of key privacy features. It automatically routes all traffic to and from its vergePay wallet through the Tor network, anonymizing the traffic and masking IP addresses.