Vertcoin (VTC)
As Litecoin was to Bitcoin, so Vertcoin is to Litecoin. Sort of. Vertcoin is a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain (from early 2014) and thus is one of the older cryptocurrencies that is currently popular. Vertcoin has certain advantages over Bitcoin, including Stealth Addresses and using an ASIC-resistent consensus algorithm.
Mining/Staking
Vertcoin uses a Proof of Work mining algorithm that is very similar to bitcoin's. The main difference is that the developers have promised to fork Vertcoin if ASIC's are ever developed for the coin, to prevent control being taken over by large mining farms. Vertcoin's eventual maximum coin supply is also four times the number of coins that Bitcoin will allow, and blocks are mined four times as fast (one new block approximately every 2.5 minutes). Because all mining is done by CPU or GPU, the entire mining network is essentially made up of small miners (mostly gamers with high-end gaming computers).
Development Team
The main developer for this project is James Lovejoy, who oversees development on a part-time basis while pursuing a higher education. James is quite accessible, and you can find numerous interviews with him on SoundCloud, YouTube, and other platforms.
Criticisms, Caveats, and Competitors
The biggest current drawback to Vertcoin appears to be a need to encourage wider adoption of the currency, and a lack of exchange listings on Asian exchanges.
Additional Resources
The project's main website: https://vertcoin.org
Link to Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertcoin
Link to Reddit Community: https://www.reddit.com/r/vertcoin
Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/vertcoin
Link to Team information: https://vertcoin.org/team
Link to data on Live Coin Watch: https://www.livecoinwatch.com/coins/VTC
Whitepaper: N/A
More Articles & Links relating to Vertcoin:
How to Set Up Vertcoin Wallets (Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOtBCzg_AZE&feature=youtu.be
Interview with Lead Developer James Lovejoy
http://podplayer.net/#/?id=41717080
What is Vertcoin
https://jamesthomascrypto.wordpress.com/2017/10/21/vertcoin-mining-power-to-the-people