The prospect of shifting gears from simply making money to being paid for performing scientific research with your computer is more than just enticing for most tech enthusiasts — and the idea is catching on fast

When most people first get interested in cryptocurrency, it’s for practical reasons — they’re looking for more control over their financial transactions, they’re intrigued by the idea of digital currency, they’re impressed by the price action of the trading markets — and these reasons all have one thing in common: people want to make money.

At a base level, the initial appeal of cryptocurrency is mining. Mining cryptos is like mining for gold with your computer — you research the asset to find the most profitable, you purchase tools for the mining itself, and you pay a fee towards the cost of workers (in this case, the power company), all in the hopes of making enough in return to claim a profit. The problem people immediately face, however, is how difficult it is to make a profit when the cost of equipment and electricity is so high. To make matters worse, all of that computational power is only going to one place: your pocket.

But what if you could donate your processing power while also making a profit in return? And what if that processing power were given to solving some of the most complex problems in the scientific community, problems that if solved could bring humanity to the next level such as mapping the Milky Way Galaxy, curing cancer, or finding life on other planets? Well, there’s a cryptocurrency for that, and it’s called Gridcoin.

Gridcoin is a cryptocurrency that rewards its users for contributing to scientific research through a software program called BOINC, or Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing, which was developed by the University of California, Berkeley to help the SETI project, or search for extraterrestrial intelligence. While it isn’t worth much at the moment (about 15 cents per coin), the price has indeed increased over the past two years, making it a contender against other low-priced cryptocurrencies that have been around longer. What’s more is that Gridcoin’s price, along with many other major cryptos, has increased due to Bitcoin’s increase in price, and is now beginning a life of its own much like Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin Cash and other alternative currencies have in the past few years.

Current projections for Gridcoin are pointing towards an average of about 25 cents for coin for the beginning of 2018, and upwards of $2 – $3 by the end of the year. That means that buying Gridcoin now may even be more profitable than mining for the moment. You can purchase Gridcoin on a number of exchanges, including Poloniex and Bittrex, among others.

However, if you are interested in turning your unused processing power into a contributor to the BOINC network and earn your Gridcoin, you can get started by following the instructions on the Gridcoin website.