Hello Legion,

Our current chain is based on the old Bitcoin (Blackcoin) blockchain tech, it does not have smart contract capability or the ability to program on the chain using solidity. The current chain is extremely limited in what it can do. Our tools are being developed in Solidity for the upcoming fork. The current GRWI coin will remain on the exchanges while the new token will be available for those who choose to swap over. The old github and nodes will remain online for the foreseeable future. If we stay on the current chain, we could only create centralized apps with a decentralized value coin. We are currently sticking to the path of decentralized apps for GRWI. That being said, if volume remains steady for the old coin and the markets don't delist it, you could continue to buy, sell, and use it for the swap if you so chose. Staking resumes. We appreciate your concern and support.

- Ryan

A word from our lead blockchain developer Adam regarding the necessities of forking to Ethereum as opposed to other similar blockchain tokens:

“Hi,
Since I’m not a native English speaker, I will just put here some bullet points to explain why we will move to ERC20 (Ethereum token):
   
Bitcoin (which the current form of GRWI is an evolution of) has been designed as a currency, not a programmable blockchain.  Therefore implementation of a tracking system or genome repository on that technology would be difficult and prone to mistakes.  In short, we've gone as far as we can go with Bitcoin-style blockchain.  Ethereum offers a greater set of tools we will require for our current and future plans.
   
Ethereum has been created with programmability in mind, so there are already many standardized ways of implementing certain solutions which we can build from in the Open Source community.    
   
With Ethereum, it is easier to create fully auditable software, that makes it easy to verify.  Compliance with future legislation and regulation will require this level of verification.
   
Ethereum has a much larger development community than any other blockchain technology, so we can design and create custom solutions much faster.
   
We can also count on support of key root Ethereum organizations (like Ethereum Foundation or    OpenZeppelin) which actively supports implementation of blockchain    technology in non technical business industries.
   
There is a very well developed toolset available for the Ethereum blockchain and this will accelerate our production timelines considerably, especially in the particularly important area of UI/UX.
   
It will be much easier to implement a transparent shareholders system, a customer loyalty system and other similar features based on smart contracts and ERC20 tokens.
   
On the new blockchain, GRWI will become exchangeable on decentralized exchanges (like Etherdelta) and in this way will always be easily exchangeable into many assets available on the Ethereum platform.”

Adam Skrodzki
Growers International (Lead Blockchain Developer)


Extensive details soon to come.
Please feel free to ask us questions!

Developer Matt Kimball has joined the GRWI team as our new Research & Development Manager.  His extensive background programming agricultural simulators and training software for major US universities and international charities will help lead Growers International in developing the next level of software services we offer to the growing community.  He is also an expert at developing sensor and automation hardware used for process control, 3D printing and scanning, robotics, and visualizing those systems in realtime using technologies like Unity3D, Ionic/Angular, PHP and Python.



https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kimball-301b42152/

Recent Projects:

"Mahindi Master" - ( http://www.mahindimaster.org )
Produced in a partnership between UC Davis, University of Wisconsin-Madison and the One Acre Fund, Mahindi Master is a real-time simulation of growing corn in small plots of Africa.  It's primary function is to train small-plot farmers at modern farming techniques visually (and very quickly).  With the help of this program, village farmers in Kenya were able to increase their crop yield by 400%+.   It was developed in Unity by Matt Kimball and a team of academic advisors to run on Android tablets and was deployed successfully by several teams of volunteers in summer of 2017.



"Planet Bandit" - ( https://zackbh.github.io/planet_bandit )
Interactive 3D application to test user selected migration patterns against a randomized distribution of optimal results, to determine how long it takes them to arrive at the best choice and how quickly they improve on that over time. Two groups were used, one with a game theme based around space exploration, with interesting graphics and animations. The other group used a version with no game theme, just a very basic Windows-style interface but otherwise the same set of choices to make as the game group. Results strongly indicate that people learn skills faster when presented in the form of a game.

Cast your votes~!

Get ready for some major evolutionary steps for GRWI!
 
After weeks of carefully screening applicants, Growers International is happy to announce that Mr. Adam Skrodzki has been selected as our new lead programmer.  His extensive background in blockchain development and exceptionally high standard of quality made it an easy decision; there is no one better suited to help us achieve 100% of our initial roadmap and all the exciting developments on the way after that.

Adam has hit the ground running and is already making great progress establishing the framework we need to complete our current goals while keeping an eye on the requirements of future developments. 

Welcome to the team Adam!

A word from Adam:

Ethereum Blockchain Programmer: Adam S. (34, Poland)

     “Adam has more than 12 Years of work experience in programming.
Mostly in banking and insurance industry. Interested in Blockchain
since 2013 and in Ethereum since 2016. Fascinated by the idea of
decentralized self-managing organisations that Ethereum helps to build.
Privately libertarian viewing blockchain technology as a chance to
materialize ideal of Hayek's spontaneous order.”

- Adam Skrodzki




https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-skrodzki-521051b/

---

Growers International - Update 1/15

Topics: Fork, Blockchain Dev, New Exchanges, Site Platform (devs, upgrades, features).

Fork:
   It has been a plan since our inception to fork to Ethereum or similar platform in order to execute smart contracts. Smart Contracts are necessary to perform our advanced blockchain features like Seed-2-Sale and Strain Chain Registry. Ethereum is not the only game in town and we now have more options for Smart Contracts than ever. We’ve been pointed to Ubiq, Waves, NEO, IOTA, Meta, etc. There are two main reason why we have not forked yet. One - Our current bitcoin based blockchain is extremely stable and valuable. Our userbase enjoys the speed and consistency of the individual chain we are in control of. If we fork, we will be under another platforms umbrella so to speak. Two - Our original blockchain dev has become more and more difficult to get in touch with. Because of this, we are now actively seeking a new lead blockchain developer to push forward (more below). The potential fork will be reliant upon our new lead programmers skillset. We will keep the community updated every step of the way. This is a very crucial step and it must be executed properly.

Blockchain Dev:
   As mentioned above, we are actively seeking a new lead blockchain developer. Our original blockchain dev has been increasingly difficult to pin down and this is crunch time when it comes to building out our core blockchain enabled utilities. Growers International is hiring! Put the word out for any skilled dev who is familiar with Smart Contracts and is interested in leading the charge, payment will be discussed in accordance to workload, etc. Have them contact us through our bitcointalk account or email us directly at growersintl@gmail.com. We have quite a few connections in the crypto space so that is now being actively exercised as we search for the right person for the job. However, to speed up the process we are also looking to the community for any potential leads. The community will be updated accordingly and this will be a great step in the right direction for GRWI leading into the new year.

New Exchanges:
   New exchanges want a lot of money. $250,000 for HitBTC and Binance is near the same or even higher now. We can get added to other exchanges and possibly Binance with community vote once we get bigger. That will come after a few good waves of PR. We could also vote to go with any of the top leading platforms, just keep in mind that at a quarter million dollars it a very large part of the budget just to get listed on one exchange. We are looking into other new exchanges to get listed sooner. One of those is Altcoin.io, please spread the word to get voted onto this new decentralized exchange by clicking here: https://feedback.altcoinexchange.com/suggestions/3477/growers-international-grwi

We are always open to going on new exchanges and it is even possible to raise community funds or reach out to a 3rd party investor to make that happen. Nothing is off the table, it just all about timing. The GRWI budget would be much better spent on creating the actual utility of the coin and expanding the network prior to going on the biggest crypto exchanges.

Site Platform:
   Up to this point, our site has been hosted with Hostgator. Due to the size of our product database and our HG plan, our site seemed to time-out during any moment of congestion. This continues to be an issue but don’t fret, we hard at work on a complete website overhaul. Yes, we have purchased a brand new dedicated server with GoDaddy and it is pretty much the fastest server they have to offer. This will come in handy when it comes to the horsepower needed for the site and various linked mobile apps, grow suite, and yet to be announced features. Some of those features are touched on below. Please bear with the current version of the site for the coming weeks until we get V2 online for everyone to check out. We encourage users to be patient and any created accounts may need to recreated once we launch the new site. We also have a few new developers on the crew who are hard at work putting V2 together. These fine new devs will be properly introduced through the new website and ANN team section featuring images and bios.
   eCommerce Product Hub: Growers International has had success with our massive product database (12,000+). Our unique business model acts more as a service to connect growers with vendors and suppliers alike. We are now hard at work at expanding upon this model and clarifying its function and benefits. We do not sell the products listed on our site directly. Instead, we work to connect your order with the closest brick and mortar store that is willing to work with the GRWI discount structure. Once an agreement is made, the order is fulfilled. We work to get the best prices possible for our members along with discreet shipping or hassle free pickup. As our partnerships with grow shops and member networks expand, we can offer more discounts with quicker service. This is all done free of charge for our members. All sales of products are processed by the 3rd party and any need for return or consultation can be done with the store directly. Cultivation consultation, troubleshooting, and help will soon be available for our members in quarter one 2018.
   Grow Room (Social Experience): We are working on an entire social media platform designed for growers around the world. Users can create a profile, upload their avatar, manage a friends list, customize their homepage, interact, chat, share knowledge, photo sharing, and most importantly ‘tipping’. We want to make it beneficial for growers to share their grow secrets and strategy. Knowledge is very valuable and our tipping system will designed to reward quality information shared through our platform. We are working with the app developer who created the first facebook tipping app for Dogecoin back in 2015. Tipping will be made easy with an online wallet hosted directly on our site. This will be accompanied by a question and answer platform much like ‘Stack Overflow’ but the votes are powered by GRWI tipping. This leads into an entire grow knowledge base powered by members teaching other for quality advice and knowledge.

Regular updates and Newsletters to keep members informed are on the way. GRWI is just 5 months old and we are in a great position leading into 2018. The Crypto and Cannabis are both reach mainstream acceptance. Let's make this our year!

Rapid expansion commencing. The next update focus on PR.

Feel free to come ask us questions in our Discord or Telegram community channels:
Discord: https://t.co/nMSVHyGq8z
Telegram: https://t.co/LDowCh3gCM

- Growers International Team

We are actually planning a meetup in LA soon for members and insiders.

addnode=77.186.3.229:55226
addnode=23.243.123.127:62290
addnode=178.85.130.37:50269
addnode=178.113.185.229:11667
addnode=80.114.118.147:54008
addnode=178.85.130.37:50269
addnode=62.138.3.215:54497
addnode=88.117.104.255:64405
addnode=27.76.89.148:26859
addnode=93.82.84.139:56702
addnode=67.185.176.143:53668
addnode=172.248.200.19:11667
addnode=217.149.168.26:51231
addnode=77.119.128.249:2204
addnode=134.255.220.128:11667
addnode=108.194.52.98:63364
addnode=90.211.30.108:49278
addnode=73.193.127.119:57463
addnode=210.211.105.50:60306
addnode=45.46.82.250:59615
addnode=193.83.187.182:56435
addnode=134.255.218.110:51284
addnode=73.84.119.151:56177
addnode=85.0.2.13:55642
addnode=62.202.182.46:42982
addnode=213.225.8.145:25200
addnode=91.141.1.30:45053
addnode=84.129.227.4:65189
addnode=42.112.65.2:62928
addnode=139.59.224.250:51802
addnode=79.129.161.193:11667
addnode=45.32.126.242:11667
addnode=75.168.225.187:11667
addnode=113.23.16.224:11667
addnode=82.45.82.240:11667
addnode=47.145.108.94:11667
addnode=68.32.69.168:11667
addnode=78.126.24.36:11667
addnode=169.236.9.14:11667
addnode=104.236.78.83:11667
addnode=73.182.4.164:11667
addnode=24.166.59.144:11667

DPOS is now complete.

The unique DPOS system has now come to an end and Growers International will now be moving on to its second stage. We hope all members have enjoys their DPOS “stakes” and future coins can be acquired through giveaways and simple bounty. We are happy to have all members along with us as we reformat the coin into the true utility token that it is.

It has been expressed to over the last few months that our members would like to maintain use of GRWI on our current blockchain. We have taken this deeply into consideration. Our original plan was to fork the coin from being a bitcoin based blockchain (currently) to an Ethereum based ERC-20 blockchain which allows for smart contracts. We are currently testing if it is now possible to offer the utility we are after with Seed-2-Sale on our current blockchain. There are a few possibilities now on the table and the community will be asked to make the final vote which will push the direction of Growers International. We are working on an API based voting system which will not cost members money to vote, but will in-fact verify that you are a current Growers International club member prior to vote.

Merchandise on the way.

Our T-shirt contest winners will receive their shirts very soon and a 3rd party vendor will be selling the designs on their sites. We will link to those products from our store-hub as well.
Along with the shirts will be hats, beanies and smoking accessories.

Media Kit / Street Team

We will also be giving away a free “media kit” to all those who inquire. Included will be Growers International buttons, stickers, flyers and brochures to be used and passed out to those who might be interested in joining the club. This will make it easy to join the GRWI street team. As the packages get ready, they will be posted here and on our website.

Lots of updates leading into 2018 - Thanks for being part of the GRWI family.

Vitals restored. Major updates continue throughout xmas.

Happy Holidays GRWI family!

Updates will continue after my recovery is complete. Thanks team.

- Ryan

GRWI Updates, Monday (12/4/17)

DPOS Staking Harvest:
   The Growers International DPOS harvest is just around the corner. We are very happy that many in our community have been enjoying their fine stakes. It is important to be aware that DPOS will last until 1.8 coins per stake through block 181440.

We are currently on block 157045 with 1.6 rewards.

After DPOS, $GRWI will enter 5% annual interest.
More information regarding the final stages of our DPOS are also available at: http://growersintl.com/dpos

Track the current block movement on our block explorer:
http://growersintl.com/explorer

We understand that there are some questions regarding annual interest and the possible forking of GRWI. More information will be released in the coming days regarding the current status of the potential fork and that steps that will be taken moving forth.


SSL Updates:
   The Growers International eCommerce site has seen an upgrade to our SSL security from our website hosting provider. Those users who reside overseas who have had problems accessing http://growersintl.com should now have no problems with access or wallet downloads. The site can now handle a larger volume of users which will be necessary with the addition of our social media platform (Details soon). Not only that, but security is a priority for us and we have plans to expand the store into its own unique brand of online cannabis and farming commerce. As the site grows, security is paramount. More details on our new site platform will be posted very soon.

Ryan

Please restart your system and wallet. This should fix the problem. Thank you.

GRWI Updates Coming Throughout the Week:
(Detailed writeups for each item to be released over the coming days).

DPOS Staking Harvest:

Blockchain Forking:

eCommerce SSL Updates:

Node, Blockchain, Connection Upgrade:

Merch Availability:

Street Team Promo Pack:

Official Plastic Cold Wallets (gift cards):

WooCommerce Payment Plugin for our Grow Store:

GRWI now accepted at a retailer in Germany:

Expansion into other farming markets:

GrowersNET:

Stores as Nodes:

Social Media Platform:

Mobile Tools:

Games: