What is Peercoin?
Peercoin is a hybrid blockchain that uses a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) and Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism. Essentially, on the Peercoin blockchain, PoS is used to safeguard the chain, whereas the PoW is used for distribution and decentralization. However, most blocks are created through PoS. Though it’s worth mentioning that Peercoin is the first to implement the PoS consensus algorithm.
PoS means that the Peercoin blockchain depends on the minting process to create new blocks to the chain and manage them. It’s related to the cold staking of the Peercoin token, the PPC. In other words, PPC holders are the main group to produce new blocks. Not only that, time is essential: the higher the time of accumulation, the more power the holders have to participate. Besides that, a PPC holder can only make one block at a time. In return for the creation of a new block, the user earns rewards in PPC.
If you are interested in knowing the current PPC price, you can check the Peercoin price chart featured above.
On the other hand, Peercoin's PoW is based on Bitcoin’s mining algorithm (double iterated SHA-256 algorithm). Though, it has a different purpose. It’s meant mainly for distribution and decentralization. That is, only a small portion of Peercoin’s blocks are created through PoW. Thus, the chain doesn’t depend on mining and hash power.
The distribution happens when miners use their PCC coins earned through mining to sell them on exchanges. If purchased and transferred to a wallet, there’s a chance for a new stakeholder to become a security provider for the network by engaging in the PoS process. This contributes to making the blockchain even more decentralized since more users are actively involved. Thus, Peercoin is a community-driven blockchain.
Use Cases of PPC Tokens
As stated before, the Peercoin crypto asset is used as a reward for minters and miners. It can also be used to make transactions in the Peercoin blockchain. Moreover, PPC is available for purchase and trading on different exchanges. Additionally, PPC is a governance token. Therefore, users not only are able to create new blocks, but they also have the power to influence and choose the future of the network.
Note that there's also a Wrapped Peercoin (wPPC). It's a synthetic Peercoin-backed token that is created using Peercoin's bridge and destroyed once the holder unwraps the Peercoin.
Don’t forget you can check the live Peercoin price above. It features the current and the previous PPC price.
Who Founded Peercoin?
The Peercoin crypto project was developed in 2012 by two developers – Scott Nadal and Sunny King. However, Scott Nadal left the project in November 2013 leaving Sunny King as the core developer. Sunny King is a pseudonymous developer who also founded Primecoin and V Systems. Besides, he is the inventor of the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.
