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| image_1 = Peercoin Logo.svg
| image_1 = Peercoin Logo.svg
| image_title_1 = The Peercoin logo
| image_title_1 = The Peercoin logo
| iso_code =
| issuing_authority = (Decentralized) None. Peercoin tokens are issued by stakeholders while the currency is regulated by a central authority through checkpointing.
| issuing_authority = (Decentralized) None. Peercoin tokens are issued by stakeholders while the currency is regulated by a central authority through checkpointing.
| date_of_introduction = 12 August 2012, 17:57:38 UTC
| date_of_introduction = 12 August 2012, 17:57:38 UTC
| date_of_introduction_source =
| date_of_introduction_source =
| using_countries = International
| using_countries = International
| inflation_rate = Limited release rate plus 1% inflation due to the [[proof-of-stake]] system.<ref name="PPCoin paper">{{cite web |url=http://peercoin.net/assets/paper/peercoin-paper.pdf |title=PPCoin: Peer-to-peer crypto-currency with proof-of-stake |last1=King |first1=S. |last2=Nadal |first2=S. |date=August 12, 2012 |website=peercoin.net |accessdate=2013-12-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/7/alternative-cryptocurrencies-guide/page/3 |title=Wary of Bitcoin? A guide to some other cryptocurrencies |website=Wired.co.uk |date=2013-05-12}}</ref>
| inflation_rate = Limited release rate plus 1% inflation due to the [[proof-of-stake]] system.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/7/alternative-cryptocurrencies-guide/page/3 |title=Wary of Bitcoin? A guide to some other cryptocurrencies |website=Wired.co.uk |date=2013-05-12}}</ref>
| inflation_source_date =
| inflation_source_date =
| inflation_method = [[Proof-of-stake]]
| inflation_method = [[Proof-of-stake]]
| symbol = Ᵽ
| symbol = Ᵽ
| nickname = Peercoin, PPCoin
| nickname = Peercoin, PPCoin
| subunit_ratio_1 = 0.001
| subunit_ratio_1 = 0.001
| iso_number =
| subunit_name_1 = mPPC (millicoin)
| subunit_name_1 = mPPC (millicoin)
| subunit_ratio_2 = 0.000001
| subunit_ratio_2 = 0.000001
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| subunit_name_3 = Smallest unit
| subunit_name_3 = Smallest unit
| plural = PPC, Peercoins
| plural = PPC, Peercoins
| plural_subunit_1 =
| plural_subunit_1 =
| plural_subunit_2 =
| plural_subunit_2 =
| frequently_used_coins =
| frequently_used_coins =
| printer =
| printer =
| mint =
| mint =
}}
}}


'''Peercoin''', also known as '''PPCoin''' or '''PPC''', is a [[peer-to-peer]] [[cryptocurrency]] utilizing both [[proof-of-stake]] and [[proof-of-work system|proof-of-work]] systems.
'''Peercoin''', also known as '''PPCoin''' or '''PPC''', is a [[peer-to-peer]] [[cryptocurrency]] utilizing both [[proof-of-stake]] and [[proof-of-work system|proof-of-work]] systems.


Peercoin is based on an August 2012 paper which listed the authors as Scott Nadal and Sunny King. King, who also created [[Primecoin]], is a pseudonym.<ref>{{cite news | date=24 November 2013 | title=In Bitcoin’s orbit: Rival virtual currencies vie for acceptance | work=The New York Times | first=Nathaniel | last=Popper | url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/in-bitcoins-orbit-rival-virtual-currencies-vie-for-acceptance/ | accessdate=25 February 2014 }}</ref> Nadal's involvement had diminished by November 2013, leaving King as Peercoin's sole core developer.
Peercoin is based on an August 2012 paper which listed the authors as Scott Nadal and Sunny King. King, who also created [[Primecoin]], is a pseudonym.<ref>{{cite news | date=24 November 2013 | title=In Bitcoin’s orbit: Rival virtual currencies vie for acceptance | work=The New York Times | first=Nathaniel | last=Popper | url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/in-bitcoins-orbit-rival-virtual-currencies-vie-for-acceptance/ | accessdate=25 February 2014 }}</ref> The Peercoin source code is distributed under the [[MIT]]/[[X11]] software license.


In the proof-of-stake system, new coins are generated based on the holdings of individuals. In other words, someone holding 1% of the currency will generate 1% of all proof-of-stake coin blocks. This has the effect of making a monopoly more costly, and separates the risk of a monopoly from proof-of-work mining shares.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/business/2013/05/wary-of-bitcoin-a-guide-to-some-other-cryptocurrencies/2/ |title=Wary of Bitcoin? A guide to some other cryptocurrencies |website=Arstechnica |date=2013-05-11}}</ref>
Peercoin was inspired by [[bitcoin]], and it shares much of the [[source code]] and technical implementation of bitcoin.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}} The Peercoin source code is distributed under the [[MIT]]/[[X11]] software license.


Unlike many other [[cryptocurrency|cryptocurrencies]], Peercoin does not have a hard limit on the number of possible coins, but is designed to eventually attain an annual inflation rate of 1%. There is a deflationary aspect to Peercoin as the transaction fee of 0.01 PPC/kb paid to the network is destroyed. This feature, along with increased [[Electrical efficiency|energy efficiency]], aim to allow for greater long-term scalability.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

==Transactions==
A [[peer-to-peer]] network handles Peercoin's transactions, balances and issuance through [[SHA-256]], the [[proof-of-work]] scheme (Peercoins are issued when a small enough [[cryptographic hash|hash]] value is found, at which point the block of transactions is added to the shared block chain. The process of finding these hashes and creating blocks is called mining).{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

===Addresses===
Payments in the Peercoin network are made to ''addresses'', which are based on [[digital signatures]]. They are strings of 34 numbers and letters which always begin with the letter ''P''.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

===Confirmations===
Transactions are recorded in the Peercoin ''blockchain'' (a [[ledger]] held by most clients), a new block is added to the blockchain with a targeted time of 10 minutes (whenever a small enough hash value is found for the proof-of-work scheme).{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

==Creation of new coins==
New coins can be created in two different ways; ''mining'' and ''minting''. Mining uses the SHA-256 algorithm to directly secure the network. Minting rewards users in proportion to the coins that they hold (targeted at 1% annually).{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

==Distinguishing features==

===Proof-of-stake===
Peercoin's major distinguishing feature is that it uses a hybrid [[proof-of-stake]]/[[Proof-of-work system|proof-of-work]] system. The proof-of-stake system was designed to address vulnerabilities that could occur in a pure proof-of-work system. With [[bitcoin]], for example, there is a risk of attacks resulting from a monopoly on mining share. This is because rewards from mining are programmed to decline exponentially, which may decrease the incentive to mine. As miners decline, the likelihood of a monopoly increases, which leaves the network vulnerable to a 51% attack (a 51% attack is when a single entity possesses over half the mining share, which would allow this entity to theoretically double-spend a transaction involving their coins).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hern|first1=Alex|title=Bitcoin currency could have been destroyed by '51%' attack|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/16/bitcoin-currency-destroyed-51-attack-ghash-io|website=The Guardian|publisher=Guadian News & Media Ltd|accessdate=2014-07-17}}</ref>{{Irrelevant citation|date=November 2018}} With a proof-of-stake system, new coins are generated based on the holdings of individuals. In other words, someone holding 1% of the currency will generate 1% of all proof-of-stake coin blocks. This has the effect of making a monopoly more costly, and separates the risk of a monopoly from proof-of-work mining shares.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/business/2013/05/wary-of-bitcoin-a-guide-to-some-other-cryptocurrencies/2/ |title=Wary of Bitcoin? A guide to some other cryptocurrencies |website=Arstechnica |date=2013-05-11}}</ref>

===Proof-of-work===
The whole network uses the [[SHA-256|SHA-256 Algorithm]]. For each 16 times increase in the network, the proof-of-work block reward is halved. In July 2016 the [[Bitcoin]] mining reward halved causing a notable minority of miners to switch to mining Peercoin for better profitability. Researcher Adam Hayes explained that the Peercoin network hashrate surged from roughly 500 terahashes per second (TH/s) to 6,500 TH/s following the halving.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

===Energy efficiency===
Peercoin's proof-of-stake system was developed to address the high energy consumption of bitcoin. For example, as of April 2013 the generation of bitcoins was using approximately $150,000 USD per day in power consumption costs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/04/13/the-cost-of-a-bitcoin |title=The Cost of a Bitcoin |website=TechCrunch |date=2013-04-13}}</ref> The proof-of-stake method of generating coins requires very minimal energy consumption; it only requires the energy to run the client software on a computer, as opposed to running resource-intensive cryptographic hashing functions. During its early stages of growth, most Peercoins will be generated by proof-of-work like bitcoin, however over time proof-of-work will be phased out as proof-of-work difficulty increases and block rewards decrease. As proof-of-stake becomes the primary source of coin generation, energy consumption (relative to market cap) decreases over time. As of January 2014, roughly 90% of new coins being generated are still from proof-of-work and the energy consumption of Peercoin uses roughly 30% of the energy consumption of bitcoin (scaling for market cap - in terms of value secured per GH/s).{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

===Steady inflation===
Peercoin is designed so that it will theoretically experience a steady 1% inflation per year, yielding an unlimited number of coins. This is a combined result of the proof-of-stake [[Mint (coin)|minting]] process, and scaling of mining difficulty with popularity. Although Peercoin technically has a cap of 2 billion coins, it is only for consistency checking, and the cap is unlikely to be reached for the foreseeable future. If the cap were to be reached, it could easily be raised, hence for all practical purposes Peercoin can be considered to have inflation of 1% per year, with a limitless money supply.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

===Transaction fees===
Peercoin is designed so that variable and optional transaction fees are removed in favor of a protocol defined transaction fee (currently 0.01 PPC/kB). The transaction fee is fixed at the protocol level and does not go to miners but is destroyed instead. This is intended to offset inflation by deflating the money supply and serves to self-regulate transaction volume, and stop network spam. One issue with a protocol defined transaction fee is that it does not evolve with the value of currency units, and requires a hardfork of the protocol to adjust transaction fees.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

===PeerAssets===
PeerAssets is a simple, blockchain agnostic protocol which enables peers to issue and transact with assets. PeerAsset protocol based assets can be utilized to represent any type of asset like bonds or equity. This allows the creation of DAOs and DACs on the Peercoin blockchain, complete with dividend functionality as well as shareholder voting.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

==Other==

===Checkpointing===
According to the original paper, Peercoin uses a centrally broadcast checkpoint mechanism. The paper cites [[Ben Laurie]]'s argument that “Bitcoin has not completely solved the distributed consensus problem as the mechanism for checkpointing is not distributed.” King notes that he attempted to design a distributed alternative, but ultimately concluded that a centralized solution was acceptable until a distributed solution became available.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

==Forks==
===NeuCoin===
NeuCoin was a Paris-based [[cryptocurrency]] opened in July 2015.<ref name="Orrell2016">{{cite book |last1=Orrell |first1=David |authorlink1=David Orrell |last2=Chlupatý |first2=Roman |date=2016 |title=The Evolution of Money |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CXu0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA208 |location=New York |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |pages=208–209 |isbn=978-0-231-17372-8 |accessdate=2018-11-13 }}</ref> It was a fork from Peercoin<ref>{{Cite web|title = NeuCoin Whitepaper Outlines the Math Needed for Proof-of-Stake to go Mainstream|url = http://cointelegraph.com/news/113791/neucoin-whitepaper-reveals-first-mathematically-watertight-proof-of-stake-currency|website = CoinTelegraph|accessdate = 2015-10-29}}</ref> and was thus a [[proof-of-stake]] (POS) coin that paid interest as it is staked.<ref name="Reader2015-02-03">{{cite news |last=Reader |first=Ruth |date=2015-02-03 |title=NeuCoin raises $2.25M to be a headache-free take on Bitcoin |url=https://venturebeat.com/2015/02/03/neucoin-raises-2-5m-to-be-a-headache-free-take-on-bitcoin/ |publisher=[[VentureBeat]] |accessdate=2015-04-09 |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/6XfiBX7CM |archivedate=2015-04-09 }}</ref> Neucoin was pitched to investors as a solution developed for the market of micropayments.<ref>{{cite news|title=Neucoin – Convenient and Fast Cryptocurrency|url=https://cointelegraph.com/news/neucoin-convenient-and-fast-cryptocurrency|agency=Cointelegraph|date=28 January 2016}}</ref> NeuCoin raised $1.25 million from venture capital and angel funds and executives, including [[Emil Michael]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.coindesk.com/uber-hotwire-2-25-million-neucoin/|title=Uber, Hotwire Execs Invest $2.25 Million in ChangeTip Competitor NeuCoin|date=2015-02-03|work=CoinDesk|access-date=2018-05-20|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Dillet2015-02-03">{{cite news |last=Dillet |first=Romain |date=2015-02-03 |title=NeuCoin Is A Bitcoin Alternative Designed For Microtransactions |url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/02/03/neucoin-is-a-new-cryptocurrency-designed-for-microtransactions/ |publisher=[[TechCrunch]] |accessdate=2015-04-09 |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/6Xfi6kdjR |archivedate=2015-04-09 }}</ref> The project further raised 4,012 Bitcoin from retail investors in an [[Initial coin offering|ICO]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cryptocompare.com/coins/neustar/overview/BTC|title=NeuCoin (NEU) - Distributed to all who grow utility and value|website=CryptoCompare|access-date=2018-05-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://cointelegraph.com/news/neucoin-will-have-more-consumers-using-it-than-bitcoin-within-one-year-founder|title=‘Neucoin Will Have More Consumers Using It Than Bitcoin within One Year’ - Founder|date=2015-10-07|work=Cointelegraph|access-date=2018-05-20|language=en}}</ref> The currency was launched on September 23, 2015. The currency had a team of ten founders of backgrounds in various industries, as well as a million dollars in investment from angel investors.<ref>{{Cite web|title = NeuCoin Is A Bitcoin Alternative Designed For Microtransactions|url = https://techcrunch.com/2015/02/03/neucoin-is-a-new-cryptocurrency-designed-for-microtransactions/|website = TechCrunch|access-date = 2016-02-06|first = Romain|last = Dillet}}</ref> In April 2015, NeuCoin presold 100 million NeuCoins to future users in exchange for 4,012 Bitcoins.<ref>{{Cite web|title = NeuCoin - Strategic Plan|url = http://www.neucoin.org/en/wiki/#funding-amp-presale|website = www.neucoin.org|accessdate = 2015-10-25}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=November 2018}} In December 2015, NeuCoin launched a tipping platform on the internet radio service [[Jango (website)|Jango]] and a Facebook game called Solitaire Racer. In September 2016, NeuCoin launched a second Facebook game called SongQuest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.neucoin.org/post/150350383541/neucoin-project-update-songquest-game-released|title=NeuCoin Project Update - SongQuest game released; difficult conditions persist|website=NeuCoin|access-date=2016-09-14}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=November 2018}} On 25 November 2016, NeuCoin announced that its Foundation would "cease supporting NeuCoin services, destroy its remaining coins and dissolve itself". The money raised from retail investors was not returned.<ref>[http://blog.neucoin.org/post/153643496591/neucoin-project-update-foundation-to-cease NeuCoin official blog] November 25, 2016</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=November 2018}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.newsbtc.com/2016/11/26/utter-failure-neucoin-forces-foundation-shut/|title=The Utter Failure of NeuCoin Forces Foundation To Shut It Down|date=2016-11-26|work=NEWSBTC|access-date=2017-09-15|language=en-US}}</ref>
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
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{{Cryptocurrencies|state=expanded}}
{{Cryptocurrencies|state=expanded}}
{{Portal bar|Anarchism|Cryptography|Economics|Free software|Internet|Numismatics}}
{{Portal bar|Anarchism|Cryptography|Economics|Free and open-source software|Internet|Numismatics}}


[[Category:Cryptocurrencies]]
[[Category:Cryptocurrencies]]
[[Category:Currencies introduced in 2012]]
[[Category:Alternative currencies]]
[[Category:Alternative currencies]]
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 2012]]
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 2012]]

Revision as of 23:00, 17 March 2019

Peercoin
File:Peercoin Logo.svg
The Peercoin logo
Unit
PluralPPC, Peercoins
SymbolⱣ‎
NicknamePeercoin, PPCoin
Denominations
Subunit
 0.001mPPC (millicoin)
 0.000001μPPC (microcoin)
 0.000001Smallest unit
Demographics
Date of introduction12 August 2012, 17:57:38 UTC
User(s)International
Issuance
Central bank(Decentralized) None. Peercoin tokens are issued by stakeholders while the currency is regulated by a central authority through checkpointing.
Valuation
InflationLimited release rate plus 1% inflation due to the proof-of-stake system.[1]
 MethodProof-of-stake

Peercoin, also known as PPCoin or PPC, is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency utilizing both proof-of-stake and proof-of-work systems.

Peercoin is based on an August 2012 paper which listed the authors as Scott Nadal and Sunny King. King, who also created Primecoin, is a pseudonym.[2] The Peercoin source code is distributed under the MIT/X11 software license.

In the proof-of-stake system, new coins are generated based on the holdings of individuals. In other words, someone holding 1% of the currency will generate 1% of all proof-of-stake coin blocks. This has the effect of making a monopoly more costly, and separates the risk of a monopoly from proof-of-work mining shares.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Wary of Bitcoin? A guide to some other cryptocurrencies". Wired.co.uk. 2013-05-12.
  2. ^ Popper, Nathaniel (24 November 2013). "In Bitcoin's orbit: Rival virtual currencies vie for acceptance". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  3. ^ "Wary of Bitcoin? A guide to some other cryptocurrencies". Arstechnica. 2013-05-11.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peercoin&oldid=888251881"