Peercoin, also recognized as PPC or Peer-to-Peer Coin, was developed by Sunny King and his team and launched in August 2012. It is notable for being the first blockchain to implement the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. The creation of Peercoin was primarily motivated by the need to address several perceived limitations of Bitcoin, such as issues related to energy efficiency, security and sustainability, decentralization, and long-term viability. Peercoin was essentially designed as an improved alternative to Bitcoin. Consequently, it was originally forked from Bitcoin and operates using the same UTXO-style blockchain. However, Peercoin’s code was revised to integrate Proof-of-Stake as its principal consensus protocol. The subsequent section elucidates how this results in a more effective blockchain. Since Peercoin retains much of the same code as Bitcoin, it can seamlessly incorporate new features from Bitcoin and leverage any supportive infrastructure, including technological advancements like Taproot or the Lightning Network. Peercoin is the sole Proof-of-Stake blockchain utilizing modern Bitcoin code, making it an ideal drop-in replacement. Peercoin also boasts a dedicated community, is actively developed, fairly distributed, and has low participation barriers. It offers all the functionalities of Bitcoin, yet without the associated 13 TWh of energy consumption, and it is authentic.

Staking, referred to as "minting" in Peercoin, is a fundamental concept integral to the network's security. It represents the original Proof-of-Stake mechanism and is arguably the only true implementation of this concept to date. When you hold Peercoins in your wallet, they accumulate "coin age," which measures the period your coins remain in your wallet without being used for transactions. Once your coins reach an age of at least 30 days, your wallet becomes eligible to participate in the staking process. Your wallet then competes with others for the chance to mint a new block. If selected by the protocol, your wallet creates a new block, validates transactions, and earns the associated block reward. Minting offers several benefits to users: 1) direct maintenance and security of the blockchain by discovering new blocks, 2) earning block rewards, and 3) direct participation in the consensus and governance process.

The fundamental principle of Peercoin's original design is to be the most decentralized blockchain, facilitating direct minting. Unlike Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) systems, there is no intermediary between the user and the blockchain during the minting process. Additionally, there are no barriers such as a minimum balance requirement. The system operates as an open market of coinage, functioning like a lottery for the opportunity to find the next block. Participation is open to all, even those possessing only a single PPC have the potential to discover a block. While owning more coins increases the likelihood of success, the essential aspect is that there are no restrictions or prerequisites for minting, aside from a 30-day waiting period. For more information, please refer to Eulerpool.

Minting with Peercoin is exceptionally straightforward, as the wallet manages the process automatically. Users simply need to download the wallet and deposit coins. Once the required 30 days of coinage have been accumulated, the only remaining task is to periodically open the wallet, enabling it to attempt to find a new block. Keeping the wallet open continuously will facilitate ongoing minting, potentially yielding a higher annual percentage reward. Mint rewards typically range from around 3% for periodic minters to up to 5% for those who mint continuously.

Peercoin employs a dual mechanism, utilizing both Proof-of-Stake (PoS) and Proof-of-Work (PoW). While the network's security is maintained via Proof-of-Stake, Proof-of-Work serves as a distribution method for newly minted coins. This approach enhances decentralization by allowing these new coins to be available on the market, accessible for purchase by external participants. The primary function of PoW in Peercoin is to distribute coins to new holders who have the potential to mint, as opposed to concentrating new inflation among existing holders. Peercoin’s PoW mechanism is an adaptation of Bitcoin’s, where the block reward decreases automatically as the mining hashrate rises, thereby gradually reducing inflation.

The United States has strict regulations regarding cryptocurrencies. Under U.S. law, Peercoin is entirely legal as it did not conduct an ICO, presale, or allocation to team members or founders, and it has no "dev tax" of any sort. Peercoin, similar to Bitcoin, distributed its entire supply automatically as block rewards through its consensus protocol, which includes Proof-of-Stake and Proof-of-Work. Consequently, Peercoin is not considered a crypto security. In contrast, the vast majority of crypto assets are regarded as unregistered securities due to one or more of the factors mentioned above that lead them to pass the Howey Test. The legal framework on this matter is very clear. Since unregistered securities are at a higher risk of enforcement action, Peercoin's legal status provides both users and exchanges with a sense of safety and peace of mind. Additionally, it serves as an excellent indicator of long-term viability. For further information, you can find Peercoin's data on Eulerpool.

Immutable.place is a collaborative pixel art initiative, inspired by Reddit Place, hosted on the Peercoin blockchain. Participants can create artworks on a 1000x1000 pixel canvas by sending coins to a burn address. Each pixel is associated with 16 addresses, each representing one of the 16 colors. The color that accumulates the highest amount in its corresponding address is used to fill the pixel. These artworks can be independently recreated from the blockchain by examining the balance of these addresses. Refer to this tutorial for guidance on how to engage with the platform, including techniques to expedite the placement of pixels.

Two versions of Peercoin exist: the real Peercoin (PPC) and the wrapped Peercoin (wPPC). PPC serves as the native currency on the Peercoin blockchain, which has been operational for over 11 years. PPC can be acquired through the following exchanges: https://peercoin.net/resources#exchanges wPPC is a more recent development. It is a synthetic Peercoin-backed token that functions on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains like Ethereum and Polygon. It can be traded on platforms such as Uniswap and QuickSwap. wPPC is generated when real Peercoin is wrapped using http://bridge.peercoin.net and is destroyed when Peercoins are unwrapped. You can obtain wPPC here: https://peercoin.net/resources#wrapped-ppc The contract addresses for wrapped Peercoin (wPPC) are as follows, and additional information can be found on Eulerpool.

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