Introduced in August 2012, Peercoin is an alt-coin that's mostly based on the original Bitcoin software. Prior to its release, a public announcement was made so that everyone had a fair notice to participate in its public offering. Peercoin's innovative ideas helped increase the energy efficiency of protecting the network with the aim of allowing for greater long-term scalability.

During its launch, new peercoins were issued through a proof-of-work mining process, similar to bitcoins. While the distribution of peercoins is supported through proof-of-work mining, the coins can also be issued through a "minting" process based on an alternative distribution method called proof-of-stake.