Peercoin is an open-source, decentralized blockchain network belonging to the Peercoin Foundation. The currency was initially released as a fork of Bitcoin with additional protocol and functionalities to support the proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism. According to the asset's document, the asset's mission is to empower team members of Peercoin by offering them the tools necessary to keep Peercoin's reputation of innovations to the blockchain alive. The innovation highlights the use of proof of stake (PoS) for network security and proof of work (PoW) for coin distribution on Peercoin's network.

This cryptocurrency network thus developed was named ppcoin, a designated cryptocurrency of the Peercoin project, represented by its ticker PPC. The PPC is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency minted using proof of stake for network security and proof of work for coin distribution with no dependency on energy consumption. The term minted reflects creating new crypto coins using a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. Further, the coins generated by PoW (proof-of-work) miners are used to reward them for their work on the network. These coins can also be traded by the miners on an exchange for profit and purchased by new stakeholders who can use them to mint blocks by participating in the proof-of-stake mechanism. The PPC is also used for governance on the Peercoin network, which includes actions like voting. These overall functions of PPC, in turn, help aim to create a decentralized cryptocurrency network with an economic model that focuses on security and sustainability.

Peercoin started its journey in 2012 based on the proposal of Sunny King and Scott Nadal to create an alternative consensus that can provide energy-efficient and long-term decentralized systems. Presently, this network is governed by the Peercoin Foundation, publicly announced on May 13, 2018, and is controlled by a board of directors. The whitepaper of Peercoin was published on August 19, 2012.