Contents

Primecoin

Primecoin

Primecoin logo
Denominations
Plural	Primecoin, primecoins
Nickname	XPM
Subunits
0.001	mXPM (millicoin)
0.000001	μXPM (microcoin)
0.00000001	Smallest unit
Demographics
Official user(s)	International
Administration
Issuing authority	None, the primecoin peer-to-peer network regulates and distributes through consensus in protocol.[citation needed]
Date of introduction	7 July 2013[1]
Inflation_rate	Limited release, production rate before this limit re-evaluated with the production of every block (at a rate of approximately 1 block per minute) based on the difficulty with which primecoins are produced.[citation needed]

Primecoin (Abbreviation: XPM) is a cryptocurrency that implements a proof-of-work system that searches for chains of prime numbers.

History[edit]

Primecoin was launched in 2013 by Sunny King, who also founded Peercoin.^[2][3]

Unlike other cryptocurrencies, which are mined using algorithms that solved mathematical problems with no extrinsic value, mining Primecoin involves producing chains of prime numbers (Cunningham and bi-twin chains). These are useful to scientists and mathematicians and meet the requirements for a proof of work system of being hard to compute but easy to verify and having an adjustable difficulty.^{[4][1][2][5][3][6]}

Shortly after its launch, some trade journals reported that the rush of over 18,000 new users seeking to mine Primecoin overwhelmed providers of dedicated servers.^[1][7]

Primecoin has a block time of one minute, changes difficulty every block, and has a block reward that is a function of the difficulty.^[2][6]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Orrell, David; Chlupatý, Roman (2016). The Evolution of Money. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 200–201. ISBN 978-0-231-17372-8. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
• Antonopoulos, Andreas M. (2014). Mastering Bitcoin: Unlocking Digital Cryptocurrencies. Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly Media. ISBN 978-1-4919-2198-2. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
• Fanning, Kurt; Centers, David P. (13 June 2016). "Blockchain and Its Coming Impact on Financial Services". Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance. 27 (5): 54–55. doi:10.1002/jcaf.22179.

External links[edit]

• Official website

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