Ethereum Classic is the original protocol of Ethereum. As a result of the massive hack on the Ethereum-based DAO, in which around 14% of all ETH in circulation were stolen, a hard fork was proposed to return the stolen funds to their owners. This caused an ideological split revolving around the question of changing previous transactions in the blockchain. Some Ethereum holders rejected the hard fork, and decided to keep using the original protocol, based on the principle that the blockchain is immutable, and cannot be changed.

ICON (ICX) is unique compared to most other digital currrencies. ICON's primary objective is to establish a unifying system to integrate an unlimited numbers of blockchains. This would allow numerous blockchains to work together and incorporate aspects of all of them. ICON is powered by a unique system called loopchain, that can adopt different features, rules, and consensus systems. The loopchain has different circles, with nodes that connect it. There are community nodes and individual nodes that are all connected to the ICON Republic, which is the entire ecosystem. These nodes can connect in countless ways and results in unlimited applications. The network has an innovative consensus mechanism called Delegated Proof-of-Contribution (DPoC).

Ripple is a real-time settlement and remittance network that is designed for the banking industry. Its settlement infrastructure technology has been adopted by a growing list of financial institutions looking to leverage the benefits of distributed ledgers. Ripple's real-time settlement network connects banks and enables cross border settlements and transactions in real-time. The current settlement infrastructure requires many intermediaries, and performing transactions take time and cost money. Ripple provides the underlying infrastructure for banks, and enables these transactions to be executed directly at almost no cost.