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.

Viacoin is an open source cryptocurrency based on the Bitcoin protocol. Viacoin has a 24 second block time and relatively fast transaction times. It can handle 175 transactions per second without scaling through Segwit or the Lightning Network. The fast transaction times make Viacoin a good option for sending micropayments. The platform also enables users to perform cross-chain atomic swaps between different cryptocurrencies, without a centralized exchange. Viacoin has an Auxiliary Proof-of-Work (AuxPoW) consensus mechanism that allows miners to mine multiple coins, that use the Scrypt algorithms, at the same time. Viacoin's smart contract platform, Rootstock, is compatible with Ethereum smart contracts.

BurstCoin is a cryptocurrency with a Proof-of-Capacity (PoC) consensus algorithm. Unlike most other cryptocurrencies, Burst's architecture uses a Tangle (similar to IOTA) instead of relying on a blockchain. It also utilizes ring signatures and other features, in what is called the Dymaxion. The Dymaxion implements layers of tangle-based lightning networks on top of the Burst blockchain. Each of these payment channels is opened in the form of a standalone colored tangle. Burst is also developing atomic cross-chain transactions (ACCT), that will allow for full decentralized trading between two cryptocurrencies.