PIRL is a community based blockchain project focused on making cryptocurrencies more accessible. It was the first blockchain to introduce an Ethash-based masternode. Their goal is to develop a comprehensive DApps hosting infrastructure that will be easy to use. Their Poseidon platform is designed to be an on ramp for users without any technical knowledge. PIRL's multi-tiered masternode network has an ASIC-resistant Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, and is powered by the PIRL coin. The company plans on developing features, such as: decentralized file storage, messaging, and escrow services for payments.

ZCoin is a privacy focused cryptocurrency built on Ethereum. The ZCoin protocol enables anonymous transactions with cryptography that utilizes Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP). ZCoin increases privacy on their network by using a coin-mixer contract that wraps transactions in a serial number and destroying wrapped coins once they have been redeemed.
Zcoin was the first cryptocurrency to use a Merkle Tree Proof (MTP) as its proof of work algorithm. Merkle Tree Proofs are an innovative solution to achieving network consensus, and can increase transaction time while reducing the centralizing tendency of ASIC mining.

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.