Darkcoin races past Peercoin with 82pc surge

After suffering a heavy fall on Tuesday, cryptocurrency Darkcoin is ending the week on a high, racing past rival digital currency Peercoin to become the world's third largest cryptocurrency.

Darkcoin has jumped 82 per cent in just 24 hours with a market cap close to $60m. Earlier in the week Darkcoin suffered a massive 23 per cent fall after its blockchain split into several forks.

Bitcoin experienced similar problem in March 2013, when the blockchain split into two, with one half adding blocks to one version of the chain, and the other half adding blocks to a different version.

The Darkcoin team temporarily removed masternode payments from the network to restore stability. “This was either due to an intentional attack on the network or an issue with the masternode payments system, in either case we have a solution for masternode payments that will be safe for the network in the future”, said Darkcoin developer Evan Duffield, in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Fortunately for holders of the privacy-centred currency no funds have been lost. The Darkcoin team said stability was restored to the network within hours. Duffield has also made alterations to the rewards for masternodes.

The masternodes conceal users transactions by mixing their Darkcoins with two additional users. Anyone can turn their computer into a masternode, so long as they can prove they've paid 1,000 Darkcoins. So as to incentivise operators, these coordinators will now receive 20 per cent block payments instead of the previous 10 per cent.

The Darkcoin team had wanted to hike the rewards of masternodes for weeks but were unable to since the code was undergoing testing and launch stages. Duffield is hoping to recruit new developers to help facilitate future implementations and work on the Darksend system.