Contract coins are used to provide functionality that is technically impossible to use bitcoin for. For example, contract coins are the currency used to pay for all smart contract code execution. More generally, contract coins represent an agreed equity stake in the contract network and are the voting currency for the community to decide on changes in functionality.

Contracocoins are created by "burning" Bitcoins, which are sent to an unconsumable address in exchange for contracocoins, ensuring that they are distributed evenly and fairly. In January 2014, more than 2,100 bitcoins were burned, creating about 2.6 million contract coins.