Which coins can run applications?
Whether the network runs programs that anyone can use, or only moves its own coin.
This is what Ethereum was built for: programs stored on the chain that run exactly as written. Each app is its own code with its own flaws, and code that is wrong stays wrong.
Source: Ethereum.org: smart contracts · checked 2 October 2026
BNB Smart Chain runs the same kind of programs as Ethereum, and BNB pays for running them. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: BNB Chain docs: BNB Smart Chain · checked 2 October 2026
Cardano runs programs stored on its chain, written in its own contract language, Plutus. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: Cardano docs: Plutus · checked 2 October 2026
TRON runs programs on its own virtual machine, and they can be written in the language Ethereum uses. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: TRON docs: TVM · checked 2 October 2026
Avalanche runs the same kind of programs as Ethereum on a part of its network called the C-Chain, and AVAX pays for running them. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: Avalanche docs: the primary network · checked 2 October 2026
Stellar runs programs through its contract platform, Soroban. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: Stellar docs: smart contracts · checked 2 October 2026
Hyperliquid runs the same kind of programs as Ethereum on a part of its chain called the HyperEVM, and HYPE pays for running them. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: Hyperliquid docs: HyperEVM · checked 2 October 2026
Hedera runs the same kind of programs as Ethereum, written with the same tools. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: Hedera docs: smart contracts · checked 2 October 2026
Ethereum Classic runs programs stored on its chain, and calls itself the continuation of the original Ethereum of 2015. Its stated rule is that a deployed program is never stopped or interfered with.
Source: Ethereum Classic: why Classic · checked 2 October 2026
GRAM is the main coin of the TON network. It pays for running the programs stored on the chain, for storing their data and for network traffic. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: TON docs: start here · checked 2 October 2026
Cronos runs the same kind of programs as Ethereum, and CRO pays the fee on every transaction there. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: Cronos docs: general FAQ · checked 2 October 2026
OKB pays the fees on X Layer, an Ethereum layer-2 network built by OKX, so it is what running a program there costs. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: X Layer docs: about X Layer · checked 2 October 2026
MNT is the native token of Mantle Network, a network built to scale Ethereum that runs the same kind of programs. Fees there are paid in MNT. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Sources: Mantle docs: fee mechanism, Mantle docs: overview · checked 2 October 2026
The Internet Computer runs programs it calls canisters. Each pays for its own computing with cycles, which are made by destroying ICP, so the people using an app pay no fee. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: Internet Computer docs: cycles · checked 2 October 2026
Algorand runs programs stored on its chain, written in Python or TypeScript and run by its own virtual machine. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: Algorand docs: smart contracts · checked 2 October 2026
POL replaced MATIC as the native token of Polygon. It pays the fees on Polygon Chain, so it is what running a program there costs. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: Polygon docs: POL · checked 2 October 2026
WBT pays the fees on Whitechain, a network built on top of Ethereum that runs the same kind of programs. Each app is its own code with its own flaws.
Source: Whitechain docs: introduction · checked 2 October 2026
Bitcoin's own scripting is limited on purpose: shared-signature wallets and time locks, not general applications. Apps that use bitcoin mostly run on other networks, on a wrapped copy.
Source: Bitcoin developer guide · checked 2 October 2026
The ledger has an exchange and tokens built in. It does not run general programs; its own documentation lists that as work in progress.
Source: XRP Ledger FAQ · checked 2 October 2026
LINK does not run applications. It is a token on Ethereum, used to pay the operators of Chainlink's data services.
Source: Chainlink docs: LINK token · checked 2 October 2026
UNI does not run applications. It is a token on Ethereum that gives its holders a vote on how the Uniswap exchange protocol is run.
Source: Uniswap docs: the UNI token · checked 2 October 2026
ARB does not run applications, and it does not pay the fees on the Arbitrum network, which are paid in ether. It gives its holders a vote in the body that governs the network.
Source: Arbitrum Foundation docs: the ARB token · checked 2 October 2026
AAVE does not run applications. It is a token on Ethereum that gives its holders a vote on how the Aave lending protocol is run.
Source: Aave docs: governance · checked 2 October 2026
SHIB does not run applications. It is a token on Ethereum, and on Shibarium, the project's own network, fees are paid in a different token, BONE.
Sources: The Shib Daily: SHIB, BONE and LEASH, Shiba Inu docs · checked 2 October 2026
ONDO does not run applications. It is the governance token of the Ondo DAO and Flux Finance: holders vote on the protocol's settings and upgrades, and can hand their vote to another wallet.
Sources: Ondo Foundation docs: the ONDO token, Ondo Foundation docs: the Ondo DAO · checked 2 October 2026
ENA does not run applications. It is the governance token of Ethena: holders vote on what backs USDe, on how the protocol's revenue is used and on who sits on its risk committee.
Source: Ethena docs: ENA · checked 2 October 2026
SKY does not run applications. It is a token on Ethereum that replaced MakerDAO's MKR as the governance token of Sky Protocol: holders vote on how the protocol is run, or hand their vote to a delegate.
Source: Sky: understanding the SKY token · checked 2 October 2026
RENDER does not run applications. It is a token on Solana that pays for computing jobs on the Render Network: the RENDER paid for a job is destroyed when the work is done, and new RENDER is issued on a set schedule to those who supply the graphics cards.
Source: Render Network: burn mint equilibrium · checked 2 October 2026
The other questions
- Which coins can be sold for dollars?
- Which coins can be held without a company?
- Which coins can send a payment?
- Which coins can earn a return by themselves?
- Which coins limit their own supply?
- Which coins hold a steady dollar value?
- Which coins can be redeemed for what backs them?
- Which coins can be used on other chains?
What a coin can do is not a reason to buy it or to sell it, and nothing here is advice. Each answer names where it comes from and the day we read it. A coin we have not written up is left out, not marked down. How these answers are written.