Cloning
Cloning in crypto means copying open-source blockchain or smart-contract code to launch something new of your own. Because almost all of this software is open source, cloning is normal, legitimate, and how most of the ecosystem was actually built — including MELEK. It is closely related to Forking (a fork is a kind of clone that also carries or splits history).
Cloning a chain
A blockchain is defined by a handful of constants. Clone the code, change those constants, and you have a new chain:
- On a Graphene chain (Steem/Hive/Blurt/MELEK), the identity is the coin symbol, the address prefix, the chain id (a hash of the genesis text), the initminer key, and the witness/emission settings. Change them and you have your own chain — this is exactly how MELEK was cloned from Blurt. See Building a Front End for a Graphene Chain.
- On an EVM chain like PRANA, you clone core-geth (or another client), set a new chain id and genesis, and pick a consensus algorithm.
Cloning a token or contract
On EVM chains you can also clone at the contract level:
- A token is just a contract following a standard interface (see token standards). To make one, you clone/inherit a battle-tested base (OpenZeppelin's ERC-20) rather than writing it from scratch.
- Minimal-proxy clones (EIP-1167) let a factory stamp out many cheap copies of one deployed implementation — the pattern behind token-launch platforms and KULA's tooling.
Cloning is a feature, not a fringe act
The whole Graphene family — and much of DeFi — is a tree of clones and forks. Open code means anyone can stand up their own chain, token, or app; the value is in the community and the execution, not in keeping the code secret. This is the same principle as forkability: a system anyone can copy can never be fully owned by one party.
See also: Forking · Mining · The Graphene Family · MELEK · PRANA · Crypto Glossary