Altcoins

Altcoins can be defined simply as any cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin.

Originally, Bitcoin was the first and only cryptocurrency, though this number has expanded to now include countless cryptos launched.

Unlike Bitcoin, many altcoins have met varying levels of success, with the vast majority effectively ceasing to exist as tradable entities. Several however, have risen to rival Bitcoin itself.

The most common altcoins include Ether, XRP, Stellar, Monero, Ada, and Dash, among others and are seen as major players in the crypto space.

At the time of writing, there are over 5,000 altcoins in existence, with this number oscillating all the time. The two most paramount altcoins presently are Ethereum and Ripple and have developed into mainstays in the industry.

In terms of structure, altcoins may differ from the Bitcoin network in any number of ways. This is often the primary reason for the existence of altcoins themselves.

Altcoins Explained

Since its launch, Bitcoin has been innovative and massively influential, however it does possess some issues that developers are still trying to fix with their own products.

This was the primary impetus for the launch of several different altcoins. Over time, there have been altcoins developed that foster faster transactions, are less volatile, or are more private than Bitcoin.

Altcoins also boast different economic models and their methods of distribution.

Furthermore, their programming languages can be different, supporting the development of different kinds of applications.

While many altcoins have been built with new technology and have sizable potential to change the world, many of them have been created as methods of grabbing quick cash, or even as memes.

Still, some of the joke altcoins have still managed to gather a significant number of users and followers.

The most prominent example of this trend is DogeCoin, a cryptocurrency inspired by the Doge meme.