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The Game Of Altcoins

By Shubham Joshi

What is an altcoin?

An alternative digital currency to bitcoin is called an altcoin.The term “altcoin” is a portmanteau created by combining the words “alternative” and “coin”.In actuality, it refers to a collection of cryptocurrencies, ultimately including all digital currencies besides Bitcoin.

Bitcoin, the initial cryptocurrency, would serve as the singularity point if the entire cryptocurrency universe were to grow out of a single point, similar to a big bang.

As a substitute for our daily fiat currency, bitcoin was created. Ethereum opened up a new area of the blockchain, allowing for the development of new technologies like smart contracts and decentralized applications.

Understanding how altcoins work 

It’s helpful to first comprehend the operation of blockchain technology, which underpins all cryptocurrencies, in order to appreciate how altcoins function. 

This network, on which Bitcoin runs, is revolutionary because it is a decentralized, peer-to-peer (P2P) payment network that runs without a central authority or company enabling transactions. Additionally, altcoins operate along the same principle as Bitcoin: to use this blockchain technology. 

Features of Altcoins

• Altcoins are “improved versions” of the cryptocurrency they were formed from because they try to address perceived flaws.
• Altcoins with more utility have a better chance of surviving because they have uses, such as Ethereum’s ether.
• Investors have access to a wide range of alternative currencies that serve various purposes in the cryptocurrency market.
• Compared to Bitcoin, the investment market for altcoins is smaller. Since May 2021, Bitcoin has consistently had a 40% share of the worldwide cryptocurrency market.
• There is little activity and investor participation in the altcoin market, which leads to low liquidity.
• Making investment decisions more difficult and perplexing is the difficulty with which it is sometimes possible to discern between various altcoins and their particular use cases.

Categories of Altcoins

There are various sorts of Altcoins that can be used for transactions, depending on their functionality and consensus mechanisms. Some of the most well-known ones are listed here.

• Mining-based

As the name suggests, mining-based Altcoins depend on mining.The majority of these cryptocurrencies employ Proof-of-Work (POW), in which the computer analyzes user needs by solving challenging puzzles and creating new coins.Most of the most popular altcoins in early 2020 were mining-based.Litecoin, Monero, and Zcash are some of the popular mining-based Altcoins.

• Stablecoins

The next is stablecoin which improved on the price volatility of Bitcoin. Stablecoin’s price is not volatile.It has its value pegged against a basket of goods, like fiat currencies, commodities, and other cryptocurrencies to minimize price fluctuations. Diem from Facebook is a well-known stablecoin. If there is a problem with or failure of the coin, investors can be redeemed using the basket of products that follows.

• Security tokens

Security tokens are digital types of equity investing .These are like regular stocks, even produce fractional ownership and dividend payouts. Security tokens draw investors because they promise value growth.

These coins are distributed initially through Initial Coin Offerings or ICOs.

• Utility coins

Within a network, utility coins can be redeemed for goods or used to pay for services.These alternative coins do not offer dividends, unlike security tokens. Filecoin is a utility coin that can be used to purchase network storage.

Top 5 Altcoins as of 2023

• Ethereum 

Market Cap: $227 billion

The blockchain-based cryptocurrency Ether, which is used by Ethereum,is now the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.Well,ethereum functions like a distributed computing network where users can utilize the blockchain to run decentralized apps and host smart contracts.

• Ripple XRP 

Market Cap: $41 billion

With the use of digital technology and payment processing startup Ripple Labs, XRP can be utilized to allow trades of various currency types.Although this alternative coin has incredibly low transaction fees, analysts point out that it might pose legal issues.

• Binance Coin

Market Cap: $83 billion

A utility token called Binance Coin can be used to buy trades on the Binance exchange at a lower price and to pay trading fees.Even outside of the Binance cryptocurrency market, BNB may be used to handle payments for services like making trip bookings.

• Cardano 

Market Cap: $10.9 billion

Cardano was an early adopter of the proof-of-stake consensus method, which reduces the competitive and energy-intensive problem-solving aspect of platforms like Bitcoin and speeds up transaction times.On September 12, 2012, the Cardano ‘Alonzo’ hard fork was formally released, bringing smart contract functionality to the blockchain industry.

• Dogecoin

Market Cap: $10 billion

Dogecoin is the original meme coin, famously started as a joke in 2013. Nevertheless, it has quickly developed into a well-known cryptocurrency thanks to a committed community and inventive memes.Dogecoin has a different network from Bitcoin’s proof-of-work protocol.Additionally, this alternative coin has an unlimited total supply and a one-minute block period. This means that there is no limit to the number of Dogecoin that can be mined, unlike BTC.

Conclusion

Since 2011, altcoins have advanced significantly and have proven to be more than just a “Bitcoin alternative.”Investors are becoming more and more interested in the rapidly developing field of cryptocurrencies.

Altcoins are highly speculative and volatile. However, speculation is one of the major attractions for investing in cryptos. The Altcoin segment is snowballing, with 9000 cryptocurrencies already in the space.

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