What is altcoin?
The word “altcoin” is an abbreviation for “Bitcoin alternative” and therefore describes every single cryptocurrency except Bitcoin. Altcoins are called Bitcoin alternatives because, at least to some extent, Altcoins aim to replace or enhance at least one Bitcoin component. There are hundreds of Altcoins. According to data from CoinMarketCap, there are currently 7,307 Altcoins traded on exchanges.
Most Altcoins are little more than Bitcoin clones, focusing only on improving minor features such as transaction speed, distribution management, or hashing algorithm. Most of these coins do not survive for very long. One of the first Altcoins is Litecoin and it is still alive. In addition to using a different hashing algorithm than Bitcoin, Litecoin is much more nuanced. For this reason, Litecoin positions itself as silver against Bitcoin, which is gold. Some Altcoins aim to innovate by offering useful features that Bitcoin cannot offer. Ripple (XRP), for example, aims to serve as a protocol to facilitate currency payments. Many Bitcoin fans are of the opinion that Altcoins are completely unnecessary and cannot succeed because they are too bad to rival the infrastructure that Bitcoin has.
ss a matter of fact, Altcoins actually play an important role. Decentralization is one of Bitcoin's most important goals, and Altcoins decentralize the cryptocurrency community. Altcoins allow developers to experiment with unique features. Although Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency whose features are copied by developers from time to time, Altcoins also have their own places where they are ahead of Bitcoin. Many Altcoins offer faster transfers and lower transaction fees compared to Bitcoin. Altcoins provide alternative options to cryptocurrency users and enable Bitcoin's developers to stay active and continue to innovate. Users can turn to any Altcoin when they think that Bitcoin cannot meet their expectations in the digital environment. If the usage rate of Bitcoin decreases, its developers take action and focus on improving Bitcoin, taking into account the feedback.
