We have heard about cryptocurrencies, and we have heard about bitcoins. So, what is altcoin? There are many cryptocurrencies other than bitcoins which are called altcoins. Altcoin refers to “alternative coins”. This also falls under the category of cryptocurrencies, and there are certain popular names like Cardano, Curve and Algoraland in which people have already started investing.
Other popular altcoins are XRP, Tether, Steller, Dogecoin, USD Coin, Carnado, Polkadot, and many more. These cryptocurrencies are also a good means to invest your money. Anyone who is interested in Bitcoin Day Trading, which is a safe and secure platform for making investments.
What are the types of Altcoin?
The altcoins have many types based on its functionality, and mechanism. Here are the categories of alt-coin-
- Stablecoin
Since the invention of cryptocurrency, it has always been so volatile. The motto of stablecoin was to decrease the volatile nature of cryptocurrency. The basket consists of other cryptocurrencies, precious metals, and fiat money. This acts as an asset for cryptocurrency if it faces any kind of problem or lost. However, it does not mean that it never fluctuates. It does. But it never crosses the lowest point. In terms of investment and if you are thinking about market risks and volatility, then Stablecoin is more reliable than the other options currently available.
- Meme coins
The name meme coin itself suggests that these coins were inspired as a joke on other cryptocurrencies. To everyone’s surprise, it became really popular in very less time. The main reason of meme coins gaining popularity is getting the support from many prominent influencers. One such instance is of Elon Musk who is the CEO of Tesla, Inc. He showed his support for dogecoin and Shiba Inuwhich is one Meme coin itself. This type has the highest type of market capitalization in the current economic scenario.
- Mining-based
It is also another category of altcoins. These come into existence by the mining process. In mining, the altcoins generated when different problems have been solved that creates blocks. Other than mining-based altcoins, there are other cryptos that are generated by difficult algorithms. These are called premiered coins. However, these altcoins are pre-distributed before coming to the crypto market. And, example of mined altcoins isZCash, Litecoin, and Monero. Most of the Altcoins generated in 2020 were mining based.
- Utility coin
Utility coins are those using which you can get some service or facility. Using the utility coin, you can pay for internet, or some subscriptions, or other services. One example of utility coin is Filecoin. In terms of economic value and usage, it remains as one of the most important in terms of economic value.
- Security Token
Stablecoins have resemblance with the security that we use in trade markets. What different is that these have only digital presence. Otherwise, these are just like the traditional stocks.
These are the types of Altcoins. There are also many altcoins that differ from one another. But what makes the altcoins different that bitcoin as a whole? Let’s put some light on that.
The top altcoins in 2022
These are the topmost altcoins in 2022-
- Ethereum
- Shiba Inu
- Cardano
- Algorand
- Ripple’s XRP
- Curve
- AAVE
- Decentraland
- Lucky Block
- Steller
Difference between altcoin and bitcoin
Well, except bitcoin, all the crypto coins are known as ‘Altcoins’. It can be considered as an alternative to bitcoin. Precisely, altcoins are introduced based on the great acceptance and success in the market but with few changes made to the rules and regulation. To give an example in this regard, we can talk about Ethereum, which is also the second-largest in the market of crypto currency, came up with the idea of ‘smart contracts’. Now, this smart contract is nothing but codes running based on the pre-determined conditions and only if they are met as per the requirement. Basically, through Altcoins we could see improvement in terms of functionality, scaling and various aspects related to the transaction. They generally have the same premise as the Bitcoin.
In a nutshell, market of crypto currency has evolved a lot and with the presence of Altcoin, the competition and the growth of the market would only reach several notches higher in the years to come. Simply put, everything apart from bitcoins can be considered Altcoins in this regard and they are here to stay!
