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With the rise of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, there are now hundreds of digital
currencies available for use. While Bitcoin is often considered the first and most
important cryptocurrency, there are many others that have gained traction among
investors and users.
In this guide, we’ll look at ten of the biggest cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin.
These are some of the most popular altcoins on the market today. They’re all worth
looking into if you’re interested in investing in cryptocurrency or just want to get
involved with a new form of payment.
Let’s dive right in!
Polkadot
So, what is Polkadot? Polkadot is a cryptocurrency built on Ethereum. It’s a
decentralized platform that allows users to build and deploy their own blockchain
networks, connecting to the Polkadot network. In other words, it’s like a shared
hosting service for blockchains—you can deploy your blockchain on Polkadot instead
of hosting it yourself.
This means that you don’t need to worry about maintaining servers or completing
updates on your end; instead, you can connect your smart contracts to the Polkadot
network and let the operator handle everything else.
You can use it to run games—think Pokemon Go-like augmented reality games and
potentially even VR—because each user will have their own nodes running locally, so
they can enter an “alternate reality” using just their phones. This will allow users to
interact in real-time with objects in the game through blockchain technology without
having to rely on expensive hardware (like AR headsets) or wait for centralized servers
(which are often slow).
There are plans for interoperability with existing blockchains—this means that if
you’re already running your decentralized app on another chain such as Ethereum or
EOSIO (Ethereum’s newer rival), then you’ll be able to integrate it seamlessly into
Polkadot! That’s pretty cool because not only does this mean more freedom for
developers when building dApps; but now there’s an incentive from outside sources
too: imagine how much easier it would be if all your favorite apps were available
together under one roof at no additional cost!
Ethereum Classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) is a blockchain-based, decentralized platform that runs smart
contracts and allows you to perform transactions related to other cryptocurrencies.
The platform enables Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), which are
essentially organizations that run on smart contracts and computer programs. These
DAOs execute transactions automatically after members vote for them.
Ethereum Classic focuses on immutability, resistance to external meddling, and
censorship resistance.
The currency was created by a hard fork of the original cryptocurrency Ethereum in
2016 following the infamous DAO hack. A hard fork is a split in the original
blockchain-based cryptocurrency leading to two separate versions of the same coin
with different rules.
This split occurred because the two sides disagreed about how best to proceed
following the hack — one side wanted to reverse the transaction, while others did not
want to interfere with what had happened on the blockchain. Eventually, this led to a
permanent split resulting in Ethereum Classic going its own way as an independent
project from Ethereum.
Cardano
Cardano is a decentralized blockchain technology that uses ADA as its cryptocurrency.
Similar to Bitcoin, Cardano’s platform has a limit of 45 billion ADA coins, but the
supply is currently at 31 billion and growing at a rate of 5% per year. Unlike Bitcoin,
where all transactions occur on one blockchain ledger and are available to anyone who
wants to view them, Cardano splits its ledger in two: the first one keeps track of
balances while the second one stores transaction histories.
The purpose behind this separation is to make it easier for users to move their money
anonymously within the system. To do this, users are given pseudonymous identities
(like having a user ID) so they can send funds without giving away their real names or
other personal information. To add another layer of security, transactions must also
be verified by multiple parties before they’re added into either ledger—this way no
single person can change records without everyone knowing about it.
Verge
It’s the year 2017 and you have your own cryptocurrency, but you’re not sure what to
do with it. You’ve already bought a pizza with Bitcoin, so that option is out. What else
can be done?
You could try Verge (XVG), which bills itself as a privacy-focused cryptocurrency for
everyday consumer use. It was created initially in 2014 as DogeCoinDark, then later
rebranded to Verge Currency in 2016.
Unlike other privacy coins such as Zcash or Monero, Verge uses several anonymity-
centric networks such as Tor and I2P that obscure the IP addresses and locations of its
users so that they are untraceable. The problem with other privacy coins is that the
sender’s address remains private, but the recipient’s address is still visible on the
blockchain. With Verge, both addresses are invisible and transactions are totally
untraceable without compromising transaction speeds required for everyday use by
regular consumers.
Litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) was launched in 2011 as the first altcoin and is still around today. It’s
one of the more popular cryptocurrencies, ranking fourth by market capitalization on
CoinMarketCap at the time of writing.
It was designed to be a faster and lighter version of Bitcoin—and to avoid some of the
problems with Bitcoin (such as high transaction fees). Litecoin has been used in many
cases as an intermediary currency for exchanging other cryptocurrencies. Like
Bitcoin, Litecoin uses proof-of-work to mine new coins—except it uses Scrypt
instead of SHA-256 hashing as its proof-of-work algorithm. As a result, Litecoin
mining requires less energy than Bitcoin mining.
Tether
Tether (USDT) is a stable coin that is pegged to the US dollar, the euro, or the Japanese
yen (whichever you choose). A stable coin doesn’t trade like a typical cryptocurrency.
It simply holds an amount of fiat currency as collateral and issues tokens that can be
redeemed for cash on demand.
The amount of USDT in circulation is always equal to the US dollars held in bank
accounts. The same goes for EURT and JPYT: Tether automatically converts these
tokens into whatever fiat currency they are pegged to at any given time.
Lumens (XLM)
Lumens, also known as Stellar, is an open-source protocol that allows you to send
money across borders quickly and with low fees. It’s meant to be used as a means of
transferring money between different fiat currencies—for example, USD to EUR. The
idea is that Lumens will function as a bridge currency, facilitating the exchange from
one currency to another at the current exchange rate.
The Lumen cryptocurrency aims to connect people to low-cost financial services to
fight poverty and increase individual opportunity. Its main focus is on developing
countries but its goal is universal access and education of financial services for all
individuals regardless of where they live.
You may have heard of Bitcoin before. It’s the first cryptocurrency that was created
and is used all over the world as a digital currency. You can purchase anything from
clothes to cars to houses with it. But what are cryptocurrencies?
Cryptocurrencies are a form of digital asset that uses cryptography as a security
measure, as well as to regulate the generation of additional units and verify
transactions on the blockchain. Cryptocurrency networks are decentralized and not
managed by any central authority like governments or financial institutions, which
means they are not held in banks or by any other regulatory body. As such, they can be
used globally without restriction.