A Quick View: Bitcoin vs. Altcoins
Bitcoin has long been ruling the cryptocurrency market. It has gained its shares of accolades and apprehensions, but what remains with us is that it has redefined digital transactions. With the growing acceptance of cryptocurrency and Blockchain, we are going to witness a rise in the acceptance of cryptocurrency in the times to come. While we have the focus on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, we also need to focus on Altcoin.
Understanding the difference between Bitcoin and Altcoin
We have already discussed Bitcoin and its popularity; after the success of Bitcoin, there was another range of coins that were launched; yes, we are talking about altcoins. These were launched after Bitcoin and are a good alternative to Bitcoin. In simple words, Altcoins are all cryptocurrency except Bitcoin. As of March 2021, there were around 9000 cryptocurrencies. And as per.
CoinMarketCap, altcoins account for 40% of the total cryptocurrency market. This number is growing, which also shows the rising internet of people towards cryptocurrency.
Types of Altcoins
As the altcoins evolved, so did we get the different categories of the same. Hereunder are some of the key categorization of altcoins:
Mining-Based- As evident from the name, these coins are generated by solving some truly problems to unlock blocks. These are more or less similar to Bitcoin. One of the popular examples of this is Ethereum.
Stablecoins- These coins were launched to overcome the drawbacks of Bitcoin. It was launched with the aim to reduce volatility. The value of a stable coin is achieved by associating the value of the coins to the existing currencies. Facebook’s Libras is the greatest example of this.
Security Tokens- The next type of cryptocurrency is a security token. These are often launched in ICOs. These look the same as traditional sticks and often promise some type of dividend like payout.
Utility Tokens- It provides claim on services, and are sometimes sold as a part of ICO. Five coins are the best examples of this.
There is a line of difference between Bitcoin and Altcoin. Like Bitcoin is mined after every ten minutes. On the other hand, altcoins like Linecoins are mined after every 2.5 minutes. This makes the processing of Altcoin faster as compared to Bitcoin. Also, Litecoin also uses a different set of rules of mining. Like for a Bitcoin, you have to use more resources. Hence, it is highly energy-consuming, whereas, in the case of Bitcoin, you don’t need such high-end hardware. You can use simple computer hardware to mine Bitcoin.
This is how bitcoin and Altcoins are different. Although Bitcoin is a pioneering cryptocurrency, Altcoins, on the other hand, is picking up pace and becoming popular.
What’s next?
The rising demand and use of cryptocurrency have made it one of the best mode of investment. In fact, cryptocurrency certification has also become popular because of this. And if you are also interested in cryptocurrency and you want to learn more about it, then you must connect with the Blockchain Council.
