The Importance of Altcoins
Cryptocurrencies offer a new way to transact and store value, this we know. It’s like online banking but the money’s made up and the tokens don’t matter.
What many people don’t know, if they haven’t had their heads buried between the legs of sweet lady crypto, is how many cryptocurrencies there are. Many have their own unique properties and use cases, many are copies of copies of copies with new names and branding. You’ve heard of bitcoin, there’s no way you’d be here if you haven’t, you’ve probably even heard of Ethereum and Doge — but what out Crono? Matic? Sus? poo(yes)coin?
Bitcoin was open, that was the draw — you could see what was happening and how it worked. This has allowed more cryptocurrencies to bud from the satoshi-vine and contributed to the biodiversity we see now. All technology was built on the shoulders of giants and crypto was built on the shoulders of degens. Now anyone can make a token with a base level of knowledge and the right, or wrong, motivation. This is what makes cryptos so exciting — there’s something for everyone!
You could look at a list of thousands of altcoins and their backing projects, some of them long-dejected sites with empty telegram channels where only the bots whisper into the void, but many altcoins are actually quite important. They provide competition and help keep the space innovative, they create a channel for supporters to back a project, they turn memes into money, they allow anyone with an idea and a unique token to share and get support from an international community. The ability to create altcoins make NFTs possible.
So, what are altcoins? Altcoins are simply alternative cryptocurrencies. They’re called “alt” because they’re alternatives to the main token on a blockchain, the first and most-known cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is not an altcoin. Ether isn’t an altcoin(at one point it may have been,) but SUS token definitely is. There are thousands of altcoins, and new ones are created all the time.
These alternative cryptocurrencies have all built on Bitcoin’s success and offer different features or advantages. For example, Ethereum is a popular platform for building decentralized applications, while Litecoin is faster and more scalable than Bitcoin.
Monero is a favorite altcoin because it offers privacy and security features that aren’t found in other cryptocurrencies. It’s quickly gaining popularity among people who are concerned about their privacy. It’s pretty big on the dark web, no need to wonder why.
Altcoins keep the cryptocurrency space innovative and accessible. Without them, we’d likely see a lot less progress on things like mesh networks, NFTs, search engines, gambling, supply chain tracking and even national currencies.
***don’t invest what you can’t afford in cryptocurrency. We use and support cryptocurrency for it’s utility, we are not traders or investors.
There is almost no accountability for a project that gets rugged and you can’t get your funds back.
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