Altcoins

 

The term ‘Altcoin’ refers to Alternative Currencies. There are more than 700 different Altoins or Crypto currencies listed. Some with value and some with almost no value at all. Altcoins are important in the eco-system where bitcoin is also part of, as they contribute to the development of the Blochain technology and sometimes have merits of their own. Some of the better known altcoins are for example EthereumLitecoinDashMoneroZcash etc. 

For a complete and updated lists of these coins you may refer to websites like: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cryptocurrencies 
http://www.cryptocoinsinfo.com/ 
http://altcoins.com/ 
https://www.worldcoinindex.com/
https://www.coinchoose.com/

and for an easily accesible list of their tradeable values you may refer to: 
http://coinmarketcap.com/

Altcoin

 

 

 

Understanding Altcoins

In short: Altcoins is just another form of cryptocurrency. Almost none of them has gained the traction or even the value of bitcoin, but some has value for diffenet reasons. 

A good example might be Ethereum  The Ether network enables the creation of Smart Contracts on its blockchain. It is proving very popular with banks and financial institutions. Another example of an alcoin that has gained popularity is Monero.  Monero coin has a blockchain that enables better anonymity, similar to the recently launched Zcash crypto currency.

For a complete explanation of what Altcoins are, you can refer to the Altcoin wiki page or you may watch the video here to give you a better understanding of what altcoins are and how they fit in to the crypto currency ecosystem. 

It is worth noting that using an easy tool like Shapeshift  you can exchange bitcoin to altcoin and back with ease. Shapeshift is also built in to Jaxx wallet.

Bitcoin Q&A: What is the future role of altcoins? Altcoins as laboratories Andreas Antonopoulos

Some examples of Altcoins

What is Ethereum

This video explains what Ethereum is and discusses its basic functionality. Ethereum is also known as “The World Computer”.

Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference. 

For more on Ethereum go to https://www.ethereum.org/

What is Litecoin

The Litecoin blockchain is capable of handling higher transaction volume than its counterpart - Bitcoin. Due to more frequent block generation, the network supports more transactions without a need to modify the software in the future. 
As a result, merchants get faster confirmation times, while still having ability to wait for more confirmations when selling bigger ticket items. 

Check out https://litecoin.org/ to learn more about Litecoin.

What is Dash

Dash is a form of digital cash. All transactions in Dash are recorded on a public ledger, or "blockchain." This way, everyone can ensure that the ledger is an accurate an honest account of the currency.
Unlike blockchains such as Bitcoin, however, Dash offers the desirable properties of paper cash -- namely, instant transactions (InstantSend) and privacy (PrivateSend). 

Check out https://www.dash.org to learn how you can benefit from Dash as a consumer, a merchant, or an organization.

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