Many people who are not familiar with cryptocurrencies are confused by the term “altcoin”. There are hardly any people in the world, who have not at least heard of bitcoin. Altcoins are still not as popular and some additional information will prove helpful in most cases.
Here are some altcoin facts that should prove useful to both crypto beginners and advanced users as well:
- “Altcoin” is not a type of cryptocurrency. The term is used to describe a cryptocurrency ALTernative to bitcoin.
- “Altcoin” is also the most searched for cryptocurrency in the world that does not exist for the above-mentioned reason.
- Even some of the few cryptocurrencies which are largely known throughout the world are referred to as altcoins: Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), EOS (EOS), etc.
- “Major alts” is a term used to describe the top cryptocurrencies behind bitcoin in market capitalization.
- Even if a cryptocurrency manages to surpass Bitcoin in value, it will still be referred to as an altcoin.
- Altcoins come in all shapes and forms. They vary in many different ways such as price, technical details, popularity and even resemblance to bitcoin.
- There are quite literally thousands of altcoins. There is a new altcoin born almost every single day but 99.5% of them do reach the 3-month mark in their lifespan.
- The overwhelming majority of altcoins are using the SHA-256 hashing algorithm. It’s the same hashing algorithm used by bitcoin. The second most popular is Scrypt, which is used by Litecoin.
Altcoins are a fortune yet to be mined
- Altcoins are referred to as the world’s largest untapped investment gold mine. Many experts state that if a trader possesses the necessary knowledge and the right amount of luck, he can trade a fortune with altcoins similar how to fortunes were made with penny stocks in the dawn of the stock market.
- Some altcoins are designed to help with bitcoin’s flaws while others are designed with the hopes of replacing it. While bitcoin is without a second doubt, a financial revolution, it’s no secret to anyone that it’s far from perfect. Many altcoins are designed because of obstacles and challenges which were discovered with bitcoin during its use.
- Ethereum and Litecoin are without a doubt the two most popular altcoins, but neither of them was the first altcoin. The first altcoin was Namecoin (NMC).
- The highest recorded price for an altcoin was so far recorded by Bitcoin Cash (BCH) on the 20th of December in 2017 – $3785.
- The altcoin with the single biggest decline in history was VeChain (VET). Back on the 20th of January 2018, VET traded at $8.46 but later fell down by 99.93% down to $0.005 per coin.
- It’s very safe to assume that there are way more dead altcoins than living ones. The website deadcoins.com is tracking the results, but they are user submitted so it’s not possible to be 100% accurate. Still, the list will keep growing exponentially.
You can also check out:
- Bitcoin Facts: Altcoins, Opinions and the Way Towards Progress
- Electricity Consumption of the Bitcoin Network Shows Interesting Facts
- Blockchain Gambling: The Inevitable Progression
- Rookie Traders and Why Bitcoin Trading has a 95% Failure Rate
The post Altcoin Facts: How Many are There and What is the End Goal appeared first on CoinStaker | Bitcoin News.