Altcoins - what are they and what role do they play in the cryptocurrency market?

Altcoins - what are they and how to get them?

There is no doubt that Bitcoin is still the most popular cryptocurrency in the world. This is related not only to the functionality and the level of security it can guarantee, but also to the fact that it is the first cryptocurrency in the world! Since Bitcoin's inception, hundreds of other cryptocurrencies based on blockchain technology have emerged over the years. What is worth knowing about them?

Altcoin - what is it?

Every person who has come into contact with cryptocurrencies has had a contact with the term Altcoin, but not everyone knows! This word is nothing else than blockchain-based cryptocurrencies alternative to Bitcoin. In other words, any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin can be referred to as Altcoin. The first Altcoin is most likely a Namecoin, which was created in 2011, but never gained popularity. Currently, the best known Altcoins include:

• Litecoin,
• Ripple,
• Ethereum,
• Monero,
• Tether

Of course, these are only some of the Altcoins on the market. Currently, there are about a thousand of them! What cryptocurrencies have in common is their base on blockchain technology. However, this does not mean that they are similar to each other. Each Altcoin was created for a different purpose or has different properties. For example, Bitcoin aspires to function as an alternative means of payment to traditional currencies. Litecoin is to perform a similar function, but it guarantees faster operation or reducing transaction costs. In turn, among others Ethereum was created for a different purpose. ETH is to serve as a tool for making payments under the so-called Ethereum platforms.

Altcoin mining

As it was written, all Altocoins have their own specificity. Therefore, the difficulty of extracting them, the number of available units and the method of extraction itself is different! Nevertheless, mining is always based on sharing the computing power of your hardware. Most of the popular Altcoins can be mined with both a desktop computer and a telephone. For many of them (as for Bitcoin), dedicated ASICs have also been created that allow mining Altcoins with maximum efficiency. What else is worth knowing?

Altcoin mining can also be done in several different ways. In most cases, it is necessary to download specialized software (usually dedicated to a specific Altcoin) that allows mining. In addition, most of the cryptocurrencies alternative to Bitcoin can be successfully mined using a search engine. Often it is enough to download the appropriate extension. Another method (not available to all Altcoins) is to mine them in the cloud. In such a situation, a mining service is purchased in an external company that uses its own cryptocurrency k0pie equipment for the client.

Get to know altcoin perspectives

Whatever Altcoin you want to mine, the first thing you need to do is make sure that the way it works is safe. In addition, it is worth remembering that it is worth mining only those cryptocurrencies that, in the investor's opinion, may be useful in the future. In other words, there must be a demand for them.