Over a decade from when most of us started hearing the term Bitcoin for the first time, more of us are hearing about altcoins. What is an altcoin?
Alt obviously means “alternative” in this scenario, but is this something measurable or is it a bit like music genres where nobody really knows what “alternative” means?
Understanding Bitcoin
Satoshi Nakamoto is the name of the mysterious figure who unleashed Bitcoin into the world 15 years ago. You probably heard about cryptocurrency not too long after, but barely anything is known about the founder – conspiracy theories think he could be someone else.
Many of us heard stories of those who were lucky enough to get in early on the Bitcoin revolution, and the infamous pizza joint that took Bitcoin as payment upon launch and made a pretty penny.
Blockchain technology ensures transparency and security and is central to Bitcoin, meaning it is classified as DeFi or “decentralized finance” as it was created to offer an alternative to traditional currencies and not need a middleman to approve transactions.
You may see some types of businesses promoting the fact that they take crypto, and Bitcoin’s adoption has been led by some industries over others. Casino gamers are among those who are using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin on a daily basis. It is not a big surprise when you consider the fact that casino gamers can notice tangible benefits when using cryptocurrencies. Decentralized finances are usually quicker in terms of transaction speed, so people can move money into their online Bitcoin casino accounts speedily.
Another benefit of Bitcoin for casino players is anonymity, as they’ll need to provide fewer details in order to make the payment. Things like addresses and lots of personal information won’t be needed. There’s no middleman service needing to verify these details.
Casinos and gambling brands using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin may also provide lower transaction fees and more transparency with all transactions stored on public blockchain ledgers. This is the nature of how Bitcoin actually works, designed to take some of the control away from financial organizations whilst being totally secure and transparent.
Bitcoin hasn’t just become massive in the gambling industry. Retailers around the world are accepting the currency both online and in person. Using digital wallets, people can pay for cinema tickets or even a meal out without having to use traditional or “flat” currencies.
Understanding Altcoins
Altcoins are described as any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin. A lot of these coins were created to improve upon or offer alternatives to Bitcoin’s framework and use similar technology – blockchain is changing the way we do pretty much everything in the world of tech.
Altcoins can come in loads of different forms, including meme coins. Meme coins are those built around a viral meme, that are meant to be humorous as well as a way to pay! Dogecoin is the top example of this.
Popular altcoins include Ethereum which was originally made for smart contracts and self-executing contracts where the terms are directly written into code. Ethereum started enabling decentralized applications (dApps) to run on its blockchain technology.
Bitcoin holds the largest market share, but altcoins collectively make up a significant portion of the cryptocurrency market cap. Altcoins are having a big influence. People who didn’t get in on Bitcoin early may look at other currencies as a way for them to plan for the future.
Capped currency numbers also play a part. Bitcoin will only ever exist in the form of 21 million coins, so there’s a scarcity at play, but altcoins can address this, minting more coins, many of which have their own quirks.
Altcoins might promise to be faster or have other quirks such as added security (Bitcoin is already very secure). Without getting too technical, some of these altcoins do things in a different way. It isn’t like they’re copycat products, and some explore different consensus mechanisms such as proof-of-stake (PoS) used by Cardano, or delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) used by EOS, which have a main goal of being energy-efficient and scalable.
Adoption of Bitcoin and Altcoin
Loads of altcoins are in the early days of their journey compared to Bitcoin. Adoption is not necessarily at the same level, but there are many ways that altcoins are similar, and are still being traded and entrusted by lots of crypto enthusiasts.
Altcoin adoption does vary depending on the specific coin and its use case. An example, Ethereum, has seen a lot of adoption due to its smart contract functionality, driving the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Terms like this aren’t a foreign language to people anymore.
Bitcoin definitely has more of a widespread appeal at the moment, as well as a proven record for some industries, like gambling, the industry in which it is estimated that most Bitcoin transactions take place.