What are altcoins (overview)

All modern people have heard of Bitcoin at some point. The founders took the idea of independent digital money that allows you to pay for products and goods on the Internet. But most people don’t even realize that there are many other cryptocurrencies in the world that have great potential.

Definition of “altcoins”

All types of digital money that appeared after bitcoin are called altcoins, which literally means “alternative bitcoin coins.” The first of them appeared in mid-2011 and were called Namecoin. Their main properties and functional characteristics do not differ from the main currency.

The purpose of altcoins

The goal of the founders of this cryptocurrency was to improve and eliminate all the technological limitations of bitcoin. They also wanted to develop new types of electronic payments for every field of human activity. For this reason, today the total list of altcoins includes more than 15,000 different coins. The weaknesses of Bitcoin are considered to be: – Long transactions. Other algorithms can be used to speed up the transaction process. Moreover, Bitcoin has many blocks that are rather slow in calculating the necessary operations. – Low degree of confidentiality. Developers have carefully crafted a cipher for transactions, but there is still one way to track the sender and recipient. Many altcoins use special methods of data encryption. – A complex and expensive mining process. Mining cryptocurrencies is becoming more and more difficult every day, so you need to use as many resources as possible to create updated blockchains. Mining altcoins is much easier and does not require technically sophisticated equipment. – Weak functionality. Its main task is to act as a special tool for calculations. An additional reason for the need for altcoins is innovations in the technological field. All future projects should introduce technological innovations that can solve complex and resource-intensive tasks. Currently, cryptocurrency trading is an inseparable part of the financial world. For this reason, a large number of altcoins provide great opportunities to diversify one’s own investments. Finally, many developers are in dire need of access to Blokchain. First, they need a reliable and practical system for transferring information and electronic data. To gain open access to this technology, it is recommended to use altcoins.

Creating a cryptocurrency

If you want to create your own altcoin, you can easily do it. There are 2 methods of creating them: – Token onEthereum; – a simple fork. If you need detailed information on this subject and practical user advice, we recommend reading the article “Creating your own cryptocurrency from the beginning”.

Mining altcoins

For successful mining, you need to understand that it is a rather complicated process, the requirements for which are constantly growing. You also need to use powerful computers. If you want to earn serious dividends in this area, please note that it is impossible to engage in mining alone. At the beginning of your work, figure out what devices and programs you will need to mine cryptocurrency.

Which altcoins will bring the maximum profit?

There are many altcoins on the market today that deserve attention. Even if their value is falling, financial experts say that now is the right time to invest. -Ethereum (2015). The most popular altcoin. It ranks third in terms of value. It was developed as a special platform for making smart contracts. Today, many ISOs are held on this platform. – Biycoin Cash (2017). This is an independent digital currency issued in the fork of bitcoin. It has the second highest value in terms of pricing. It has an updated blockchain of 8 megabytes and an updated decentralized network. – Litecoin (2011). The first of the altcoins that has similar characteristics to bitcoin. However, its difference is that transactions in the blockchain are carried out in an increased speed mode. – Ripple (2012). It is most often used in the banking sector. The platform is mainly focused on the process of exchanging world currencies. It is ideal for long-term investments. – Monero (2014). It has a special degree of encryption. It is considered completely confidential, so it is most often used for anonymous payments. Its production is limited, and demand is increasing. For this reason, the total cost of altcoin is constantly rising. – Dash (2014). A young cryptocurrency that is rapidly gaining popularity. It is also anonymous. It has its own decentralization and each of its users can make suggestions to the developers for improvement. It has the feature of instant transactions, so it is convenient to use for daily financial transactions.

Cryptocurrency storage

If you have decided to invest your own money in altcoin mining, you should first think about the safety of your investment. Here are the main storage options: – Exchange wallet. Every exchange offers this option, but we do not recommend it. After all, no one is responsible for the safety, because any exchange can close or be attacked by hackers. Then it is almost impossible to get your money back. This option is suitable for short-term storage or trading.

– Crypto wallet. Nowadays, there is a huge selection of electronic wallets, such as web, mobile, desktop, special browser extensions, and hardware wallets.