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The last year was the year for cryptocurrencies. They finally gained the attention that they deserve and were on everyone’s lips. The media was full of news about Bitcoin if it was not about the worldwide corona pandemic. Not only the attention of the media rose, also the value of the cryptos increased dramatically. more and more investors showed up and after some months everyone had at least one friend who already purchased Bitcoin and could not stop telling you to also buy some. For those who did it at the right time, the investment had been a full success.
Furthermore, the companies and the market itself reacted quickly. Big players like the Tesla Boss Elon Musk increased the attention on the digital coins by tweeting about it on social media and announcing the acceptance of Bitcoin as a payment method which resulted in an abrupt rise of the value of the coins. Other branches of the industry followed as well.
The gaming and gambling industry was one of the first to smell the roast. Especially online casinos and providers of slot machine games saw the potential of the new digital currencies. Bitcoin Casinos popped up everywhere on the internet which caused even more people to get into the Bitcoin business. Additionally, many broker platforms appeared to facilitate the exchange of cryptos.
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Elon Musk influences the Bitcoin chart
Now that Elon Musk suddenly pulled out of the game, claiming that the mining process of the digital coins would not be sustainable enough to be a real solution for a new monetary system, the Bitcoin dropped dramatically and many have lost their fresh gained fortune within seconds.
No wonder that many people are now increasingly interested in alternatives to the big brother Bitcoin, which makes sense. New companies are getting into the race, introducing new technologies of blockchain and more efficient ways to mine digital currencies. But what are the most promising Altcoins?
What are Altcoins?
First things first! For those who are new to the subject, the term ‘Altcoin’ needs to be explained as it is definitely part of the common dictionaries yet.
The answer is simple though. Altcoins are simply all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. They mostly share similar characteristics with Bitcoin but can be different in many ways. Many Altcoins use different technologies to produce the blocks that the currencies are based on. Furthermore, the Altcoins can differ in the way they validate transactions and, as it is an open market with lots of competition, they mostly try to distinguish themselves from the big brother Bitcoin by providing new capabilities.
If you think that those alternative coins are not very important and probably small in number, you are mistaken. As of March 2021, there were almost 9000 different cryptocurrencies on the market already. While Bitcoin is still holding the majority of the market, the alternative coins already account for over 40 per cent of the total cryptocurrency market.
But which of all of those alternative cryptos are the most important? We have the list for you!
Ethereum 2.0
The first Altcoin that you must know is Ethereum 2.0. The coin is already pretty popular and has been making history in the last few years. Next to Bitcoin this Altcoin was always in the media and there has been big attention about it. The new secret of the coin is Ethereum’s Beacon Chain, which will form the backbone of the new 2.0 version.
The new technology is expected to solve many of the previous problems. Scaling and security have been improved while the energy waste has been reduced immensely which is a big plus compared to the energy-intensive Bitcoin. Furthermore, the new version facilitates a way higher accessibility and decentralization.
The Ethereum 2.0 is seen as a major milestone and this not just for the coin itself, but for the entire industry. The Ethereum coin, which was invented by the young Russian Vitalik Buterin, has already a big influence on the market and many hope for the success of the new 2.0 version. Definitely a coin you must keep an eye on!
Skrill
The British payment giant Skrill has already stepped into the business of cryptocurrencies in 2018. Recently the company has improved their technology of blockchain. The new service enables users to have quicker and smoother transactions than before. Skrill counts already more than 40 million users worldwide and is far from being a small fish in the ocean.
The CEO of the British payment giant Lorenzo Pellegrino is known to have a bullish approach to cryptocurrencies and sees a high potential in the market. He has frequently stated that he sees the whole crypto world, as it exists right now, just as the start and expects the coin to make its mark on the entire industry and economy within the next few years. Skrill is not a cryptocurrency itself but it facilitates the exchange of cryptocurrencies and is so equally important to the coins themselves.
Litecoin
Litecoin is one of the oldest altcoins on the market although it does not look like that. The coin has always been ahead of its time and is a serious alternative to Bitcoin. Litecoin was founded by a former Google engineer who knows perfectly about the technology.
The coin is widely accepted and based on an extremely effective technology that is similar to the one of Bitcoin. Many see the coin as silver compared to Bitcoin being gold. This is because Lotecoin offers extremely fast transactions while having the lowest fees on the market. A Litecoin transaction can go around the entire world in less than 3 minutes. this coin is definitely something one should know about.
Binance Coin
The altcoin Binance Coin has as well seen a dramatic increase in value in the last year. Although the coin has started as a small token for around 38 US-Dollars, it has surprisingly sprung up to a price of nearly 700 US-Dollars this year.
The coin is based on the same technology like Ethereum 2.0 which is why it operates extremely fast and effectively. Even though it declined in the last month, like almost every altcoin, it is very likely to stay strong as it is already extremely valuable and plays an essential role in many other altcoins’ ability to be traded.
