Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to be introduced in 2009 and any other cryptocurrency that came after falls under the group “altcoins”. The combo of two words is derived from the two phrases “alternative coin”. For other experts in the crypto market, they consider altcoins to be the competitor coins to BTC.
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It is quite complex to try understanding the cryptocurrency market and come up with the right conclusion on which crypto is the best. In as much as most analyses would give BTC credit to be the best, there are equally some of the largest altcoins in the market. These altcoins form the top-tier options given their level of privacy, scope, and scalability of functionality they implicate.
For sure your guess is as good as mine, since there is no one better cryptocurrency than the other in the crypto market. Each cryptocurrency possesses a unique feature that is an inbuilt feature that defines why its developer brought it forth. In this piece let’s walk through to determine some of the most popular altcoins and how each is being used in the cryptocurrency market.
The Competitors among Altcoins
As you may already judge from the earlier statement, altcoins are a group of all the other cryptocurrencies other than BTC. Most sites and market research centres. For instance, statista, has indicated the existence of over 10,300 altcoins in the world. The range is indeed from the tiny beginner coins to the already established ones.
Altcoins are developing and are having a great competition amongst themselves to build growth in the crypto industry. Altcoins are more advanced from the mere fact that they came out after BTC and have improved on its technology. Looking at the aspect of their speed, cost, and scope of transactions, most of the popular altcoins are standing out.
The traditional narrative of BTC being the only coin ringing on every ear when cryptocurrency is mentioned, is slowly fading. Reason being, numerous excellent alternatives known as altcoins are present in the cryptocurrency market today. It is not just a matter of an improved technology but rather a more defined stability in their value.
While exploring each of these altcoins, I intend to also explain how they made their way to the top list as the most popular ones today. Also, their expected future performance will also be of significance into this discussion. Here are some of the popular altcoins in the cryptocurrency market today;
Ethereum (ETH)
There is no doubt that Ethereum is the best altcoin to buy today. This is basically attached to its massive upside potential and that it is presently the largest smart contract platform. Ethereum is the home to the greatest selected dApps, DeFi, web3 projects, and metaverse. Such has led to the massive popularity of ETH tokens that has also assisted in pushing their prices even further.
ETH stands out as the best altcoin since it doesn’t indicate any direct competition with BTC. All it does is perform the role of an altcoin perfectly by complementing the main since it is mostly used for transaction purposes. As a matter of fact, ETH has greatly contributed to building platforms and other currencies. First introduced in 2015, ETH has quickly shown potential growth in its value after its launching.
Perfect technology where you could actually produce your own cryptocurrency based on ETH technology. There is no denial that there is a close aspect of similarity between ETH and BTC. However, most altcoins are created based upon the technology of ETH. It has officially made it easier to create many more new currencies present in the market today.
In future, more brands are expected to join hands in the near future to continue bettering and building on ETH network. This is expected to improve on its network’s efficiency and maintain the minting of new ETH tokens. There is also great optimism expressed that ETH may overtake BTC as the most valuable cryptocurrency.
Solana (SOL)
Another fastest growing altcoin is SOL exhibiting a massive smart growing platform. With an intention of out competing ETH, SOL has rapidly taken over every technology with ETH. Talk of the NFTs, metaverse, meme coins, play to earn games, DeFi, not excluding the decentralised exchanges.
All these aspects have impacted the growth of SOL tokens which has further achieved a sustained uptrend growth. It is pretty clear that SOL, shows no signs of backing down and this is the one major reason why it is one of the popular altcoins in the market today. There is no doubt that it has proved its worth as a sustainable cryptocurrency project.
Cardano (ADA)
Speaking of the most secure blockchain according to fintech and cryptocurrency, ADA takes a lead. Cardano is the largest smart contract platform globally and it takes the mantle for being the first peer-researched cryptocurrency technology. There is no doubt that with all these qualities, ADA has equally exhibited a positive uphill growth trend since its creation.
Despite being unable to embody a full integration of the emerging technologies like ETH and SOL, it is still a near-permanent feature. It has greatly achieved an impressive investor confidence in cryptocurrency projects, something that pushes its popularity among the best. Moving forward, ADA looks towards achieving a full integration of all the emerging popular cryptocurrency technologies.
Tether
Tether is a stablecoin tied to the US dollar. The idea behind its creation is to have a combination of all the benefits of cryptocurrency with the stability of a central currency. This was to enable a perfect integration of the idea of no need for a third-party in handling transactions. in turn, it has the potential of limiting the existing price fluctuations inherent with most cryptocurrencies.