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In the proverbial “wild west” of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin established its reputation at the top well before any other types of coins were minted on the blockchain. That left other coins, known as “altcoins,” to get in line.
Since then, thousands of new altcoins, or alternative coins, have been created and added into the crypto ecosystem. “Altcoin” refers to any type of cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. Ethereum is the most popular altcoin, and people use the full name (Ethereum) when talking about the broader blockchain network but Ether (ETH) to discuss the currency itself.
There are over 15,000 types of cryptocurrencies as of December 2021, according to price-tracking website CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin makes up more than 40% of the total crypto market cap at the time of writing this article, and Ethereum makes up more than 20%. Altcoins occupy the remaining market share (roughly 40%).
That means there are literally thousands of other coins being exchanged out there in the metaverse. Let’s take a closer look at what altcoins are and why experts say most investors should take a pass on anything besides Bitcoin and Ethereum.
What Are Altcoins?
The term “altcoin” is shorthand for “alternative coins” and simply means cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. After Bitcoin, the nine most popular cryptocurrencies are as follows:
- Ethereum
- XRP
- Tether
- Cardano
- Polkadot
- Stellar
- USD Coin
- Dogecoin
- Chainlink
- Uniswap
Note: This list was last updated on Nov. 30, 2021.
Should You Invest In Altcoins?
Experts caution that Bitcoin is highly speculative, and altcoins are even more so. Ethereum, the most widely heard-about altcoin, has grown significantly since its 2015 launch, thanks to its smart contract capabilities and the popularity of digitally scarce art known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). ETH has a market cap of more than $500 billion at the time of writing this article.
But don’t let the popularity of altcoins result in fear-of-missing-out (FOMO). Even crypto evangelists view the rise of cryptocurrency with some healthy skepticism.
“Everyone always looks at other people making money and they’re like, ‘what about me?’” says Nelson Merchan, CEO of blockchain events firm Light Node Media “But I think that the beauty of what crypto really allows us to do is reassess our relationship with money.”
Don’t view crypto as a fast cash-grab, says Merchan. Instead, see it as an opportunity to learn about a new asset class without putting everything on the line. Before …….
Source: https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/cryptocurrency/altcoins/
