What are Altcoins?

Due to the recent increase in its prices, people have become familiar with the term Bitcoin. However, most of the people are still ignorant about the Altcoins and how fantastic they are. So, what are Altcoins? What is the big deal about them? Aren’t these the exact questions flooding your mind?

Well, the term Altcoin stands for alternative coin or in other words an alternative of Bitcoin. Since Bitcoin was the first major decentralised cryptocurrency that the world witnessed; any cryptocurrency that was developed after Bitcoin is called an Altcoin. Basically, every cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin is an altcoin.

But do these Altcoins really alternatives to Bitcoin? Not necessarily! This is one thing that most people do not get. Even though they are called Altcoins, these cryptocurrencies are not trying to replace Bitcoin. And it is not even possible since the infrastructure of Bitcoin and the market capital that it has is on a whole other level.
Then what is so special about the Altcoins?

The Altcoins are not necessarily copies of Bitcoin. They use their own technology and infrastructure. Most of the Altcoins use the core concept of Bitcoin and use their own hashing mechanism or technology to provide a better service than the Bitcoin. Bitcoin is not perfect. It still has problems with slow transaction speed and large transaction fees. The Altcoins try to eradicate with their better use of coding and mathematical formulas in order to provide a better service.

There are several Altcoins available in the market and it is true that much of these Altcoins have become lost in the oblivion. But still, there are Altcoins like Etherum, NEO, IOTA, Litecoin and several others that show a better growth rate than that of Bitcoin and provide a better transaction speed as well as a much lower transaction fee.