Ten Significant Cryptocurrencies Besides Bitcoin

In addition to setting trends and launching a wave of cryptocurrencies based on a decentralized peer network, Bitcoin has also established itself as the de facto industry standard and attracted a sizable following and offshoots.

Since Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency out there, it’s important to research the alternatives to see which ones are succeeding. Here are several cryptocurrencies that have maintained their value despite sharp price increases and decreases.

Cryptocurrency by definition

Let’s take a step back and quickly define “cryptocurrency” and “altcoin” before delving into some of these alternatives to Bitcoin (BTC):

A cryptocurrency is, broadly speaking, any type of virtual or digital currency, such as “tokens” or “coins.”

The group of cryptocurrencies that are fashioned after Bitcoin is referred to as altcoins, and some of them have attempted to position themselves as enhanced or modified versions of Bitcoin.

Cryptographic techniques that enable the creation and processing of digital currency are referred to as “crypto” in the context of cryptocurrencies. A shared commitment to remaining decentralized goes along with this crucial “crypto” aspect; teams who create cryptocurrencies often incorporate methods for issuance (often, but not always, through a process called mining) and other controls.

Although this fundamental component of the sector has come under scrutiny as cryptocurrencies have gained more popularity, it is usually always the case that they are not intended to be subject to government manipulation or control.

Altcoin types

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are designed to be used for payments, sending value (similar to virtual currency) via a decentralized user network. This category includes a lot of altcoins, or digital currencies that aren’t Ethereum or Bitcoin.

Tokens

Additionally, there are blockchain-based tokens created for purposes other than monetary exchange. A token that represents a stake in a blockchain or decentralized finance (DeFi) project and was released as part of an initial coin offering (ICO) is one illustration. Security tokens (as in securities like stocks, not safety) can be used to describe tokens that are tied to the company’s or project’s worth.

Some tokens are used for specific purposes. Examples include Namecoin, which offers a decentralized Domain Name System (DNS) service for internet addresses, and Storj tokens, which enable file sharing across a decentralized network.
The term “utility tokens” refers to them.

While many cryptocurrency users today are aware of and appreciative of these differences, traders and non-technical investors might not be able to tell the difference because all token categories typically trade similarly on crypto exchanges.

1. Ethereum (ETH)

The first Bitcoin substitute on our list is Ethereum (ETH), a decentralized platform for building and executing smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) free from third-party interference, fraud, or control. Ethereum aims to build a decentralized ecosystem of financial services that anybody in the world can use freely, regardless of their country of origin, race, or religion.

Because people in some nations who lack governmental infrastructure and official identification can access bank accounts, loans, insurance, and a wide range of other financial products, this factor makes the implications for such people more compelling.

Ethereum uses ether, a cryptographic token that is unique to its network. In addition to being used as a payment option off-chain and as an investment by speculators, ether (ETH) is used to pay validators who stake their coins in exchange for their work for the blockchain.

Although it trails Bitcoin by a wide margin, Ether, which was introduced in 2015, is currently the second-largest digital currency by market capitalization. Ether’s $225 billion market cap on April 23, 2023, when it was trading at about $1,870 per ETH, was less than half that of Bitcoin.

2. Tether (USDT)

One of the first and most well-known stablecoins—cryptocurrencies that attempt to tether their market value to a currency or other external reference point in order to lessen volatility—was Tether (USDT). The majority of digital currencies, including popular ones like Bitcoin, have frequently experienced periods of extremely high volatility. Tether and other stablecoins aim to reduce this volatility in order to draw in consumers who may otherwise be wary.

Because Tether’s creators assert to hold one dollar for every USDT in circulation, the price of Tether is directly correlated to the greenback. Instead of truly converting to regular currency, this mechanism enables users to move funds more quickly and easily from other cryptocurrencies back to dollars.

Tether, a cryptocurrency that was introduced in 2014, promotes itself as “a blockchain-enabled platform…to make it easier to use fiat currency digitally.”

Effectively, this coin reduces the volatility and complexity frequently associated with digital currencies by enabling people to use a blockchain network and related technology to transact in traditional currencies.

Tether, with a market cap of $81.4 billion and a token value of $1.00, is the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization as of April 23, 2023.

3. Binance Coin (BNB)

A utility cryptocurrency called Binance Coin (BNB) is used to pay the commissions for trading on the Binance Exchange. It ranks fourth in terms of market capitalization among all cryptocurrencies. Trades can be made at a discount for those who pay for the exchange using the token.

The blockchain that powers Binance Coin also serves as the foundation for Binance’s decentralized exchange. Based on trade volumes, Changpeng Zhao launched the Binance Exchange, which is among the most popular exchanges worldwide.

Initially, Binance Coin was an Ethereum blockchain-based ERC-20 coin. It ultimately launched its own mainnet and employs a PoS consensus architecture. The market capitalization of Binance Coin as of April 23, 2023 is $51.5 billion, with one BNB being worth approximately $330.

4. USD Coin (USDC)

USD Coin, a different stablecoin, similarly ties its price to the dollar via fiat-collateralized reserves, which implies it has fiat money on hand in an amount equivalent to the whole supply of USD Coin in use.

The Centre Consortium, which consists of Circle and Coinbase, introduced USD Coin in 2018. Circle is a regulated stablecoin because it is based in the United States and is subject to regulation.

The market capitalization of USD Coin as of April 23, 2023, is $30.8 billion, with a coin cost of $1.00.

5. XRP

The XRP Ledger, developed by Ripple in 2012 as a payment system, uses XRP as its native coin. The XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol is the consensus process used by the XRP Ledger, and it does not rely on proof-of-work or proof-of-stake for consensus or validation. Instead, transactions are signed and sent to the ledger servers by client apps. After comparing the transactions, the servers come to the conclusion that they should be included into the ledger.

The validators review the transaction candidates that the servers have sent them and decide if the servers have correctly captured the transactions before recording the ledger version.

XRP had a market worth of roughly $24 billion and was trading at around $0.47 on April 23, 2023.

6. Cardano (ADA)

An “Ouroboros proof-of-stake” cryptocurrency called Cardano (ADA) was developed using a research-based methodology by engineers, mathematicians, and cryptography professionals. Charles Hoskinson, one of the original five founding members of Ethereum, co-founded the project. He quit Ethereum because he didn’t like the way it was going in and later worked on the creation of Cardano.

Cardano’s development team built its blockchain through thorough testing and peer-reviewed research. The project’s researchers have authored more than 120 articles on blockchain technology covering a range of subjects. The core of Cardano is built on this study.

Cardano distinguishes out among its PoS counterparts and other well-known cryptocurrencies because of this stringent procedure. Cardano has also been referred to as a “Ethereum killer” due to claims that its blockchain can do more. Nevertheless, Cardano is still in its infancy and has a long way to go in terms of DeFi applications.

Cardano aspires to build DeFi products that are comparable to Ethereum’s to become the world’s financial operating system. It hopes to provide solutions for chain interoperability, voter fraud, and legal contract tracing, among other things. Cardano had the sixth-largest market capitalization on April 23, 2023, with $13.5 billion, and one ADA was trading for around $0.39.

7. Dogecoin (DOGE)

Some consider Dogecoin (DOGE) to be the first “memecoin,” and in 2021 its price explosion made a stir. Some significant businesses accept the currency, which has a Shiba Inu picture as its avatar, as payment.

Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, two software programmers, developed Dogecoin in 2013. According to reports, Markus and Palmer invented the coin as a joke in response to the irrational speculation in the cryptocurrency market.

Dogecoin, the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization as of April 23, 2023, with a value of about $0.08 per DOGE and a market worth of $11.1 billion.

8. Polygon (MATIC)

In the beginning, Polygon (MATIC) was created as a layer-2 solution to deal with the traffic and congestion problems on the Ethereum network. As a result of recent developments, blockchains may now cooperate with one another utilizing Ethereum’s virtual machine.

Three layers are used by Polygon: Bor, Heimdall, and Ethereum. A layer called Bor produces blocks by grouping transactions into them and periodically taking a snapshot of the blockchain. Block producers are the validators found on the Bor layer. The Heimdall layer aggregates the blocks from the producers and verifies each block that has been added since the last snapshot of the Bor layer. The Merkle root is then published to the Ethereum mainnet after creating a Merkle tree.

In addition to hosting smart contracts, dApps, and NFTS, Polygon offers developers a variety of other options.

On April 23, 2023, MATIC had a $9.3 billion market valuation and traded at $1.01.

9. Solana (SOL)

Founded in 2017, Solana is a blockchain platform meant to serve decentralized applications (dApps). Also described to as a ‘Ethereum killer,’ Solana executes significantly more transactions per second than Ethereum. In comparison to Ethereum, it also has reduced transaction fees. Smart contracts, which are necessary for running cutting-edge applications like decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), can be used with Solana and Ethereum. Solana (SOL) is the currency that circulates on the Solana blockchain. Its cost has significantly increased since it was first introduced. Solana was the ninth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap on April 23, 2023, with a $8.4 billion market cap and a value of about $21.

Smart contracts, which are necessary for running cutting-edge applications like decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), can be used with Solana and Ethereum.

Solana (SOL) is the currency that circulates on the Solana blockchain. Its cost has significantly increased since it was first introduced. Solana was the ninth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap on April 23, 2023, with a $8.4 billion market cap and a value of about $21.

10. Polkadot (DOT)

A PoS coin called Polkadot (DOT) aims to bring interoperability between different blockchains. Its protocol is made to link oracles and blockchains with and without authorization, enabling systems to collaborate under one roof. The relay chain, which permits the interoperability of various networks, is the fundamental element of Polkadot. Additionally, it enables parachains, which are alternative blockchains with their own native coins for particular use cases.

Polkadot is different from Ethereum in that developers can create their own blockchains while utilizing the security that Polkadot’s chain already provides, as opposed to only developing dApps on Polkadot.

Since the larger a blockchain is, the more security it has, developers using Ethereum can establish new blockchains, but they must also create their own security mechanisms, which can leave new and smaller projects vulnerable to attack. In Polkadot, this idea is referred to as shared security.

Gavin Wood, one of the original Ethereum project founders who had different ideas about the project’s future, developed Polkadot. A DOT traded for approximately $5.90 on April 23, 2023, and Polkadot had a market capitalization of almost $7 billion.

Exceptional Mentions

There are many other significant cryptocurrencies that compete for position over time in terms of user bases, market value, and importance, but we were only able to mention 10 above. Other significant cryptocurrencies as of April 2023 include, but are not restricted to:

 

 

Crypto	Ticker	$Price	Mkt Cap($B)	Note
Dai	DAI	$1.00	$4.9	DAI is another stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Shiba Inu	SHIB	$.00001	$6.1	A memecoin
Tron	TRX	$0.066	$5.5	TRX is the basic unit of accounts on the Tron blockchain. TRX is also a natural medium currency for all TRC-based tokens. TRX connects the entire Tron ecosystem with abundant application scenarios that power transactions and applications on the chain.
Avalanche	AVAX	$16.92	$5.5	Avalanche is the fastest smart contracts platform as measured by time-to-finality and has the most validators securing its activity of any proof-of-stake protocol.
Wrapped Bitcoin	WBTC	$27,572.00	$4.2	WBTC is a tokenized Bitcoin that runs on the Ethereum blockchain

Source: www.investopedia.com

How Important Are Cryptocurrencies?

Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies enable people to conduct peer-to-peer financial transactions or sign contracts because they are decentralized platforms. No trustworthy third-party mediator, such as a bank, monetary authority, court, or judge, is required in any scenario. This might upend the current financial system and democratize finance. The cryptocurrency industry now has a market capitalization of over $1.1 trillion, and it has risen enormously in size thanks to new inventions.

Why Do Cryptocurrencies Exist In Such Abundance?

The majority of cryptocurrencies in use today have some connection to Bitcoin, which has a censorship-resistant architecture and open-source code. This implies that anyone can copy the code, make changes, and create their own new coin—something many organizations do for a variety of reasons.

What Other Significant Cryptocurrencies Exist?

Numerous cryptocurrencies have grown in significance or have the potential to do so. Litecoin (LTC), Chainlink (LINK), Cosmos (ATOM), and Monero (XMR) are further significant coins.

Why Is Bitcoin the Most Valuable Cryptocurrency Today?

Despite the emergence of thousands of rivals, Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, continues to dominate the market in terms of usage and economic worth. So far, none have its market cap and value matched.

Conclusion

The most widely used cryptocurrency is currently Bitcoin, but since its launch in 2009, a slew of imitators, alternatives, and new technologies have been developed that are based on the blockchain of Bitcoin and many of the theories that underpin it.

 

The term “altcoins” refers to all of these alternative coins. They can be used for anything from a joke to pay for transactions on a distributed, universal virtual machine. Nobody knows where they will all end up, but the number of years that have elapsed since their initial appearance would seem to indicate that they won’t be leaving anytime soon.