With a surge in the price of Bitcoin, there is a surge in the prices of all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin and similar alternatives. Altcoins are alternative cryptocurrencies. These are still cheaper than Bitcoin and buyers are interested in them. Some altcoins are Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), Binance Coin (BNB) and Tron (TRX). All of them have seen growth of 4.5 to 5X. All are in search of the next Bitcoin. Buyers want to explore altcoins which are cheaper and have a growth potential. The investors now have a portfolio of 60 per cent Bitcoin and 40 per cent altcoins.
Ethereum is the most popular altcoin in terms of market cap. It has built a decentralised distributed computing network. It offers an alternative to using a Google cloud. It means it is completely auditable. One can read every line of code. The consumer thus pays for the interaction, and the currency is called Ethe.
There are Bitcoin’s first few alternatives — Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. These eliminate middlemen for processing transactions. Middlemen are still necessary for contractual obligations.
Ethereum-like alternatives are more advanced. These are capable of executing smart contracts including decentralised financing.