Although blockchain is the backbone of the decentralized ecosystem, bitcoin has played a major role in establishing and streamlining it in the financial market. It has taken lead as the foremost cryptocurrency and drove the peer-to-peer payment network to what it is today. The cryptocurrency market as a whole is a success of what bitcoin has laid a decade back. While some people noticed the ongoing growth of cryptocurrencies in 2017, many of the new investors realized the potential only in 2020 when the bitcoin price went up the hill. 2021 has invited even more investors into the cryptocurrency circle with BTC reaching a record US$67,000 in October. Besides, bitcoin ETF has also made its official debut in NYSE, enhancing the enthusiasm among investors. Despite the advantages, we are often put in a situation when we think beyond bitcoin. Yes, I’m talking about bitcoin alternatives. Although BTC is a good form of investment, it is highly volatile and has a limit added to it. However, the new cryptocurrencies are different from bitcoin. Many have far advanced features like a faster and easy transaction that bitcoin can’t offer. In this article, Analytics Insight aims to recognize those bitcoin alternatives and bring them to investors’ sight.
10 Bitcoin Alternatives in 2021
Ethereum
Every time we talk about bitcoin, Ethereum tags along with it. Not just on discussion but on price trends as well. With amazing underlying blockchain technology and decentralized ledger system, Ethereum has positioned itself as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and adoption. Unlike bitcoin’s distance from financial institutions, bans use Ethereum’s blockchain to expedite the validation and settlement of transactions just as easily as investors use Ethereum network. Besides, Ethereum 2.0 has emerged as a sole solution to address the emerging energy consumption and environmental issues of the 21st century.
Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin Cash has marked a milestone as one of the first altcoins that emerged and successfully traded off from bitcoin. The cryptocurrency emerged as a solution to the unsettling issues between bitcoin developers and miners. Bitcoin Cash got split from bitcoin’s chain and created its own path towards adoption and growing market capitalization. Incepted in August 2017, the virtual token addresses some of the pressing concerns of bitcoin including scalability, transaction speed, etc.
Dogecoin
Often called a ‘meme coin,’ dogecoin is the first cryptocurrency that came out from the Shiba Inu joke that trended on the internet years back. After maintaining a low profile for many since its inception in 2013, dogecoin showed its potential in 2020 when it was accepted as a payment model among sports teams and entered the AMC theaters. Besides, big names like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban are the biggest drives of dogecoin’s price. A single tweet from them could make the DOGE price go berserk.
Tether
Tehter is born out as the brainchild of people who thought that the cryptocurrency market was very volatile and unsettling. As the foremost stable coin, the tether is pegged to the US dollar and experiences fewer fluctuations compared to bitcoin. This alone makes the cryptocurrency the best alternative for bitcoin. Launched in 2014, tether allows users to experience the blockchain network while also encrypting their investments against major price surges and falls.
Monero
Privacy coins are virtual tokens that can take transaction anonymity to another level. Similarly, Monero has emerged as a cryptocurrency that could knock off bitcoin as a great alternative. Although blockchain network is decentralized, anybody can view the sender and receiver of cryptocurrencies over the network. However, Monero works in a different way as it demands ring signatures and multiple signees to view the transactions. This makes knowing the sender and receiver extremely difficult.
Litecoin
Referred as the ‘silver to bitcoin’s gold,’ Litecoin was launched in 2011 with much of its functionalities similar to bitcoin. Litecoin was created by an MIT graduate and former Google engineer, Charlie Lee. With an open-source global payment network, Litecoin can add faster blocks compared to bitcoin, which contributes to its faster transaction time.
Ripple
Although the decentralized nature of the cryptocurrency market is the power it holds, some people are variant of it because of that. Since it doesn’t come under any central authority and stays away from regulations, new investors show hesitancy to adopt it. However, Ripple could be their best choice. Ripple aims to offer some kind of sagey as has connected its platform with banks and financial institutions.
Cardano
Cardano is a platform that is capable of running financial applications currently used every day by individuals, organizations, and governments from across the globe. Besides, the eco-friendly and transparent nature of Cardano makes it the perfect alternative for bitcoin. Cardano has also proved its potential as one of the best cryptocurrencies over its long-term price surge.
Binance Coin
BNB is the cryptocurrency promoted by Binance Coin exchange. Unlike bitcoin that just acts as a cryptocurrency, Binance Coin is both a virtual token and a crypto exchange platform that could pump up value based on its market performance. Besides, the platform also incentivizes users with BNB coins over transactions, enhancing the circulation of the token as much as possible. Binance Coin’s offers and leniency in trading fees also impact the value of the BNB coin.
Shiba Inu
The final entrant in the list is Shiba Inu. This meme-based cryptocurrency has overtaken its long-stood rival dogecoin in the past month with an 800% price gain. Although we are not sure about its fluctuations as SHIB was only launched in 2020, its currency performance in the market has outperformed many top cryptocurrencies. Besides, Shiba Inu has recently entered the top 10 list and maintaining its ninth position.
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