Though Bitcoin is yet to make its place in mainstream society, certain alternatives to this top cryptocurrency have already been developed. These altcoins are developed with the purpose of bringing more capitalizing value than Bitcoin and make your chosen crypto platform work better.
But, before picking one, it is important to rigorously check the official website of each of the Bitcoin alternatives. To save your time, we have profiled a list of top 7 Bitcoin alternatives. So, let’s dive in and decide accordingly:
1. Ethereum
Ethereum has come into use in 2015. The currency of this decentralized system now ranks second across the globe. This cryptocurrency basically resembles Bitcoin. Also, it is a blockchain-based peer-to-peer decentralized network. It is not at all shocking as Vitalik Buterin, the real founder of ETH, was also involved in the development of Bitcoin before developing Ethereum. He named it so and utilized the same terminology for its currency as well, and traded under the acronym ‘ETH’. This topmost Bitcoin substitute is compelling, not only because the currency has gained a greater value, but also for its numerous options; these allow more than just transferring cryptocurrency securely and anonymously.
2. Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin Cash was like a big fork in the Bitcoin system. Prior to its release in 2017 summer, the cryptocurrency was spun off followed by years of debates and negotiations. The only controversy in the community was regarding the size limit of the block which was established by its primary developer Satoshi Nakamoto (perhaps the pen-name of Craig Steven Wright, the computer expert), who is believed to be him by many. Many within the Bitcoin community reported about the small block size limit, which is why the need for a substitute stepped in. Thereby, only a limited data of 1 MB for seven transactions per second was possible. While Bitcoin was newly developed, this rate was quite sufficient as this much limit was too high to be reached.
3. IOTA
IOTA was specially created with the purpose of the Internet of Things (IoT). This system is almost like an anonymous digital currency. However, the system relies on a mathematical algorithm named Tangle rather than depending on blockchain. The purpose of IOTA is to avoid the transaction fee of cryptocurrency which occurs on the basis of the blockchain principle. Whereas Bitcoin along with its other alternatives relies on mining. To conduct cryptocurrency transactions, computing power is required in the peer-to-peer network. For that, professional miners, at times, accept higher costs on electricity. In order to pay this off, there should be an incentive as a fee.
4. Ripple
Ripple is more like money exchanging interface – be it a traditional currency or a cryptocurrency. So, Ripple is often listed as the blockchain for traditional banks. Here lies the major difference between Ripple and other alternatives of Bitcoin: where most systems rely on the idea of turning the financial institutions and banks obsolete, Ripple follows the ideology of integrating middlemen within the network.
5. Litecoin
Litecoin is the quickest substitute for Bitcoin. Altcoin, established in 2011, resembled Bitcoin from a technical point of view. But, certain differences justified its development and created Litecoin, which turned out to be a successful cryptocurrency- first dissimilarity was faster building block building compared to Bitcoin. Plus, it takes only 2 and a half minutes for Litcoin to create a new block, whereas Bitcoin takes about 10 minutes to do so. Consequently, it performs faster transactions which indirectly minimizes the transaction cost charged by miners.
6. Dash
Unlike Bitcoin, Dash relies on the peer-to-peer network and comes with certain fresh features. The entire organization of the network is different and based on master nodes, not just on miners. These nodes ensure faster and private transactions termed as InstantSend and PrivateSend.
7. Monero
Monero focuses on user anonymity and to accomplish this, it follows an entirely different protocol to Bitcoin and other similar cryptocurrencies: just like Litecoin using Scrypt, Monero’s purpose is to prevent the memory-intensive algorithm of CryptoNight mining performed by ASICs. Instead, regular computers are utilized to do mining. However, it has a setback: certain website scripts are there which utilize web surfing devices (tablets, laptop, etc.) for mining. These gadgets allow computing power, usually without the permission of the user. Some site-runners utilize this disadvantage to fund their personal website without using advertisements.
Putting It All Together
Neither Bitcoin nor any other of its alternatives have yet managed to announce themselves as a cryptocurrency that is fit for daily use. However, some investors have successfully made a considerable profit with Bitcoin. Still, they fear that the value of the Bitcoin can burst out any moment like a bubble.