Bitcoin is still the king. This is mainly due to the fact that people buy Bitcoin because they are unaware of other options – options which are threatening to overtake BTC’s throne in the near future. The thing with cryptocurrencies is that the future is never certain – but one only needs to take a look at the market cap distribution, and see that some of the cryptos are becoming more present and overall dominant.
The total market cap of all cryptos at the moment is approximately $260 billion. Yet, when Bitcoin is excluded – it’s around $140 billion. This tells us that Bitcoin plays a very important role and still heavily affects other cryptos. Yet, when you compare altcoins to BTC, you will see that this gap has lowered a lot and that Bitcoin is continuously losing the dominance over the others.
At the moment, there are hundreds of cryptos available, but not many of them are worth considering. In fact, the number of cryptocurrencies that can be seen as potential threats to Bitcoin can be narrowed down to 10. And only three cryptos can be considered an “alternative” to Bitcoin. Take a look!
Bitcoin Cash
From Silk Road to ATMs: the history of bitcoin
Bitcoin Cash is essentially a cryptocurrency that branched off of the original Bitcoin and managed to gain a huge number of followers in a short period of time.
History of Bitcoin Cash
BCH saw the light for the first time in 2017 when the developers working on Bitcoin had an argument about the future of the leading crypto. August 1 was the day when a small group of developers decided to split and start their own crypto, which was intended to be much faster. This is known in the crypto world as the hard fork.
The main reason for the fork to occur is that developers of Bitcoin refused to add a scaling upgrade as BTC traffic was becoming congested. They refused this mainly because there were some differences in the way they view the purpose of the crypto itself.
Value
The statistics at the moment of writing this article (July 3, 2018) are as follows:
- Total amount of Bitcoin Cash: 17,217,200 BCH
- Market Cap: $13,2 billion
- Current price: approx. $768
Just like every other crypto, BCH’s value fluctuates a lot. The all-time high happened mid-December 2017, when the value was almost $4,000. Sadly, it has never reached this price since then, and it has had many ups and downs after that period.
How to Buy
Many exchanges have already accepted BCH; however, only CEX.IO offers you to buy it with fiat currency. If you want to trade it for other cryptos, you can do that on:
- Poloniex
- Kraken
- Bittrex
- Bitfinex
- Binance
Ethereum
Blockchain: A Very Short History Of Ethereum Everyone Should Read
Ethereum is often considered the #2 cryptocurrency when it comes to the popularity. It is mainly due to the fact that it serves as a platform on which other altcoins are built.
History of Ethereum
Ethereum is often perceived as a cryptocurrency. However, the exact name of the crypto is Ether, while Ethereum is the platform which supports it. Both were created by a young entrepreneur and genius called Vitalik Buterin who had a vision of making a platform, which will serve as a basis in the decentralized world.
Value
The current situation for Ethereum/Ether is as such:
- Total amount of Ethereum: 100,460,959 ETH
- Market Cap: $47,029,089,929
- Current price: approx. $468
Ethereum also had a great growth period, which happened in January 2018, when the value managed to reach above $1,300. However, it fell down again fluctuating between $300 and $900. It still has a strong base of believers, and the ability for the other altcoins to be created on it gives it a certain amount of reassurance that it might stabilize in the future. Yet, it’s crypto we’re talking about – so nothing is certain.
How to Buy
There are dozens of exchanges that allow buying this cryptocurrency, and here are the most popular. Make sure to check the conditions for each before you register and buy.
- Coinbase
- Poloniex
- GDAX
- Kraken
- CEX.IO
- Bitpanda
- Bitfinex
Litecoin
A $100 Worth Of Litecoin A Year Ago Is Worth $30,000 Today
Litecoin is also a great alternative to Bitcoin mostly because it was one of the first cryptos to fork from it. Although it was not as painful as forking with BCH, the reason was very similar – to create a crypto that is faster than Bitcoin and overall “lighter” in transacting – hence the name.
History of Litecoin
LTC was created back in October 2011 and pretty much shares similar features with BTC. The key player behind the crypto is Charlie Lee, who previously worked for Coinbase. He had continued working for the exchange until mid-2017 when he realized it is high time to quit and focus only on LTC.
Later, Lee went on to found the Litecoin Foundation, which has a primary goal to promote the blockchain technologies worldwide.
Value
If BTC is considered “digital gold”, LTC proudly accepts the labeling “digital silver”. Take a look at the numbers at this moment:
- Total amount of Litecoin: 57,244,146 LTC
- Market Cap: $4,922,057,747
- Current price: approx. $85
Just like Ethereum, there was a jump in value that happened mid-January, when LTC increased in value to almost $350 and it has been in a slow decline since then. Nevertheless, its popularity has been increasing, and there is no doubt that Litecoin is one of the legit contenders to the throne.
How to Buy
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Since LTC is also a very popular crypto to buy, there are many exchanges available. The best are:
- Coinbase
- Kraken
- Bitstamp
- BitPanda
- Binance
Conclusion
One thing is certain – Bitcoin is going to remain the king for a long period of time. Yet, nobody can claim with certainty which crypto will possibly become the next number one. Until then, if you are looking for a valuable alternative on which you want to focus, you might consider one of the three cryptos mentioned above.
