As we reported on cryptokoin.com, after Bitcoin was launched by anonymous owner Satoshi Nakmoto in August 2017, thousands of altcoins were developed by other entrepreneurs. The BTC blockchain, as we know, has the problem of slow and expensive transactions. Still, it’s worth noting that no BTC alternative can replace Bitcoin’s place in history. The leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin has gained a much higher market cap than other altcoins. For example, the market cap of ETH is not even half of BTC.
What are Bitcoin alternatives?
BTC alternatives are cryptocurrency projects developed to replace blockchain technology. They are also known as alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins). Some of these altcoins were able to solve Bitcoin’s biggest shortcomings: slow transactions, cost transactions, and user transaction ID.
Here are the top 6 BTC alternative altcoins:
1- Ethereum (ETH)
The first best BTC alternative on our list is the altcoin Ethereum. Since its launch in 2015, Ethereum has gained more value than any other altcoin. Ethereum’s blockchain enables decentralized applications and smart contracts to be built and run without downtime. The main purpose of Ethereum is to create a financial system that can be used by anyone, anywhere in the world. This is to help those who do not have access to their centralized economy in some countries to be able to save or transact their money.
These decentralized applications run Ethereum’s crypto token, ETH. ETH is mostly used by developers or investors who want to develop on the Ethereum network to cover gas fees when purchasing other cryptocurrencies. In terms of speed, ETH has a very fast block time. On average, ETH’s block time is 13 seconds, allowing the network to process fast transactions. However, Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin. Currently, the market cap of Ethereum is $179,891,579,681.
2- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
The second best BTC alternative on our list is Bitcoin Cash. This cryptocurrency has almost the same name as Bitcoin because it was developed from Bitcoin through a process called a “hard fork”. A hard fork is a change to Bitcoin’s network protocol to increase transaction speed. Satoshi, the creator of Bitcoin, pioneered that any user dissatisfied with the Bitcoin network protocol can create a fork of the original Bitcoin protocol on the principle of decentralization. Bitcoin Cash was forked from Bitcoin by a group of Bitcoin miners and computer scientists in August 2017.
Bitcoin Cash has the same features as Bitcoin, except for faster transaction speeds, which is the primary goal of the group that created it. They can achieve this by increasing Bitcoin Cash’s block size to 32MB, which is much higher than Bitcoin’s 1MB block size. Although the market price of Bitcoin Cash has not reached anywhere close to that of Bitcoin, it has experienced rapid growth in recent years. Currently, Bitcoin Cash has a market cap of $2,272,636,498.24.
3-Bitcoin alternative altcoins list has Tether (USDT) at the third place
“US dollar Tether” (also known as USDT). Tether is another popular bitcoin alternative with amazing circulation. It is one of the most popular stablecoins. It is designed to monitor the value of the US dollar. The goal behind USDT and other stablecoins is to have a decentralized currency without too much volatility as is achieved with Bitcoin and other altcoins.
Since the price of USDT is fixed to the US dollar, it is very easy for users to convert to US dollars and transfer their money to their bank. In fact, most of the time, other cryptocurrencies are converted to USDT before being sold to fiat currency. Moreover, USDT is the third largest Bitcoin alternative by market cap. As of August 28, 2022, USDT has a market cap of $67,554,787,617.
4-Litecoin (LTC)
Litecoin is another Bitcoin alternative with very fast transaction speed. Litcoin’s blockchain is significantly faster than Bitcoin’s blockchain confirmation time. Moreover, Litecoin has a very high supply cap. Unlike Bitcoin, which has a total supply cap of 21 million, Litecoin has a supply cap of up to 84 million. Since its launch in 2011, Litecoin has always been a replacement for digital silver. This is due to its underlying similarities with Bitcoin, which is considered digital gold.
Litcoin has gained momentum since its launch in 2011. It also maintained its position in the top 20 bitcoin alternatives by market capitalization. As of August 28, 2022, Litecoin has a market cap of $3,814,627,409.
5-Monero (XMR)
Monero is another Bitcoin alternative known for solving the blockchain transaction privacy issue. Transactions for Bitcoin and other altcoins are processed on a public ledger, which allows developers to see the real-life identity of any user who made such a transaction. However, Monero managed to solve this problem by providing a protected transaction. So any investor who chooses to hide their identity when trading in cryptocurrency can choose to do so. Despite different attacks to hack its hacker-protected transactions, Monero has maintained its stance of protecting the privacy of users who trade cryptocurrencies.
In terms of market value, Monero has a very good rating. In the past, Monero was among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap. However, it was later dropped from this position. Currently, Monero has a market cap of $2,649,090,776.
6-Binance Coin (BNB) is at the end of the list.
Binance Coin (BNB) is another Bitcoin alternative owned by Binance, a famous cryptocurrency exchange. Binance Coin was deployed as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain before the company created its own blockchain. BNB moved from the Ethereum blockchain to the Binance smart chain after the company launched its own blockchain (Binance smart chain) in 2019.
Currently, BNB is used to cover gas fees associated with trading on the Binance exchange. Those who use BNB as a payment method on the Binance exchange often get a discount on gas fees. By market cap, BNB is the 4th largest BTC alternative to date. As of August 28, 2022, Binance Coin has a market cap of $44,815,262,952.
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