Altcoins (short for “alternative coins”) are any cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. They were created to improve upon or offer alternatives to Bitcoin’s design, features, or use cases.
🔑 Types of Altcoins:
L2: Arbitrum, Optimism
Ethereum (ETH) –
The most popular altcoin; it introduced smart contracts and powers thousands of decentralized apps (dApps).
Stablecoins –
Pegged to a stable asset like the US dollar.
Examples: USDT (Tether), USDC, DAI
DeFi Coins –
Used in decentralized finance platforms for lending, borrowing, or yield farming.
Examples: AAVE, UNI (Uniswap), COMP
Utility Tokens –
Provide access to a product or service in a blockchain ecosystem.
Examples: BNB (Binance), MATIC (Polygon)
Meme Coins –
Created more for fun or hype, often without strong fundamentals.
Examples: DOGE (Dogecoin), SHIB (Shiba Inu)
Privacy Coins –
Focused on anonymous transactions.
Examples: Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC)
Layer 1 & Layer 2 Coins –
Power blockchain networks (L1) or improve scalability on top of them (L2).
L1: Solana, Cardano, Avalanche
Why Altcoins Matter:
- Offer innovation beyond Bitcoin (e.g., smart contracts, faster transactions)
- Provide more opportunities for growth and profit
- Higher risk, but sometimes higher reward
Would you like a guide on how to evaluate whether an altcoin is worth investing in?