Altcoin

Altcoins are cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin, also known as Alternative coins. The first Altcoin, Litecoin, was launched in 2011 as a digital currency to overcome the limitations of Bitcoin, followed by Ripple in 2012. Altcoins were created because Bitcoin has scalability and high energy consumption issues. Now, there are thousands of Altcoins, all designed for different purposes and to allow faster transactions, better security, and the Utilization of decentralized applications through smart contracts.

These are minted using different consensus mechanisms, such as the Pos, PoA, and PoST mechanisms. Whereas Bitcoin only uses the PoW mechanism. Altcoins are a symbol of diversification and innovation in the decentralized finance world.