An altcoin is any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. The word โaltcoinโ stands for โalternative coin,โ meaning an alternative to Bitcoin. These coins are designed with different goals in mind โ some focus on faster transactions, some on smart contracts, some on scalability, privacy, gaming, or decentralized applications.
Altcoins play an important role in expanding the crypto ecosystem because they allow new ideas, technologies, and innovations to be tested. For example, Ethereum introduced smart contracts, which changed the direction of the entire blockchain industry.
However, altcoins also come with higher risk because their market size is much smaller than Bitcoin. This makes their price more sensitive to market movements, news, and investor behavior. Altcoins are exciting but volatile, so beginners should always research carefully efore investing. #Altcoins101 #altcoins #crypto #blockchain #learncrypto