🪙📈After the creation of Bitcoin in 2009, many other cryptocurrencies emerged for various reasons. Here’s a summary of the most important ones and why they appeared:
Litecoin (2011)
Created as "the silver" compared to the "gold" that would be Bitcoin. It is faster and has lower fees. It aimed to be more useful for daily payments.
Ripple (XRP) (2012)
Designed for fast transfers between banks. It is not decentralized like Bitcoin, but it sought to solve the problem of slow and expensive international payments.
Ethereum (2015)
A complete game changer: not just a currency, but a platform to create decentralized apps and smart contracts. It marked a before and after.
Monero, Zcash, Dash (2014-2016)
Focused on privacy. Bitcoin is transparent, so these cryptos wanted to be more anonymous.
Cardano, Polkadot, Solana, etc. (2017 onward)
Emerging to improve the limits of Ethereum, offering more speed, lower energy consumption, or new ways to connect blockchains.
Memecoins like Dogecoin or Shiba Inu
Started as a joke (Dogecoin in 2013), but the community and figures like Elon Musk made them skyrocket. They are more culture than technology.
