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The crypto market has grown 6 times from July 2020 to July 2021. Much of that growth has occurred in the area of altcoins. While Bitcoin was trading on a lot of hype as well as substance, now altcoins make up a larger share of the crypto market. In December 2016, Bitcoin controlled 96% of the market. As of the end of July, 2021, Bitcoin made about 45% of the total crypto market. The entire crypto market is currently worth over 1.6 trillion dollars.
Almost everyone on the planet has heard of Bitcoin. Many have heard of Ethereum. As many of you know, much of the real money is happening with much smaller projects. There are more than 10,000 altcoins in the world that are available to trade and exchange. Most exchanges limit their options to a few dozen or a few hundred. However, there are literally thousands of altcoins. The vast majority are valued at fractions of a penny. A handful of these will one day become quite valuable and people who hodl a lot of them will make a lot of money. Being able to predict which ones of these will take off is part of the fun (and frustration) that many serious crypto enthusiasts enjoy.
Sometimes a very influential person, (think Elon Musk and Doge) will say something or publish something and a coin takes off. Many of us hear the news and try to buy on the upswing. Unfortunately, by the time most of us try to get on the rising wave, the people that were in the know (or just lucky and already had quite a few holdings) make the real money.
Cryptocurrencies are not companies; technically, they are more like networks than an actual currency. That is why people can build programs on them. While Bitcoin is the gold standard and may always be the largest of the cryptocurrencies, it has many limitations. It was almost inevitable that alternate cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Polkadot would be developed that would serve a variety of tangible purposes.
Personally, I think Algorand has many great uses and a really bright future. Its inflationary nature scares some people from investing in it, but its many uses may very well give it some serious legs some day. There is even a small nation, Republic of Marshall Islands, that is building their national currency on the Algorand blockchain. Cardano is another one with a potentially bright future for its many uses, but for different reasons. I will plan to follow up with an article on these two altcoins and their practical applications.
I would love to hear what the favorite altcoins of PUBLISH0X readers are. Would you share your favorite altcoin(s) in the comment section?
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The Lynx
www.cryptolynx.co
