Bitcoin deserves its popularity and fame! After all, it paved the pathway for the development of other cryptocurrencies. Today, however, an investor need not depend on Bitcoin as the ‘be all and end all of everything in the crypto arena. There are other digital currencies too, called altcoins, which should suffice for long-term gains. Learn more at this site for knowledge and key to altcoins and some crypto investments.
Long-term Investments with Altcoins
ETH
The name refers to a decentralized platform that permits peer-to-peer dealings without the necessity of third-party intermediation. It has caught the attention of the public, ever since the blockchain began to provide smart contracts and advanced Dapps. The security is so tight, that there have been no loopholes for cybercriminals to use to their advantage.
Ethereum hopes to come up with a group of globally-accessible financial products. Naturally, investors residing in places that offer no infrastructure or identification for cryptocurrencies will benefit. They eagerly await accessing insurance, bank accounts, loans, etc., via the Ethereum blockchain network.
Ether is the cryptographic token of the Ethereum blockchain. Commonly known as ETH, it is platform-specific. Developers look upon it as a convenient vehicle for traveling on the Ethereum blockchain.
Best of all, Ethereum’s consensus mechanism moved from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in 2020. As a result, the transaction speed is great, and there is less usage of energy. Thus, the economic environment is deflationary.
ADA
It is the token belonging to the Cardano blockchain. Charles Hoskinson, along with an intelligent and dedicated team of cryptography experts, mathematicians, and engineers, created Cardano. The entire team took recourse to a peer-reviewed, research-based approach while developing this Ouroboros PoS digital currency. Ouroboros is a symbolic representation of a dragon/snake. PoS refers to proof-of-stake.
The academicians used their 120+ research papers on various aspects of blockchain technology, as the background for building the Cardano blockchain network. Naturally, Cardano’s token, ADA, stands out amongst its peers.
Cardano aims to become a globally outstanding crypto operating platform. Other goals include resolving issues, such as legal contract tracing, chain interoperability, and voter fraud.
LTC
As soon as it came into being in 2011, the coin and its blockchain network, Litecoin, decided to become a faithful disciples of Bitcoin! Therefore, it has earned the title of Bitcoin’s gold. Charlie Lee, an ex-Google engineer, and MIT graduate, is the creator of LTC or Litecoin.
LTC belongs to a decentralized platform, which is open-source in nature. It permits payments across the globe. It relies on PoW (proof-of-work) as its consensus mechanism. CPUs (central processing units), that are consumer-grade, help in decoding the script.
Unlike Bitcoin, however, Litecoin offers a rapid block generation rate, as well as speedy confirmation of every transaction.
(Lumens) XLM
This coin is attached to the Stellar blockchain network, which is an open-source platform. This network helps financial establishments to connect for conducting large transactions.
To illustrate, financial firms and banks take several days to bond. Additionally, several intermediaries play their respective roles. Above all, there are expenses to be borne by both parties. With Stellar as a friend, however, it is possible to go in for inexpensive or free dealings with no third parties interfering.
At the same time, the Stellar Development Foundation’s co-founder, Jed McCaleb, has ensured that the blockchain has not shut itself off from the public.
Anyone is welcome to use the Stellar network for cross-border dealings via the usage of any cryptocurrency. Stellar has its own coin, Lumens (XLM). Therefore, the condition for people wishing to use this blockchain is that they must hold the coin.
DOT
It refers to a cryptocurrency, which utilizes the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. It is connected to the Polkadot platform, which strives to create interoperability among other blockchain networks. The blockchain’s protocol permits it to contact both, permissionless, and permissioned blockchains. It also connects oracles, such that varied systems come together to perform under the same umbrella.
The core component of Polkadot, is its relay chain, which makes interoperability viable. Diverse parachains or parallel blockchains, possessing their own native tokens, may use them for specific reasons.
Gavin Wood, Polka Dots creator and ex-founder of Ethereum, has granted permission to developers to come up with advanced Dapps. They may utilize the blockchain’s security chain, as well as develop their own blockchain while doing so. Thus, shared security is a peculiar feature of Polkadot.