The definition of an altcoin has evolved since the beginnings of cryptocurrency when only a handful of crypto assets existed. At the time, everything except Bitcoin (BTC) was considered an altcoin.

Today, the world of crypto assets is much larger. There are a wide variety of coins and tokens whose use cases extend far beyond a medium of exchange, meaning they are not necessarily competitors to Bitcoin.

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Yet, for lack of a better designation, the basic definition of an altcoin is any crypto asset other than Bitcoin.

Here’s a look at the top 10 altcoins by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins. We excluded stablecoins because they are designed to maintain a stable price and are generally not considered a speculative investment.

1. Ethereum (ETH)

Market capitalization: $389.2 billion

Of the nearly $2.5 trillion in total market capitalization of the more than 26,000 crypto assets available today, more than $389 billion is held in Ethereum (ETH), the largest altcoin on the market.

Unlike Bitcoin, which is characterized as a “decentralized currency”, Ethereum is a distributed computer network on which users can use the blockchain to run decentralized applications (dApps) and host smart contracts.

Critics of Ethereum point to high fees for making transactions. But with the thousands of apps and other altcoins powered by its blockchain, Ethereum is here to stay.

2. Binance Coin (BNB)

Market capitalization: $82.5 billion

Binance Coin is a utility token that can be used to pay trading fees and obtain discounted market transactions. Binance exchange. You can even use BNB outside of Binance crypto exchange for payment processing, such as booking travel arrangements.

Critics say BNB is not as decentralized as other altcoins. Another risk is a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into whether Binance should have registered BNB as a security during its initial coin offering.

3. Solana (SOL)

Market capitalization: $79.3 billion

Developed to power decentralized finance, applications and smart contracts, Solana operates on a unique hybrid proof-of-stake and proof-of-history mechanism to process transactions quickly and securely. It is one of the fastest blockchains.

4. XRP (XRP)

Market capitalization: $32.0 billion

XRP can facilitate the exchange of different types of currencies with digital technology and payment processing company Ripple Labs. Although this altcoin has extremely low transaction fees, critics note that it faces legal challenges.

Ripple and two of its executives are embroiled in an SEC lawsuit alleging they should have registered XRP as a security, and the company claims XRP is a currency instead.

5. Dogecoin (DOGE)

Market capitalization: $26.3 billion

Dogecoin is the original piece of moneystarted as a joke in 2013. Nevertheless, thanks to a dedicated community and creative memes, it quickly became a leading cryptocurrency.

Dogecoin has a different network than Bitcoin’s proof-of-work protocol. This altcoin also has a one-minute block time with an uncapped total supply. This means that there is no limit to the number of Dogecoin that can be mined, unlike BTC.

6. Cardano (ADA)

Market capitalization: $20.7 billion

Cardano was one of the first to adopt the proof of participation consensus mechanism, which speeds up transaction time by removing the competitive and energy-intensive problem-solving dimension of platforms such as Bitcoin.

The Cardano hard fork “Alonzo” was officially launched on September 12, 2012, which also launched smart contract functionality in the blockchain space. It is worth noting that more than 100 smart contracts were deployed within a day of the launch.

7. Avalanches (AVAX)

Market capitalization: $17.7 billion

Developed as a layer one blockchain for dApps and other networks, avalanche has become one of the leading altcoins in the world, the main rival of Ethereum. In particular, the AVAX network seeks to unseat Ethereum as the blockchain of choice for smart contracts. The new blockchain hopes to achieve this by increasing transaction volume without affecting scalability.

Like Ethereum, Avalanche attempts to solve Vitalek Buterin’s famous blockchain trilemma of security, scalability, and decentralization. The blockchain trilemma states that developers must sacrifice at least one of these three components to enable maximum productivity with the other two. Avalanche attempts to solve the trilemma by using three interoperable blockchains in its development.

8. Toncoin (TON)

Market capitalization: $17.2 billion

Developed in 2018 by Telegram, the encrypted messaging system, Toncoin is a layer 1 blockchain whose name originally stood for “Telegram Open Network,” but has since been changed to simply “The Open Network.”

TON was initially released so that in-app customers could easily settle transactions within the Telegram app. However, it has become a community blockchain whose proof-of-stake network maintains fast processing and validation times.

9. Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Market capitalization: $15.5 billion

Shiba Inu, an Ethereum-based meme coin, was developed in 2020. SHIB was created by “Ryoshi,” an anonymous developer who claimed that the goal of the coin was to discover if an organization could operate without central leadership. With early support from major crypto heavyweights such as Elon Musk and Vitalek Buterin, Shiba Inu appears to prove that Ryoshi’s hope is possible.

In October 2021, Shiba Inu briefly supplanted Dogecoin as the world’s most valuable meme coin by market capitalization. Additionally, some niche retailers have started accepting the coin as payment following its success with crypto investors. But don’t start looking into paying for your dinner with SHIB just yet. An organized social media effort by the Shiba Inu community to get McDonald’s to accept the coin as payment ultimately failed.

10. Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Market capitalization: $12.4 billion

This peer-to-peer electronic payment system aims to become a decentralized and permissionless global payment system. Bitcoin Cash is an alternative to the original payment system Bitcoin, the world’s oldest cryptocurrency.

Created by a hard fork in the Bitcoin blockchain, Bitcoin Cash was launched in 2017, eight years after the original Bitcoin blockchain went live.

10. Polka dot (POINT)

Market capitalization: $12.2 billionThis altcoin powers the Peas ecosystem, where developers can create blockchains for specific purposes as spokes connecting to the main Polkadot blockchain hub, says Max Thake, co-founder of peaq, a blockchain network built on Polkadot. DOT is the native token of Polkadot.

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Security

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Costs

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Listed on Deloitte Fast 50 Index, Best Global Foreign Exchange Broker 2022 – ForexExpo Dubai October 2022 and more

Best investment offer

Trade over 26,000 assets with no minimum deposit

Customer service

Dedicated 24/7 support and easy sign-up

Welcome bonus on first deposit:

Get $30 in your verified trading account on your first deposit.

Variety:

Trade CFDs on crypto, forex, stocks, metals, commodities and more!

Intuitive and inexpensive:

Designed for traders of all levels, from beginners to professionals.

Increase your passive income

More than 250 cryptoassets available

Why respect

Minimum deposit of just $1

Costs

Benefit from 0% bank deposit and withdrawal fees*

Please invest carefully, your capital is at risk

*Market capitalizations and prices from coinmarketcap.com as of April 2, 2024.

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