Ever since the evolution of
the concept of digital currency in 2009 marking the release of Bitcoin, there
has been much hype worldwide to produce similar alternative cryptocurrency
versions. The term Altcoin refers to the alternative cryptocurrencies that are
being introduced online. The prime goal of creating an altcoin destination is
to provide the interested audiences with current and detailed information about
the various other virtual currencies being launched online. The news covers
everything about these currencies including the download locations provided by
the client, currency specifications, accurate exchange rate at any particular
point of time, mining details, and much more.
All crypto currencies are not
same and do not use the same hashing algorithms as that of Bitcoin, the
inaugural crypto currency that used the SHA-256. Some other hashing algorithms
followed by the crypto currency developers include NIST5, X11, X15, 100% POS
etc. Though there are many crypto currency versions released with the same
algorithms, there some interesting ones that use the scrypt algorithms. You may
require some important hardware settings to mine the altcoins depending upon
their algorithm patterns. Generally, the GPU and ASIC systems are required.
However, there are some currencies that can be mined on the traditional CPU
settings as well.
Several altcoin news websites
available provide news updates to the viewers as and when any news pertaining
to the crypto currency is released. The aim is to keep the audiences well
informed on a single platform so that you do not have to bear the hassles of
moving to different websites to seek information. Alternatively, these sites
also provide the link to the websites of different currency developers that
allow you to create your own wallet and purchase these currencies.
Following are some excellent altcoin
options that are gradually gaining popularity among the digital currency
enthusiasts:
- Ripple
Ripple is a comprehensive
payment system regulated by the Ripple Labs remittance network. Established
upon a distributed and native currency system of the same name, Ripples is a
major currency exchange that operates on the open source IP (Internet
Protocol). Allowing global transactions free of cost, the system is empowered
with advanced security system and instant transaction facilities. The system
operation supports several important fiat currency forms including Dollar,
Japanese Yen, and various crypto currency versions including Bitcoin. Ripples
transactions system is based on a shared ledger or public database containing
the details available offers on assets, purchases, and sale options etc.
The concept and operational
system of Ripples was expounded by Vancouver based web developer Ryan Fugger. The
idea was first tested in 2004 and in the following year, Fugger started the
Ripplepay secure payment system. In 2011, Jed McCaleb introduced the Ripple
system eliminating the dependence of Bitcoin transactions on central exchange
procedures to speed up the transactions.
The transactions are
conducted through the Ripple Gateways (can be an individual or organization),
accepting deposits, issuing balance into the ledger etc. All users must extent
their consent through the Ripple Trustline bestowing their trust on the gateways
and their deposits on the medium. Ripple Trustline also facilitate the users to
add the ‘Rippling’ feature to their transaction options. This allows the users
to choose between multiple gateways for dealing with their current balance.
The Ripple network also has
its native currency- XRP. Having the smallest unit called ‘drop’, Ripples
currency can be divided up to 6 decimal places. The value of 1 XRP is 1 million
drops. Having widespread implementation, XRP also acts as a bridge currency
allowing smooth transactions in the event of non-availability of other direct
exchanges. Users performing transactions on non-native currencies are charged a
small transaction fee as a measure to curb network-flooding issues.
- Litecoin
The Litecoin (LTC) cryptocurrency,
the second largest only next to Bitcoin, operates on an open source software
system. Though there are similarities to the Bitcoin, yet some extensive
features of this virtual currency has helped to gain recognition in the market
and professionals. This currency software operates on the MIT/X11 license, and
does not impose any central authority for the mining and regulating the
operations. Litecoin was released in 2011 by Charles Lee through GitHub, an
open source client. As of reports in 2013, the currency has already crossed the
$1 billion marketcap. The most advanced version 0.8.6.1 was introduced in
December 2013.
Unlike Bitcoin, the Litecoin
implements the scrypt algorithm to regulate the mining process. The mining is
best done on the ASIC or FPGA hardware systems compared to the CPU or video
card based settings that slow down the process. There are several wallets
available for Litecoins purchases, storage, and spending. The most convenient
is the Litecoin- Qt convenient for MAC OX, Linux, and Windows platforms. Some
other wallets include Litecoin Android, lightweight Litecoin Electrum etc.
The litecoin can be traded on
fiat currencies, and alternative cryptocurrencies through online exchanges. The
irreversible litecoin transaction system eliminates the problems of chargebacks
and credit card reverse transactions etc. To provide faster transaction
facilities the Litecoin network allows a block every 2.5 minutes as opposed to
the 10 minutes block used by Bitcoin to prevent the double spending issues. Litecoin
transactions are executed under a peer-to-peer network and recorded in a
blockchain, a ledger usually held with the clients. Each recorded complete
transaction is of 15 minutes containing 6 blocks of 2.5 minutes.
The Litecoin network payments
are made to the digital signature based addresses formed of strings containing
33 numeric and alphabetical characters starting with the alphabet L. There are
several exchanges for trading litecoins. Mostly litecoins are traded against
other cryptocurrency verion Bitcoin, but some exchanges allow traders to use US
Dollars, Yuan, Euros etc.
- NXT
NXT is one of the most
important cryptocurrencies that exist in the world market today. Unlike other
altcoins, NXT has entirely new concept and addresses many core problem areas
confronted by the digital currency users. Considered the second generation of
cryptocurrency, the NXT technology is not based on the similar formats as most
other altcoins. The technology is completely different and developed from the scratch.
NXT offers the convenience of 100% proof of stake (PoS) while most other
altcoins function on the proof of work (PoW). The PoS algorithm has been
developed with keen attention to provide compatibility with the Smartphone
access in addition to other computing devices.
The NXT concept is based and
developed on the Java cross- platform programming to allow smooth running on
different Operating Systems including Windows, Mac OX, Linux, and others. For
smooth access and convenience, the NXT community has built several wallets
available online to suit the needs of the clients. The inaugural version of NXT
software was released BCNext in September 2013. The developers had put a
ceiling on the NXT mining and released only 1 billion NXT currencies and
distributed them among 73 stakeholders.
The NXT mechanism has been
developed with several unique features including the Transparent Forging
system. The feature allows the clients to execute their transactions securely and
sending them directly to the node to minimize the time taken to complete the
process. NXT has widespread implementation compared to other cryptocurrencies
addressing various functionalities including preparation and maintenance of
smart contracts, property and digital cash ownership records, enhancing online
stock and share transfers, and much more.
The centralized platform like
Cryptsy, Bter, BTC-E, or other approved medium are being used for controlling
the NXT trading operations. People intending to exchange NXT cryptocurrency
need to create their secure 256-bit key account with any of the abovementioned
platforms to acquire the coins and receive payments.
- Peercoin
Peercoin is yet another
peer-to-peer altcoin that utilizes both the PoS and PoW cryptocurrency
mechanisms. This virtual currency was introduced online in August 2012by its
developers Sunny King (pseudonym) and Scott Nadal. Sunny King is also
associated with another cryptocurrency called Primecoin. Peercoin bears several
similarities to the Bitcoin technology sharing the source code and other
features. In terms of market capitalization reports of June 2014, Peercoin hold
the fourth position amongst the most popular cryptocurrencies circulating in
the global domain with a marketcap of $30 million.
The source code distribution
of Peercoin is regulated under the software license MIT/X11. Attaining the
decentralized and steady annual inflation of 1%, the Peercoin does not impose any
hard limit on the number of coins. There is no central bank to control the
currency issue operations. The stakeholders issue the tokens. However, a
central authority has been appointed to regulate the currency through
checkpointing. At present the a marketcap of 2 billion coins has
The algorithm pattern SHA-256
of Peercoin is similar to that of Bitcoin and the peer-to-peer network is used
for controlling the transactions etc. Peercoin exchange is mainly regulated
online and can be traded for some important fiat currencies and other altcoins.
Peercoin is issued upon finding a hash value, adding block of transaction to
the shared blockchain. This entire procedure is called mining.
The most notable factor of
consideration in this regard is the utilization of the PoS and PoW hybrid
system to eliminate the risk of monopoly and acquisition of mining share and
number of coins. The PoS also reduces the power consumption during the mining
process by eliminating the requirement of running the resource incentive based
hashing functions in the cryptography technology. A protocol defined and fixed
transaction fee of 0.01 PPC is designed to deflate the money supply
- Dogecoin
Dogeoin has been a subject of
major interest in context to the altcoin options due to its rapid mining and
circulation online. The coin was introduced in December 2013 and the amount of
coins in circulation is expected to cross 100 billion by the end of 2014. The
developers also aim to introduce about 5.2 billion more coins every year post
2014. Developed by a Portland based programmer Billy Markus, there were several
attempts to eliminate the pitfalls of the bitcoin and other altcoins. The
widely accepted logo of the Dogecoin with the friendly mascot “doge” appeared
on the dogecoin,com website for the first time. The website domain was acquired
and owned by Jackson Palmer, a Sydney based employee of the marketing
department of Adobe Systems.
The decentralized virtual
currency operating on the peer-to-peer system has been implemented with the aim
to provide speed up the process of online money transfer. The dogecoin mining
and wallet setting guidelines are provided on the dogecoin.com website. The
interested buyers can get started in three simple steps and start purchasing
products with these coins.
Dogecoin is again a step
ahead in terms of block time that is just 1 minute compared 2.5 minutes in case
of Litecoin and 10 minutes in case of Bitcoin. Considering the elimination of
limits on Dogecoin mining and production, this digital currency belongs to the
group of inflationary currencies. The Dogecoin has already crossed the other
altcoins in trading volume in January 2014. In February 2014, the market
capitalization of Dogecoin was around 81 million USD.
The involvement of the
Dogecoin in several fundraising events is an exceptional matter concerning the
history of cryptocurrencies. While most others are traded for currency
exchanges, the involvement of Dogecoin in social causes including Doge4Water
and other major 2014 events like Winter Olympics and NASCAR.
- Namecoin
Namecoin (NMC) is yet another
decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency based on open source registration and
secure transfer system. This digital currency was introduced online in April
2011. The code used in this altcoin is similar to that used in Bitcoin. The
currency acquired importance among the traders facilitating them to regulate
merged mining operations. The distributed DNS of the Namecoin is based on the
Bitcoin software using the similar SHA-256 algorithm. However, it introduced
further elaboration in the software program allowing additional functions
including registration, update, and transfer of domains based transactions.
The users can choose from a
series of Linux based operating systems including RHEL, Ubantu, CentOS, Fedora
and other apart from the Windows and Mac OX versions for mining Namecoins.
Supporting merged mining operations, Namecoin offers several wallets to the
users. Some important wallets include NMC+BTC Single Wallet, NMC+BTC Bulk
Wallet, NMC+BTC Brain Wallet etc. Buying Namecoins is easy using the Bitcoins
considering the merged wallet maintenance facilities. Some important Namecoin
exchanges from where you can purchase are exchange.bitparking.com, BTC-E etc.
Namecoin is an important
milestone in the introduction of decentralized domain name system (DNS), virtually
posing an end to the internet censorship. A peer-to-peer Namecoin network has
been established to regulate and distribute the coins through consensus in the
protocol. The users urging to register a domain name have to complete the
registration process and pay 0.01 NMC as fee. The users can choose any public
name server participating in the Namcoin system or use a current block chain.
At present Namecoin is using the open source software and GitHub hosting.
Namecoin uses a separate block belonging to the Bitcoin chain.
Allowing decentralization of
DNS systems, Namecoin is enhanced with secure registration and the facility to
transfer the arbitrary names. The mechanism used in Namecoin allows users to
attach value to their domain names up to 520 bytes.
- Mastercoin
The mastercoin cryptocurrency
is developed on the Bitcoin blockchain. This altcoin functions on the master
communication protocol with various features including smart contracts,
peer-to-peer decentralized exchanges and user currencies. The initial draft of
Mastercoin (MSC) was released in January 2012 by JR Willett. The proposal in
the draft suggested using the Bitcoin protocol as the prime protocol layer that
can provide a base to other currency layers so that new rules can be implied
without altering the foundation.
The Mastercoin was finally
released online in July 2013 alongside a fundraiser program for a month long
duration. Purchasing the Mastercoins was systematic and the buyers needed to
send Bitcoins to a pre mentioned “Exodus Address”. The Mastercoin protocol used
special digital tokens to execute the transactions. The developers also
inaugurated the Mastercoin Foundation- a nonprofit institution for managing the
funds collected at the Exodus Address. As per the reports in February 2014,
this altcoin acquired the seventh position in global ranking of
cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization.
Mastercoin protocol addresses
bearing similarity to the Bitcoin addresses provide the facility to store
Bitcoins and Mastercoins at the same Bitcoin address. The Mastercoin requires
few software settings to get started. Stakeholders already using software such
as Bitcoin QT will need the Masterchest Installer and MS Windows operating
system to get started. The instruction on proceedings is provided on the
website of the Mastercoin Foundation to assist the buyers.
The users have several
options to choose from the authentication methods of the Mastercoin Faucet
including GitHub, Coinbase etc. The Masterchest Windows wallet v0.4 and the web
wallet are two important wallets available for Mastercoin access private keys,
sending, receiving and storing. The buyers can purchase the Mastercoins from
the exchanges including MasterXchange.com and others. The Master Protocol is
equipped with the decentralized exchange feature that can be applied to trade
Mastercoins for the Bitcoins using the Mastercoin wallet.
- Darkcoin
Darkcoin (DRK) is a relatively
new peer-to-peer based cryptocurrency introduced in January 2014. This altcoin
developed by Evan Duffield uses a new chained X11 hashing algorithm functioning
on the implementation of the PoW mechanism. This digital currency uses the
Darksend closed source system to strengthen the privacy and security of the
transactions. Darksend based on the CoiJoin mechanism is an important coin
mixing service performed on the masternodes. The Masternodes are efficient in
marking the destinations from where the darkcoins are released and where they
are sent. Darksend mixing is executed in several rounds. During a round,
Darkend allows electing a random masternode for mixing the coins.
The use of 11 rounds of
different hashing functions allows the miners to save energy and reduce the
pressure on the computer device in use. This also helps to derive higher
returns from the CPUs and the GPUs. The miners can choose between solo-mining
and P2Pools. Solo-mine urges the need of very high hashrate of around 30 to 40
GPUs. P2Pools is comparatively convenient eliminating the registration
obligations and facilitating the users to receive instant payments too. The
darkcoin wallets can be used on different platforms including the Android
device wallets.
There are various ways to
acquire darkcoins. Interested buyers can directly create an account and mine
the currency using the CPU or GPU technology. Darkcoins is based on the Bitcoin
code and can also be traded for other cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin. You
can also sell merchandize goods and accept payments for the products and
services in form of darkcoins. With prime consideration to the inflation
concerns, the maximum number of darkcoins to be issued by 2050 is 22 million. The
issuance reduction of the number of coins will be 7%. At present around 4.4
million darkcoins are circulating on the global domain.
- Ethereum
Ethereum is the software system especially for regulating the cryptography based secure transactions of the ether cryptocurrency. The ether currency has several smaller units including finney, szabo, Shannon, babbage etc. The present exchange rate of the ether currency against 1 Bitcoin is 2000 ether. So far, around 20,844,728 ethers have been sold in the global market. The Ethereum software platform supported with unique programming language enables the developers to construct advanced distribution applications on the decentralized currency exchange and DNS framework.
Ethereum is the software system especially for regulating the cryptography based secure transactions of the ether cryptocurrency. The ether currency has several smaller units including finney, szabo, Shannon, babbage etc. The present exchange rate of the ether currency against 1 Bitcoin is 2000 ether. So far, around 20,844,728 ethers have been sold in the global market. The Ethereum software platform supported with unique programming language enables the developers to construct advanced distribution applications on the decentralized currency exchange and DNS framework.
The Ethereum based applications are
convenient for the users that eliminate the need of trusting the users’
confidential data or currency information to the software developers. Ethereum
uses a superb hardware integration to conduct actions like codification,
decentralization, improve the security and convenient trading on financial
exchanges, contracts and agreements, intellectual and smart property,
crowdfunding etc.
The Ethereum protocol is available for
everyone out there. This easy to understand protocol allows the developers and
IT programmers to record the smart contracts write the Ethereum app codes in
languages as per requirement. Ether is a convenient mechanism for developing
and distributing the decentralization based applications.
The developers are planning to launch the
Genesis Block during the winter 2014-15. The genesis block will provide several
benefits to the users who have purchased ether during the pre sale period. This
mechanism will help the users to claim their merchandise by making use of the
wallets and the password created during the initial purchase. Hence, those who
have already purchased the ethers should preserve their wallet and the password
for future transaction processes. In the event of losing any of the data or the
wallet, the buyers will end up losing their ether forever. The buyers seeking
to purchase ether need to have JavaScript enabled on their computer.
Alternatively, the users must ensure that the plugins, applications and
programs blocking the JavaScript should be disabled before starting the
download and installation process.
