What Are Cryptocoins?
How cryptocurrency works, where to buy it, and which ones to consider
by Brad Stephenson
Updated on August 25, 2019
Digital room with padlock and word blockchain, 3d illustration
Westend61 / Getty Images
Cryptocurrency
What Are Bitcoins?
Tweet
Share
Email
Cryptocoins, also called cryptocurrency or crypto, is a form of digital currency powered by blockchain technology. Cryptocoins do not have a physical, real-world equivalent. No physical coins represent cryptocurrency value, although some replicas have been made for promotional purposes or as a visualization tool. Cryptocoins are purely digital.
Bitcoin is the most popular example of a cryptocurrency but there are many more such as Litecoin and Ethereum that are made to rival it or be used in competing markets.
How Many Crypto Currencies Are There?
Hundreds of cryptocurrencies have been created since the debut of Bitcoin in 2009. Some of these have spun-off of the Bitcoin blockchain such as Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold. Others use the same technology as Bitcoin such as Litecoin, and many more are based on Ethereum or use their own unique programming language.
Like traditional fiat currencies (currency not backed by a physical commodity), some cryptocurrencies are more valuable and practical than others and most have a very limited use case. Given that anyone can create a cryptocurrency, it's likely that most will remain niche while only a few popular cryptocoins will achieve mass adoption through mining or investments and go mainstream.
What's The Most Popular Cryptocoin?
The No. 1 cryptocurrency by ownership, price, and usability is undoubtedly Bitcoin. Bitcoin's popularity is mostly a result of it being the first cryptocoin on the market and its unmistakable brand identity. Everyone's heard of Bitcoin and very few people can name another cryptocurrency. Many online and offline stores accept Bitcoin and it's also accessible via the growing number of Bitcoin ATMs popping up in major cities around the globe.
Major rivals to Bitcoin include coins such as Litecoin, Ethereum, Monero, and Dash while smaller cryptocurrencies like Ripple and OmiseGo also have the potential for larger adoption in the future due to their backing by major financial institutions.
Bitcoin spin-off currencies such as Bitcoin Cash (BCash) and Bitcoin Gold can get a lot of buzz online and their prices can appear impressive but it's unclear if they will have any true lasting power due to the growing perception of these coins as cheap imitations of the main Bitcoin blockchain.
Despite using the Bitcoin name, these coins are very much separate currencies from the main one even though they use similar technology. New investors are often tricked into buying BCash, thinking it's the same as Bitcoin when it's not.
and averaging down.bitcoin block direct bitcoin autobot bitcoin платформу ethereum bitcoin dance шахты bitcoin bitcoin goldmine
invest bitcoin
bitcoin 2000 bitcoin lurk bitcoin attack
flypool monero bitcoin pos bitcoin покупка investment bitcoin fee bitcoin верификация tether fake bitcoin сложность ethereum bitcoin комиссия bitcoin автосерфинг ico monero bitcoin проект
bitcoin seed bitcoin валюта testnet bitcoin bitcoin отзывы bitcoin conveyor casinos bitcoin
monero прогноз ethereum chaindata ethereum classic bitcoin вебмани bitcoin pay ethereum install
bitcoin grant ethereum addresses korbit bitcoin падение bitcoin криптовалюту bitcoin cryptocurrency calendar bitcoin лайткоин pow bitcoin ava bitcoin direct bitcoin
bitcoin india ютуб bitcoin secp256k1 bitcoin casascius bitcoin bitcoin frog bitcoin reindex cubits bitcoin ethereum info банк bitcoin bitcoin froggy контракты ethereum hash bitcoin эмиссия ethereum transaction bitcoin рост bitcoin китай bitcoin p2pool bitcoin monero node bitcoin hash ethereum rotator bitcoin nvidia
bitcoin changer nicehash bitcoin 4pda bitcoin wallets cryptocurrency ethereum chaindata bitcoin перевести
linux bitcoin bitcoin часы bitcoin это coinder bitcoin charts bitcoin
цена ethereum The Block Rewardbitcoin знак новости ethereum bitcoin world
ютуб bitcoin
bitcoin кошелька bitcoin registration bitcoin advertising monero краны cryptocurrency tech putin bitcoin приложение tether bitcoin converter
серфинг bitcoin bitcoin покер bitcoin qiwi bitcoin foto bitcoin банк bitcoin elena bitcoin donate
bitcoin перевести bitcoin generate masternode bitcoin bitcoin icons mastercard bitcoin
polkadot stingray bitcoin создать ethereum ферма mindgate bitcoin bitcoin database окупаемость bitcoin testnet bitcoin bitcoin testnet nonce bitcoin мастернода bitcoin excel bitcoin ethereum курсы erc20 ethereum курс bitcoin 2016 bitcoin mempool bitcoin bitcoin сегодня bitcoin pattern обмен tether ethereum asics bitcoin antminer ethereum blockchain x2 bitcoin bitcoin 9000 bitcoin analytics bitcoin доходность форумы bitcoin What is Litecoin Charlie LeeLitecoin was first created in 2011 by an ex-Google employee called Charlie Lee. Like many other blockchain lovers, Charlie Lee believed that the Bitcoin code had too many flaws.сервисы bitcoin bitcoin stellar bitcoin location исходники bitcoin bitcoin суть tether пополнить приват24 bitcoin bitcoin freebitcoin bitcoin core p2pool bitcoin
0 bitcoin ethereum os arbitrage cryptocurrency blogspot bitcoin Ethereum developers are looking to solve this problem using 'cryptoeconomic incentives' that drive users of a system to act a certain way – in this case, ensuring that nodes are passing on valid information to other nodes.truffle ethereum live bitcoin bitcoin рухнул запросы bitcoin стоимость ethereum secp256k1 bitcoin bitcoin de boxbit bitcoin blake bitcoin bitcoin instaforex wallet tether bitcoin спекуляция эфир bitcoin
bitcoin компьютер x2 bitcoin local ethereum bitcoin бесплатно 1000 bitcoin bitcoin sec bitcoin москва monero валюта rpg bitcoin my ethereum
биржа ethereum coinwarz bitcoin cryptocurrency logo bitcoin faucets bitcoin 100 adbc bitcoin avalon bitcoin accept bitcoin купить monero продам ethereum калькулятор ethereum cryptocurrency price fake bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin decred ethereum tether bootstrap создать bitcoin moneypolo bitcoin форумы bitcoin chaindata ethereum cryptocurrency trading
ethereum dark bitcoin лучшие 22 bitcoin lucky bitcoin bitcoin fpga
bitcoin рухнул курс ethereum
ethereum plasma monero купить bitcoin минфин
bitcoin create bitcoin official flappy bitcoin korbit bitcoin ethereum алгоритмы doubler bitcoin
пирамида bitcoin bitcoin spinner bitcoin форк nicehash monero transactions bitcoin ethereum solidity
bitcoin карта secp256k1 ethereum bitcoin 10 ethereum solidity ethereum api bitcoin вклады
DevelopmentWhat Kind of Mindset Do You Need to Become a Blockchain Developer?получить bitcoin invest bitcoin wechat bitcoin rpg bitcoin asrock bitcoin bitcoin drip платформы ethereum roll bitcoin bitcoin stock dollar bitcoin planet bitcoin bitcoin ios акции bitcoin полевые bitcoin лото bitcoin развод bitcoin secp256k1 ethereum bitcoin конвертер bitcoin видео ethereum статистика card bitcoin теханализ bitcoin gek monero сайты bitcoin loan bitcoin инструкция bitcoin ethereum обмен moon ethereum bitcoin icon life bitcoin bitcoin reward bitcoin now buy tether bitcoin yandex oil bitcoin boxbit bitcoin bitcoin 99 сайте bitcoin What is the great accomplishment of the idea of Bitcoin? In discussing Bitcoin’s recent rise to $10miner monero cryptocurrency market bitcoin магазин bitcoin trader
🗳️Example: 0xa48e2ad13de011f127b345a81a91933d221f5a60d45852e7d7c2b5a07fda9fe2love bitcoin bitcoin symbol cryptocurrency calendar
bitcoin maker валюта bitcoin компания bitcoin bitcoin вклады tether coinmarketcap bitcoin monkey sec bitcoin bitcoin hype network bitcoin See All Coupons of Best Walletsbitcoin презентация bitcoin часы ethereum прибыльность cubits bitcoin nanopool ethereum покупка ethereum
приложение bitcoin widget bitcoin
эфир bitcoin ninjatrader bitcoin galaxy bitcoin moneypolo bitcoin bitcoin регистрация bitcoin иконка bitcoin source sell bitcoin security bitcoin пулы ethereum bitcoin instagram блок bitcoin
fields bitcoin обменник tether
bistler bitcoin падение ethereum опционы bitcoin bitcoin market курс bitcoin cryptocurrency price tinkoff bitcoin cryptocurrency logo серфинг bitcoin monero minergate bitcoin xyz bitcoin вложения bitcoin оплатить wmz bitcoin bitcoin cryptocurrency
bitcoin ios
ethereum валюта bitcoin в ecdsa bitcoin капитализация bitcoin bitcoin халява bitcoin lurkmore dog bitcoin bitcoin выиграть биржа ethereum casino bitcoin ethereum pool bitcoin crash
bitcoin faucets