{"id":2921,"date":"2024-10-22T11:31:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T11:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/?p=2921"},"modified":"2024-10-22T11:31:08","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T11:31:08","slug":"what-is-an-altcoin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/ja\/what-is-an-altcoin\/","title":{"rendered":"\u30a2\u30eb\u30c8\u30b3\u30a4\u30f3\u3068\u306f\u4f55\u304b\uff1f"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the beginning, there was only \u30d3\u30c3\u30c8\u30b3\u30a4\u30f3<\/strong>, created by Satoshi Nakamoto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But due to the open source nature of Bitcoin\u2019s source code, this didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Source code<\/strong>\u201d is the code that programmers can manipulate to change how a piece of software program or \u201capp\u201d works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bitcoin<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Open source software is software with source code that anyone<\/em> can inspect, run, copy, modify, and enhance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have access to a software program\u2019s source code, you can make changes to that program such as fixing parts that don\u2019t work correctly, improving parts to make them work better, or adding new features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can think of open source software like a recipe<\/strong> that\u2019s available for all to see and copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Source<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you\u2019ve eaten at KFC, you know how delicious their fried chicken is with Colonel Sanders\u2019 original recipe with its 11 herbs and spices.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the receipt is secret. It\u2019s locked in a vault (cold storage) in KFC\u2019s headquarters. The source code (recipe) for KFC\u2019s chicken is considered \u201cclosed source<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cproprietary\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"To<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since we don\u2019t know the exact recipe, if you wanted to create the same fried chicken ourselves, you\u2019d have to create your own receipt from scratch, probably with a lot of trial and error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019d end up consuming a lot of time, instead of consuming a lot of\u2026.fried chicken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most likely, instead of KFC, you\u2019d end up with GFC\u2026Gross Fried Chicken.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now\u2026 imagine if Colonel Sanders decided to share the recipe publicly and allow anybody to use it, this would be considered \u201copen source\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s exactly what Satoshi Nakamoto did! He deliberately shared his \u201crecipe\u201d (source code) with the public and published it online as open source software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without the need to have to reverse engineer Bitcoin\u2019s software program and figure out how to create a cryptocurrency from scratch, other cryptocurrencies quickly emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These cryptocurrencies are now referred to as \u201caltcoins<\/strong>\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"First<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What are altcoins?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\"Altcoin<\/strong>\u201d is a combination of two words: \u201calt<\/em>\"\u3068\"coin<\/em>\u201d. The word \u201calt<\/strong>\u201d is short for alternative and \u201ccoin\u201d means uh coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the word, \u201caltcoin\u201d comes from the idea that all other cryptocurrencies are considered \u201calternative\u201d coins to bitcoin (BTC), the original cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Altcoins are considered to be called an alternative to Bitcoin because they are perceived to be attempts to either take the place of or improve upon Bitcoin<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A benefit of open source software like Bitcoin is that anyone in the world can take the original codebase and try to improve or extend the software\u2019s functionality<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To give credit where credit is due, the first altcoin was Namecoin (NMC).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Namecoin<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Namecoin\u2019s mission was to provide a \u5206\u6563\u578b<\/em> domain name service (DNS) system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of websites being limited to using domains ending with \u201c.com<\/strong>\u201d or \u201c.net<\/strong>\u201c, which were under the control of ICANN (the main governing body for domain names), it created the \u201c.bit<\/strong>\u201d domain that is independent of ICANN and could not be censored or shut down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, instead of using \u201cbabypips.com\u201d as our website URL, I could register \u201cbabypips.bit\u201d by buying it with some NMC and use that as our URL instead. Unfortunately, the barrier to figuring out how to actually view \u201c.bit\u201d websites was too high. Namecoin was really hard to use which limited its adoption.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Namecoin was the first altcoin, it definitely wouldn\u2019t be the last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within a couple of years after Bitcoin\u2019s source code was released to the public, hundreds<\/strong> of altcoins were born. Then thousands! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of developers simply copied or slightly modified Bitcoin\u2019s software code and then launched their own cryptocurrency. Not surprisingly, most of them weren\u2019t able to gain any user adoption and after a couple of weeks or months, were abandoned and faded away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These altcoins ended up being called \u201c\u30af\u30bd\u30b3\u30a4\u30f3<\/strong>\u201d since they literally ended up being worthless pieces of sh*t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\u30af\u30bd\u30b3\u30a4\u30f3\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Not all altcoins were pure crap though. Some were able to able to make enough meaningful adjustments or offer enough different features from Bitcoin that they were able to attract and grow their own community of users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are examples of early altcoins that are still chugging along today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Litecoin (LTC)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"litecoin<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, Charlie Lee, a developer at Google, began experimenting with the Bitcoin source code, decided to create a \u201cmore accessible\u201d version of Bitcoin, and named it \u201cLitecoin<\/strong>\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Litecoin is based on Bitcoin\u2019s source code, it has a few technical differences such as a faster transaction confirmation time<\/strong> (2.5 minutes vs. 10 minutes), a different hash function used for mining<\/strong> (Scrypt vs. SHA-256), and a larger maximum supply<\/strong> (84 million vs. 21 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie Lee\u2019s goal for Litecoin was not to replace Bitcoin but for Litecoin to be \u201csilver to Bitcoin\u2019s gold<\/strong>\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dogecoin (DOGE)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"dogecoin<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2013, Dogecoin<\/strong> is an altcoin that was created as a \u201cjoke\u201d but quickly attracted and grew its own online community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was inspired by an internet meme known as \u201cDoge<\/a>\u201c, a picture of a Shiba Inu dog shown in colorful text in Comic Sans font.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to its popularity, DOGE<\/strong>, Dogecoin\u2019snative currency, is considered the first \u201cmeme coin<\/strong>\u201d and also the first \u201cdog coin<\/strong>\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White Litecoin was based on Bitcoin\u2019s source code, Dogecoin was based on Litecoin\u2019source code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Are you starting to see the \u201cbenefits\u201d of open source software? Once you\u2019ve created something, anybody can take your work and copy it. Yay.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ripple (XRP)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"ripples<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re from the U.S. and your famous significant other who is a Brazilian supermodel or footballer (your pick) wants to send you money from their bank to your bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a bunch of steps that would need to be completed, with each step usually incurring fees. And this is why international bank transfers can take days and are expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ripple wanted to change this. The founders wanted to create a platform for banks that was designed to allow international cross-border payments to be completed in seconds<\/strong> at a low cost<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ripple<\/strong> is a c company (originally founded in 2012 as Opencoin, then renamed Ripple Labs, then dropped \u201cLabs\u201d) that created XRP Ledger<\/strong>, their version of a public blockchain, which uses XRP<\/strong> as its native cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creators chose the ticker symbol \u201cXRP\u201d from the term \u201cripple credits\u201d or \u201cripples\u201d and the \u201cX\u201d prefix for non-national currencies based on the ISO 4217 standard<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stellar (XLM)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"lumens<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A couple of years after Ripple was created, one of its co-founders, Jed McCaleb created Stellar<\/strong>, (along with Joyce Kim). While Stellar was originally based on Ripple\u2019s codebase, it was later totally replaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stellar\u2019s goal is pretty much similar to Ripple: allow cross-border payments between any pair of currencies. to be sent quickly and cheaply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They differed in approach though as Ripple initially focused on bank-to-bank transfers, while from the start, Stellar focused on person-to-person transfers, especially from the \u201cunbanked\u201d (people from developing countries who lacked access to financial services).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Money transfers or remittances through the Stellar network are completed in almost real-time and at an extremely low cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A big difference between Stellar and Bitcoin is transaction processing speed. Stellar can process about 3,000 TPS (transactions per second) compared to 5 TPS for Bitcoin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lumens<\/strong>\u300c\u3042\u308b\u3044\u306f XLM<\/strong> (originally known as \u201cstellar\u201d) is the native cryptocurrency of Stellar. XLM is required to pay the base fee charged by the Stellar network for any transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Stellar\u2019s original goal was to increase financial inclusion by reaching the world\u2019s unbanked, its priorities have shifted to helping financial firms connect through blockchain technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u30a4\u30fc\u30b5\u30ea\u30a2\u30e0\uff08ETH\uff09<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\u30a4\u30fc\u30b5\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One can\u2019t talk about altcoins without mentioning (arguably) the most famous one: \u30a4\u30fc\u30b5\u30ea\u30a2\u30e0<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013, Ethereum was conceived to broaden the potential of blockchain technology. Prior to Ethereum, most altcoins were basically Bitcoin clones or spinoffs, designed for one very specific function\u2026to work as an alternative \u201ccurrency\u201d outside of the traditional financial system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, the digital equivalent of \u73fe\u91d1<\/em> that you can send directly from one person to another without a middleman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Bitcoin users can directly transact in BTC, Litecoin users can transact in LTC, Dogecoin users can transact in DOGE, Ripple users can transact in XRP, and Stellar users can transact in XLM. (And then exchange back to your local fiat currency if you wanted to.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Ethereum can do the same with \u30a4\u30fc\u30b5<\/strong>, its own native currency, but that\u2019s not its main purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What sets Ethereum apart from Bitcoin and other altcoins (back then) is that its blockchain design was more flexible and built like a software platform<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So instead of just being another \u201ccurrency\u201d, developers were able to expand the functionality of  Ethereum such as having the ability to build decentralized applications (\u201cdApps\u201d) and even launch their own \u201ctokens\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethereum is so important that I cover it in more depth later, but for now, just know it\u2019s an altcoin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And one of the largest cryptocurrencies, second only to Bitcoin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that you\u2019re familiar with altcoins, let\u2019s learn about some specific \u201cgenres\u201d of altcoins.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the beginning, there was only Bitcoin, created by Satoshi Nakamoto. But due to the open source nature of Bitcoin\u2019s source code, this didn\u2019t last. \u201cSource code\u201d is the code that programmers can manipulate to change how a piece of software program or \u201capp\u201d works. Open source software is software with source code that anyone can inspect, run, copy, modify, and enhance. If you have access to a software program\u2019s source code, you can make changes to that program such as fixing parts that don\u2019t work correctly, improving parts to make them work better, or adding new features. You can think of open source software like a recipe that\u2019s available for all to see and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beginners-guide-to-altcoins","category-learn-crypto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2921"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2937,"href":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2921\/revisions\/2937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apex-aiexperts.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}