Cryptocurrencies are virtual currencies which operate independently of banks and governments but can still be exchanged – or speculated on – just like any physical currency. Launched in 2009, bitcoin was the first decentralised cryptocurrency. Since then, thousands more cryptocurrencies, known as altcoins, have launched.
While bitcoin remains the market leader, cryptocurrencies including bitcoin cash, bitcoin gold, ether, litecoin, ripple, EOS, stellar (XLM) and NEO could challenge in the future because of rising demand, expanded applications, and technological advances.
The other comparison between Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies is that the time taken to mine a block is different for each cryptocurrency. Bitcoin takes about 10 minutes, while others do it almost instantly. The key factor is the way in which blocks are verified by the network. Bitcoin, for example, uses a ‘proof-of-work’ algorithm, which is very energy intensive.
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