How to identify Altcoins and Meme Coins?

There have been this warring misunderstanding between altcoins and memecoins. Many can't even differentiate which is a meme coin and which is altcoins. Some doesn't even know what these terms mean. Even me personally classified all coins as altcoins not until I realized that there are differences involved.... It's sad to say that most traders don't know how to identify these coins.

Altcoins

Altcoins mean alternative coins and are referred to crypto coins other than bitcoin. The first altcoin with the name, Namecoin was introduced in 2011. These altcoins were created to provide alternative as the name implies to find of the limitations of bitcoin which was the first cryptocurrency. Since this first coin was introduced, other coins got created with unique features . Altcoins can be grouped into various types of coins of which one is the stablecoin us dollar we know of . This altcoin was designed to reduce volatility in bitcoin by pegging their value to an asset that is reserved like the tether usdt just mentioned.

Another of such is the privacy coins which provides and enhance anonymity in the market. An example is the monero and the Ethereum ether provides service within a particular platform. All these popular altcoins have gained popularity over the years because of its use cases and improvements over bitcoin.

Pexel

They all started as projects, either ones that are mined or farmers to get. Some of these altcoins include **Ethereum, XRP which is ripple, Litecoin, LTC, cardano, ADA etc. These altcoins addresses certain issues that tend to cloud bitcoin within the crytocurrency ecosystem.

Ethereum altcoin has a lot to do with smart contracts which enables developers to come up with decentralized applications on its own Blockchain. The Litecoin offers faster transaction confirmation times and the cardano creates a scalable Blockchain.

To invest in these altcoins, you must consider a lot of factors so as not to jump in blindly. You must check the use cases of that coin most importantly. Also evaluate the technological potential of that coin in solving real-world problems. Now checking its volatility is another thing worth of note.

These altcoins are very much volatile than bitcoin, reasons why you would see lot of people trade bitcoin comfortably because it doesn't liquidate that much as does other coins in the market. If you're trading bitcoin, you are less exposed to high volatility than when you're trading bonk or any other altcoin. The rate at which it retests can turn you over.

Checking those who adopts the coin in the market, developers, and it's use by users, majorly top investors....... These altcoins offer users opportunities to diversify their portfolio and also get exposed to different Innovations in blockchains.

Meme Coins

Meme coins as the name implies are categorize as crypto coins triggered by internet memes and jokes. They were created for fun in the crypto ecosystem and their value most times is triggered by sentiments and trends. One of such meme coins is this bonk. The way it is hyped on socials in connection with some trends add to its value. It all started with the doge coin known today.

It built a strong online community and even gained reputation and followers in its then project before launched as a coin. Examples of such coins are the; Pepe, doge coin, shiba inu etc. These coins have different tags or logo which makes it look like memes and it has a strong following on social media which aims at bringing humour into the crypto space.

These meme coins has their values determined by the engagement on social media including followers which creates interest and speculations, thereby leading to a sudden surge in the price of that meme. Asides the influence of social media, it is also influenced by the concept of demand and supply.

Let's take for example the then doge. It surged at some point when Elon musk the owner of twitter did endorsements and some tweets about the coin. It value is influenced by active community and social media presence which makes it unpredictable and their prices are highly volatile.

Differences

Altcoins	Meme coins
Altcoins are alternative coins to bitcoin that help improve its functionality	Meme coins are just inspired by internet memes and are driven by community and social media trends. They have no serious project or technology.
Altcoins have use cases that are specific and advanced which adds to its utility	Meme coins lack practical utility as their tokens are based on mere speculations and social media hype.
Altcoins have strong and significant adoption	Meme coins grow on communities that are highly active, making the coin very volatile
Altcoins can show steady growth in the market	Meme coins are very unpredictable and volatility with no steady growth.
Altcoins has its trends in decentralized finance platforms and the likes	Meme coins leverage on social media platforms to grow and trend the Pepe and shiba are trending now.

Understanding the differences between these two coins will help you know which to make decisions on and will also help you know how to navigate the market. Investors and traders should conduct thorough research considering a lot of factors in these two types of coins before trading just like someone would have to choose between testing BTC and Pepe. Bitcoin is less volatile than Pepe but Pepe pumps excellently that's when it is in an uptrend.

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Disclaimer :Any financial and crypto market information provided in this post was written for informational purposes only and does not constitute 100% investment advice. It's just basic knowledge every crypto trader or investor should have