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The definition of an altcoin has evolved since the early days of cryptocurrency when only a handful of crypto assets existed. Back then, anything but Bitcoin (BTC) was considered an altcoin.

Today the world of crypto assets is much broader. There is a wide variety of coins and tokens with use cases that go well beyond a medium of exchange, meaning they arent necessarily Bitcoin competitors.

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Still, for lack of a better designation, the basic definition of an altcoin is any crypto asset other than Bitcoin.

Heres a look at the top 10 altcoins by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins. We have excluded stablecoins since they are designed to maintain a stable price and are not typically considered to be a speculative investment.

Market cap: $389.2 billion

Of the nearly $2.5 trillion in total market capitalization of the more than 26,000 crypto assets available today, more than $389 billion is held in Ethereum (ETH), the biggest altcoin on the market.

Unlike Bitcoin, which is characterized as a decentralized currency, Ethereum is a distributed computing network on which users can use the blockchain to run decentralized applications (dApps) and host smart contracts.

Critics of Ethereum point to high fees for conducting transactions. But with the thousands of apps and other altcoins powered by its blockchain, Ethereum is here to stay.

Market cap: $82.5 billion

Binance Coin is a utility token that can be used to pay trading fees and get discounted trades on the Binance exchange. You can even use BNB outside the Binance crypto exchange for payment processing, such as booking travel arrangements.

Critics say BNB isnt as decentralized as other altcoins. Another risk is a reported Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into whether Binance should have registered BNB as a security during its initial coin offering.

Market cap: $79.3 billion

Developed to power decentralized finance, apps, and smart contracts, Solana runs on a unique hybrid proof-of-stake and proof-of-history mechanism to process transactions quickly and securely. It is one of the fastest blockchains.

Market cap: $32.0 billion

XRP can facilitate exchange of different currency types with digital technology and payment processing company Ripple Labs. Although this altcoin has extremely low transaction fees, critics note it faces legal challenges.

Ripple and two of its executives are involved in an SEC lawsuit alleging they should have registered XRP as a security, and the company says XRP is instead a currency.

Market cap: $26.3 billion

Dogecoin is the original meme coin, famously started as a joke in 2013. Nevertheless, thanks to a dedicated community and creative memes, it has rapidly evolved into a prominent cryptocurrency.

Dogecoin has a different network from Bitcoins proof-of-work protocol. This altcoin also has a block time of one minute with uncapped total supply. This means that there is no limit to the number of Dogecoin that can be mined, unlike BTC.

Market cap: $20.7 billion

Cardano was an early adopter of the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which speeds up transaction time by removing platforms like Bitcoins competitive and energy-intensive problem-solving dimension.

The Cardano Alonzo hard fork was officially launched on September 12, 2012, which also launched smart contract functionality to the blockchain space. It is to be noted that over 100 smart contracts were deployed in the following one day after the launch.

Market cap: $17.7 billion

Developed as a layer-one blockchain for dApps and other networks, Avalanche has grown into one of the worlds leading altcoins, Ethereums main rivals. In particular, the AVAX network is looking to unseat Ethereum as the blockchain of choice for smart contracts. The way in which the newer blockchain hopes to do this is by a higher transaction output without affecting scalability.

Like Ethereum, Avalanche is attempting to solve Vitalek Buterins famous blockchain trilemma of security, scalability, and decentralization. The blockchain trilemma states that developers must sacrifice at least one of those three components to allow for maximum productivity with the other two. Avalanche attempts to solve the trilemma by using three interoperable blockchains in its development.

Market cap: $17.2 billion

Developed in 2018 by Telegram, the encrypted messaging system, Toncoin is a Layer-1 blockchain whose name originally stood for Telegram Open Network but has since been changed to simply The Open Network.

TON was initially released so that in-application clients could easily settle transactions within the Telegram app. However, it has grown into a community-driven blockchain whose proof-of-stake network maintains swift processing and validation times.

Market cap: $15.5 billion

Shiba Inu, an Ethereum-based meme coin, was developed in 2020. SHIB was created by Ryoshi, an anonymous developer who claimed the coins goal was to discover if an organization could work without any central leadership. With major crypto heavy hitters such as Elon Musk and Vitalek Buterin quickly backing it, Shiba Inu appears to be proving Ryoshis hope is possible.

In October 2021, Shiba Inu briefly supplanted Dogecoin as the worlds most valuable meme coin by market cap. In addition, some niche retailers have started accepting the coin as payment following its success among crypto investors. But dont start looking to pay for your dinner with SHIB yet. An organized social media effort from the Shiba Inu community to get McDonalds to accept the coin as payment ultimately failed.

Market cap: $12.4 billion

This peer-to-peer electronic cash system aims to become a decentralized, permissionless global payment system. Bitcoin Cash is an alternative to the original bitcoin payment system, the worlds oldest cryptocurrency.

Created by a hard fork in the bitcoin blockchain, Bitcoin Cash launched in 2017, eight years after the original bitcoin blockchain came online.

Market cap: $12.2 billionThis altcoin powers the Polkadot ecosystem, where developers can build specific-purpose blockchains as spokes connecting to the main Polkadot blockchain hub, says Max Thake, co-founder of peaq, a blockchain network built on Polkadot. DOT is the native token for Polkadot.

Featured Partners

Legacy

Over 1 Million Investors Trust Mudrex for Their Crypto Investments

Security

Mudrex is Indian Govt. recognized platform with 100% insured deposits stored in encrypted wallets

Fees

Enjoy zero crypto deposit fees and industry's best fee rates.

Multiple Award-Winning Broker

Listed On Deloitte Fast 50 index, 2022 Best Global FX Broker - ForexExpo Dubai October 2022 & more

Best-In-Class for Offering of Investments

Trade 26,000+ assets with no minimum deposit

Customer Support

24/7 dedicated support & easy to sign up

Welcome Bonus On First Deposit:

Get $30 in your verified trading account on your first deposit.

Variety:

Trade CFDs in crypto, forex, stocks, metals, commodities & more!

Intuitive & Cheap:

Designed for traders of all levels, from beginners to professionals.

Grow Your Passive Income

250+ cryptoassets available

Why Uphold

Just $1 minimum deposit

Fees

Enjoy 0% bank deposit & withdrawal fees*

Please invest carefully, your capital is at risk

*Market caps and pricing sourced from coinmarketcap.com as of April 2, 2024.

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