AltCoins is a term given to the Crypto Currency which are emerging as an alternative to fiat currency. Based on the Block Chain technology, thousands of digital currency and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) have emerged in the market.
Worldwide users prefer the coins due to the large market cap they have. Trust, security, transparency, privacy, less charges, and anonymity are some of the advantages of the alt coins. Individuals, enterprises, banks, shipping, financial trading, and all major industries have accepted the alt coins in to the mainstream.
Here are some popular altcoins across the world:
The coins are available worldwide and any one can create a coin by downloading the free block chain software and customizing according to their needs.
Producing and maintaining the coins involves software and hardware set up. Miners and coders actively work on the software to create the encrypted coins. No physical coins or currency printing is required.
All the encrypted transactions are irreversible and are permanent. Users play a crucial role in confirming the transactions and creating new coins. The consensus of the network is required for any changes or forks.
AltCoins have now the market cap of hundreds of billions of dollars across the world. Several online altcoin exchanges facilitate the trading and transfer from one coin to other or to the leading Crypto Currency, Bitcoin.
Here are some popular exchanges that can support altcoins:
Investors can buy/sell/trade coins through online exchanges. The registration on the exchanges will create a wallet which can be used to transfer funds. Users are required to follow the Anti-Money-Laundering and Know-Your-Customer policies of the exchanges.
Verification of the user is done by uploading some identification documents such as passport and driving license. Funds can be transferred in to the wallet using credit cards, bank-to-bank transfer, or PayPal. The time period in which the coins are sold or the duration of accepting new users may be limited depending up on the coin and exchanges.
The exchanges can also be accessed via smart devices such as a mobile phone or a tablet. However, the wallet created may be unique for each device for the same user account. Users must secure the private and public keys generated and record all the transactions.
Exchanges limit the new users and some are available through referral only. Based on the markets, the coin exchanges allow or deny trading of certain coins.
Coin Exchanges are capable of having millions of users at the same time, processing millions of trades per second, and transfering billions of dollars every day. The exchanges are designed for scalability and security.
Exchanges facilitate margin trading and margin funding by charging users. Customizable interfaces from the exchanges lets the users visualize how their coins are performing. Users can create accounts on multiple exchanges depending on the speed, coins, transfer limits, and country. International users can trade the coins and the exchanges must be monitored regularly.
AltCoins have large markets and the daily volume traded for each coin include millions and billions of dollars. For example, Litecoin markets are different from Ethereum markets. People are actively working round the clock around the world and the markets are unpredictable.
Coin markets are popular as the pricing seems to vary rapidly. In the same day, the price of a coin may increase or decrease hundred times. Several buyers are watching the pricing and actively investing in the coins. New coins tend to have lesser price and may increase rapidly surpassing the market cap of its predecessors.
For example, Ripple is a coin which started very low but as the price increased, it surpassed the volume of Bitcoin in a single day. Similarly, Zcash is another coin that is aiming to surpass Bitcoin volume.
The orders are processed based on the algorithms of the exchanges. Users can put a stop order, limit order, or market order. The exchanges match the price depending up on the demand and complete your order. Order matching of an exchange may differ from one to another. Users compare the pricing and volumes on multiple exchanges before placing an order.
Active monitoring of the coin markets is required as the price is unpredictable. During forks or introducing new coins, the exchanges tend to flub the pricing. For example, GDAX misquoted the Bitcoin Cash pricing when it was introduced and the exchange crashed due to high orders. Later, the orders and exchange were restored and the exchange notified users about the errors.
Users must exercise caution while investing in the Altcoins and Crypto Currency. The concept is relatively new and has huge future. However, risk of fraud and hacking are high. The exchanges are the key to trading the coins and in the past users have lost all their Crypto due to the exchanges crashing.
Here are some general tips to keep in mind while working with Coin Exchange Markets: