Introduction
Welcome everyone to another article for my blog Vendata's journey of the crypto world! If you know the crypto market well enough, you are bound to know BTC and ETH, the two unbeaten kings of the crypto world in so many ways. Both are amazing cryptocurrencies, allowing the crypto environment to develop and evolve into a buzzing hive of amazing possibilities, no matter who you are! Now, if you look through the list of cryptocurrencies in the market, you most likely have heard many other cryptocurrencies bearing the brand of ETH and BTC. Top examples include Wrapped Bitcoin, Bitcoin Gold and Ethereum Classic, all of which have different uses for the crypto world, yet link back to ETH and BTC. The question I have is "Why?". Why do these cryptocurrencies exist? Why not create their own brand, rather than copying BTC and ETH who reign over the crypto world?
Looking At BTC Alternatives
There are so many BTC alternatives out, outrunning ETH alternatives by a great deal. I could go on and on about each one, but that would be tedious, so I will go through the major ones based on their market cap. BTC branded cryptocurrencies within the top 50 according to the market cap are Bitcoin (BTC) (obviously), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and Bitcoin SV (BSV). Out of this list, I know what BCH is, having a relation to it beforehand. However, the other two (WBTC and BSV) sound unfamiliar to me. With some research, I have listed below the fundamentals of the BTC branded cryptocurrencies I listed:
Bitcoin (BTC) - decentralised digital currency based upon cryptography.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) - fork of BTC made because BCH developers were originally unsatisfied with BTC's development. It is similar to BTC but has some significant differences intended to improve it.
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) - essentially BTC but on the ETH blockchain, enabling BTC to be used in the ETH environment.
Bitcoin SV (BSV) - alternative to BCH in the hope to complete the original aim of BTC. SV stands for "Satoshi Vision," which this cryptocurrency attempts to meet.
There seems to be a pattern in these BTC alternatives: they want to make a "better" BTC coin!
Looking At ETH Alternatives
With ETH alternatives at the top of the leaderboard, there is hardly any there. The only one I found that is reliable is Ethereum Classic (ETC), which you may have heard about. ETC is in basic terms a copy of ETH but has made several changes in it in the hope to create a more effective and efficient blockchain. One of the key differences is that ETC is a "classic" version of ETH, hence the name of "Ethereum Classic." What the "classic" version means is that the blockchain remains unhampered, making sure that all transactions within the ETC blockchain are not externally interfered with by third parties and vulnerable to tampering transactions.
The same pattern is clear with an ETH alternative: they want to make a "better" ETH coin!
Answering The Question
Based on the patterns above, I believe I can make a valid conclusion with why there are so many alternatives to the two crypto giants BTC and ETH. The reason there are so many alternatives is to evolve the original coins BTC and ETH. The creators of these alternatives, most of whom were developers of BTC/ETH find that the current roadmap for BTC/ETH is unsatisfactory for them, needing significant changes to improve it. However, these developers are not listened to, and so they create their own blockchain from BTC/ETH!
Another key feature to notice is that there are way more BTC alternatives than ETH alternatives, and the most likely reason is that BTC covers a much more wide spectrum of crypto concepts. While ETH focuses on creating Dapps or decentralised blockchains, BTC focuses on the main goal of the crypto world: to create a decentralised digital currency where people can reliably make transactions securely, safely and quickly.
Another reason for the many alternatives to BTC in comparison to ETH is the fact that BTC has a limited supply, while ETH has an infinite supply. This opens up concerns of supply and demand, especially as it nears its maximum. BTC miners will no longer receive coins stored away from them, but only by transactions fees from the transactions BTC users make, which could mean a higher fee rate. The price of BTC would also boom far more than it currently is! Supply would stay at its maximum, but demand will continue to sky-rocket alongside price, which opens yet another wave of problems!
Thus comes my answer to the question "Why Are There So Many ETH & BTC Alternatives?". The answer, in simple, is to relieve the stress of these giant cryptocurrencies while making key improvements which they lack, opening more effective and efficient blockchains into the crypto world.
Conclusion
That is the end of this article! I hope you find that information useful and insightful, answering an interesting question which I have had and possibly you have had as well. The answer I have made is based on the brisk research and reasoning from myself, and so is vulnerable to inconsistencies and misleading information. If I have made many mistakes, it would be nice if you pointed them out for me, teaching me more of the crypto world!
Answering one of the many questions of the crypto world, I venture deeper into the crypto mine, equipped with another tool to help my journey.
