Altcoins

These guides explain altcoins: any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. That includes smart contract platforms such as Ethereum and Solana, payment networks such as XRP, stablecoins, exchange tokens, and memecoins. Thousands exist, but a small number account for most of the market’s value, and many projects fade or fail.

Start here

1. What are altcoins? Types, examples and risks.
2. Crypto market cap explained: how to compare coins.
3. What is Solana? And how it compares with Ethereum.
4. What is XRP? How Ripple works.
5. What is a memecoin? And why they are so risky.
6. Crypto price predictions: how forecasts are made and how far to trust them.

Key concepts

What to look at

When comparing altcoins, look at what the network actually does, who uses it, how decentralized its validators are, and its tokenomics: total supply, how new tokens are issued, and how much is held by founders and early investors. Large scheduled token releases to insiders can add selling pressure.

Market cap and fully diluted value

Market cap is price times circulating supply. Fully diluted value uses the maximum supply instead. A low price per coin does not mean a coin is cheap; a $0.01 coin with 100 billion tokens is valued at $1 billion.

Price predictions

Long-range price targets are usually scenarios built on assumptions about adoption and market size, not forecasts with a track record. Check who made the prediction, what it assumes, and whether the author holds the coin. Treat any target as one input at most.

Risk note

Most altcoins are far more volatile and less liquid than Bitcoin, and many have lost almost all their value. Memecoins in particular are driven by attention rather than fundamentals. Liquidity can disappear quickly, and scams and rug pulls are common among new tokens. Size any position so that a total loss would not affect your finances. See the crypto hub for the basics.