Confused between altcoins and stablecoins? Don’t worry, you are not the only one. The world of cryptocurrency is now full of similar products like this year, we witnessed the rise of meme coins – Dogecoins and Shiba Inu. You may be thinking that both tokens have a mascot dog, so what is the difference!
Altcoins
Altcoins are cryptocurrencies besides the popular bitcoin and ethereum. Some experts describe altcoins as a copy of other cryptocurrencies. To make it easier for you to understand, altcoin is an acronym. It means an alternative to bitcoin. In other words, it can be a coin other than bitcoin. Altcoins make up about 60% of the cryptocurrency market. It stands out with its smart contract features such as XRP; Solana (SOL); Polkadot (DOT) and Dogecoin (DOGE) etc.
Stablecoins
Stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that has a fixed value to an external asset, such as Tether which is backed by the US dollar. Basically, stablecoins are a store of value. It is equivalent to traditional or fiat currency. With stablecoins, investors can keep a portion of their cryptocurrency portfolio in cash. Coinbase has stated that stablecoins like USD Coin (USDC), which operates on Ethereum blockchain, have gained popularity because of their storage value. Moreover, stablecoins are far more cheaper and secure than cryptocurrencies. Investors can earn interest on stablecoins, transfer money cheaply, and trade.
World spotlight on Meme Coins – Dogecoin and Shiba Inu
2021 saw the world’s spotlight fall on meme coins Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) thanks to billionaire Elon Musk. It gained popularity overnight through Musk’s tweet! Shiba Inu is in fact a spinoff of Dogecoin, which was created as a joke in 2013. A report says the market capitalization of Shiba is more than $20.2 billion and ranks 13th among all the cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, Dogecoin is ranked 10th and has a valuation of $28.5 billion.
People like to invest in meme coins because of their sudden rise in popularity among billionaires like Elon Musk and it is bound to rise over time in value like bitcoin. And it has gained recognition.
