While [Bitcoin](/coins/btc) is the big boy of the crypto world, many other coins, known as "altcoins," have emerged in recent years. But which are the altcoins to watch?

Finding the most outstanding altcoins can be difficult due to the many options available, but it's well worth it because these currencies can often yield triple-digit returns.

We've conducted research and put together some of the most interesting altcoins to watch closely in 2022, in no particular order. But first, we need to understand what an altcoin is.

## What are Altcoins?

The term "altcoin" is made up of two words: "alt" and "coin," where alt means "alternative" and coin means "cryptocurrency". They denote a type of cryptocurrency alternative to the digital Bitcoin currency when used together. Following Bitcoin's success, a slew of alternative peer-to-peer digital currencies sprung up to compete.

## Top Altcoins in 2022

### Litecoin: Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency that was founded in 2011 as a result of a fork in the Bitcoin blockchain. It was created in response to developer worries that Bitcoin was becoming too centralised and making it more difficult for large-scale mining companies to obtain an advantage in mining. For example, a Bitcoin block takes roughly 10 minutes to mine, but a Litecoin block only takes two and a half minutes. The supply of Litecoin is set at 84 million, and the current reward for mining a block is 12 and a half Litecoins, which will be cut in half in 2023.

### NEO: NEO is a Chinese-based blockchain platform, cryptocurrency, and network for decentralised programmes, or dApps. It was influenced by networks like Ethereum, but with a few significant technological changes.
According to its designers, NEO was created for the "Smart Economy", which combines digital assets, digital identities, and smart contracts into one seamless environment. The goal of NEO was never to destabilise China's fiat currency but rather to assist the country's economy is transitioning to the blockchain era.
Despite the Chinese government's crackdown on ICOs and cryptocurrencies, NEO has been able to raise the funding necessary to develop and launch its initiatives, fueling concerns about a possible link between the business and Chinese officials.

### [STELLAR (XLM)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/stellar/): Stellar is a decentralised network that allows users to generate, send, and trade various cryptocurrencies. It was founded in 2014 and debuted in 2015 with the goal of connecting the world's financial systems into a single network.
Like other blockchain-based decentralised platforms and exchanges, Stellar is distributed across numerous servers. This means that a single entity does not supervise the behavior on Stellar. Stripe, one of the major payment gateways in the world, stated plans to replace Bitcoin with XLM in early 2018. As a result of this news, Stellar's price increased by 20% due to this announcement, cementing the coin's position as a Bitcoin alternative.

### ETHER (ETH): The cryptocurrency utilised on the Ethereum blockchain network is called Ether. Ether is known to be the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world, after bitcoin, in terms of market capitalisation. Hence it might be called the largest of the 'altcoins.'
Vitalik Buterin, a programmer, introduced Ethereum as a platform in 2013, and the network went online in 2015. It's mostly used as a decentralised finance platform, but it's also been used to assist with developing other altcoins via initial coin offerings.

### DOGECOIN ([DOGE](/coins/doge)): Dogecoin is the final altcoin we'll discuss in this article, and it's one of the most recent to get mainstream notice. This interest is partly due to celebrity endorsements like Elon Musk, Snoop Dogg, and Gene Simmons on social media.

Dogecoin began as a parody of cryptocurrencies, but it has since grown in market value and popularity. Dogecoin is a digital asset based on a fork of the Litecoin code that serves as an accessible entry point for crypto newcomers. It is based on a division of the Litecoin code. Since its inception in 2013, Dogecoin's popularity has sparked the development of a slew of copycat memecoins, which have grown into their [industry](https://prnews.io/blog/video-journalists.html) of fun digital assets that demonstrate the market worth of internet culture in the digital economy.

## Conclusion

Some people see this low-price phase as an opportunity to increase their crypto holdings before prices rise again. However, much depends on your financial situation and expectations for how crypto will perform in the long run.

Buying crypto may make sense if you only invest money you can afford to lose and have other financial goals, such as retirement savings and an emergency fund.

These altcoins may be interesting in July for various reasons, but don't buy them hoping for a quick profit. Furthermore, don't buy something just because the price appears low; it could go lower. Instead, take time, thoroughly investigate the topic, and maintain a long-term perspective.


Altcoins to Watch: The Top 5

Since becoming the darling of investment communities worldwide, Bitcoin has spawned an entirely new class of digital assets called “altcoins.”  Seeking to replicate the success of the world’s first digital currency, the rapidly expanding cryptocurrency market continues yielding swaths of newer coins that are all designed with the intention of upending Bitcoin as the heavyweight king of crypto.

With well over 9,000 new altcoins to choose from, here’s what you need to know:

## What are altcoins?
------------------

Altcoin is short for "alternative coin.”  Quite simply, these digital assets are alternative cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin will forever be universally hailed as a “first of its kind” asset and newer cryptocurrencies developed after the fact are viewed as alternative coins, or altcoins. The first altcoins started showing up back in 2011 and they were designed to be more advanced than Bitcoin in terms of technology.  For example, quicker transaction speeds than what Bitcoin could offer. 

To get an idea of how altcoins work, all you need to do is look at blockchain technology – the environment where all cryptocurrencies “live.”  A blockchain is an _electronic ledger_ that records cryptocurrency transactions and this ledger is maintained across computers that are linked across a distributed network.  What investors finds so intriguing about cryptocurrency is that they operate on a decentralized, trustless, P2P payment network that functions without a central authority or overseer to facilitate transactions. 

It is truly _decentralised_. 

Many of the altcoins that you can invest in are, in fact, technologically superior to Bitcoin.  They’re just not as popular…yet. 

Here are three altcoins with an especially promising future:

### [Chainlink (LINK)](/coins/link)
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Chainlink's price has more than doubled in 2021, and they’ve recently announced a partnership to provide data for what are called “smart contracts” - programs used to automate the execution of an agreement so that all parties are held accountable for a desired outcome.  Chainlink is building a great reputation for being able to translate real-world data into something that these smart contracts can immediately interpret and act upon.  In a nutshell, Chainlink is offering capabilities that are very desirable in the cryptoverse, making Chainlink one of the top altcoins to watch.

### [Polkadot (DOT)](https://polkadot.network/)
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Much of the ballyhoo surrounding this altcoin is that it’s promoted as “one of the most highly anticipated next generation blockchains.”  Polkadot lets developers _build their own_ blockchains and then connect them with each other, overcoming major scalability issues.  Much of the cryptocurrency brain trust has gone so far as to say that Polkadot is the future of decentralized applications.  Time will tell, but this altcoin is certainly off to an incredibly searing start.  

### [Stellar (XLM)](https://www.stellar.org/)
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Stellar was created by one of the co-founders of another popular altcoin called “Ripple” and was designed with a focus on the people that are living in developing countries.  These are places where traditional banking services may not always be immediately available and Stellar is designed to be the “peoples” resource.  This altcoin offers the best in terms of real-world application.  For those who’ve worked in a business operating internationally, Stellar could be a _very_ big deal.

## Altcoin Price Volatility
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As altcoins got their start, the cryptocurrency market would move in unison with the performance of Bitcoin.  As Bitcoin went up, so did the market.  It was the same if Bitcoin trended downward.  Maybe not perfectly aligned, but about 70% and more was what we could expect.  Now, as altcoins demonstrate their usefulness, and independence from Bitcoin, there has been a break in the correlation. 

I think this is the sign of a healthy cryptocurrency market that is gaining strength, and another sign that now is the time to start looking seriously at cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, _not_ named Bitcoin.

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