{"id":1000144,"date":"2026-06-17T08:06:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.themarketperiodical.com\/glossary\/altcoin\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T08:06:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:06:41","slug":"altcoin","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/dev.themarketperiodical.com\/fr\/glossary\/altcoin\/","title":{"rendered":"Altcoin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The word <strong>altcoin<\/strong> is a portmanteau of &#8220;alternative&#8221; and &#8220;coin.&#8221; When Bitcoin launched in 2009, it was the only cryptocurrency. As developers began building on or adapting Bitcoin&#8217;s open-source code, new projects emerged \u2014 and collectively these became known as altcoins.<\/p>\n<p>Altcoins span a broad spectrum of designs and use cases:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Platform tokens<\/strong> \u2014 such as Ether (ETH), which powers the Ethereum network and its smart contract ecosystem<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stablecoins<\/strong> \u2014 pegged to fiat currencies or other assets to reduce price volatility<\/li>\n<li><strong>Utility tokens<\/strong> \u2014 granting access to specific services within a protocol<\/li>\n<li><strong>Governance tokens<\/strong> \u2014 allowing holders to vote on changes to a decentralized protocol<\/li>\n<li><strong>Meme coins<\/strong> \u2014 originating from internet culture with little or no stated technical purpose<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some altcoins are forks of Bitcoin&#8217;s codebase with modified parameters \u2014 for example, Litecoin adjusts block times and uses a different hashing algorithm. Others, like Ethereum, are built on entirely independent architectures.<\/p>\n<p>The altcoin market is generally considered more volatile and less liquid than Bitcoin. Projects range from well-established networks with significant developer activity to speculative tokens with limited utility. Investors and analysts typically examine a project&#8217;s whitepaper, team, code activity, and tokenomics before evaluating its merits.<\/p>\n<p>The total number of altcoins listed across exchanges has exceeded tens of thousands, though only a fraction maintain consistent trading volume.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The word altcoin is a portmanteau of &#8220;alternative&#8221; and &#8220;coin.&#8221; When Bitcoin launched in 2009, it was the only cryptocurrency. As developers began building on or adapting Bitcoin&#8217;s open-source code, new projects emerged \u2014 and collectively these became known as altcoins. Altcoins span a broad spectrum of designs and use cases: Platform tokens \u2014 such \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":[],"class_list":["post-1000144","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.themarketperiodical.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/1000144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.themarketperiodical.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.themarketperiodical.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.themarketperiodical.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1000144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}