It’s the classic business cycle. One organization comes up with a brilliantly innovative idea and introduces a whole new concept to the world. But, very soon, competitors start to emerge who have learned the principles from the originator of the idea and then start to add their own improvements and innovations.
For Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, this certainly seems to be the case. Because even though its value has been reaching new heights in early 2017, there are a number of other currencies that are fast emerging and which have also started to refine and improve what they can offer.
Dash
A good example of these is Dash. The brainchild of Evan Duffield and Kyle Hagan, it offers a number of advantages over Bitcoin, not least in the increased anonymity that it provides. To add opacity to transactions, the currency uses computers called Masternodes, which handle a number of transactions simultaneously thus making it difficult for outsiders to identify where the payments are going from and who is receiving them. Another feature of Dash is that it has no public ledger as such so it’s all but impossible to find a record of a set of transactions or even discover how much of the currency is held by a specific address, person or organisations.
Dogecoin
Another key contender for the next big cryptocurrency is Dogecoin. Many are hailing it as the one that is really going to start enjoying widespread acceptance, thanks, in part, to its users who seem to be committed to ensuring that is used as a genuine currency and not just an investment opportunity for speculators.
Already it is accepted by around 200 businesses according to Dogecoin, including Crypto Games, a website dedicated to cryptocurrency and Bitcoin gambling. Dogecoin is also available for retail purchases, at shops such as Meltdown Comics and The Diamond Collar pet shop. At the heart of Dogecoin is an algorithm called Scrypt, designed with security in mind, a feature that can only make it more popular and due for even wider acceptance.
Primecoin
A slightly more niche example is Primecoin. The unique feature of this cryptocurrency is that it both works as a currency and employs some of the processing capacity of users’ computers to calculate complex maths calculations called Cunningham chains. This process is similar to the SETI@home model. Previously, the only way that the academic world could achieve this by paying for the use of expensive servers – so this is a great example of how to harness the extra potential of a cryptocurrency for other purposes.
Ethereum
But of all the competitors out there, it’s Ethereum that is tipped to overtake Bitcoin first. This is because it has so many more potential applications than simply being used as a currency. For example, some argue that it could also soon be adapted to become a universally accessible machine for running actual business in a shared and decentralised way.
However, it still does have some way to go to overthrow Bitcoin – which currently accounts for around 50% of the digital currency market with Ethereum accounting for about 25%.
But considering that the former’s share was once 90% and the latter’s is growing fast it would certainly seem to be more a question when, rather than if, this is ever going to come to pass.
