More than 16,000 cryptocurrencies are now in circulation, and all but one of them share a single label: altcoin. It all traces back to Bitcoin, which in 2009 became the first cryptocurrency and proved that money could run on an open network rather than a bank. In the years since cryptocurrency first emerged, thousands of alternatives have followed, from dollar-pegged stablecoins to gaming tokens to coins built around proving you're a real human.
Almost every one of them is an altcoin: any coin that isn't Bitcoin. If you've spent time exploring crypto, you've probably come across dozens of these different types of crypto without always knowing what connects them or what sets them apart. This guide breaks down what altcoins are, the main categories you'll meet,and the risks worth weighing before you treat any of them as an investment.
An altcoin, short for "alternative coin," is any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. Some definitions also set Ethereum aside, since it is large and established enough to stand on its own, so you will sometimes see altcoin used to mean any coin other than Bitcoin and Ethereum. The core idea holds either way: an altcoin is an alternative to the original.
Bitcoin was the first decentralized currency built on the blockchain, but it does have its limits. Transactions can be slow, fees can rise when demand surges, and the network wasn't built to support a variety of functions.
Altcoins emerged when developers set out to fill the gaps Bitcoin left behind. There are altcoins that aim to settle payments faster, charge lower fees, add privacy, run software or hold a steady value instead of swinging in price.
Altcoins make up all but one (that being Bitcoin) of the 18,000+ cryptocurrencies active in circulation today. The largest is Ethereum, which introduced the ability to run software on a blockchain. Other altcoins include XRP, Solana and BNB, along with the US dollar-pegged stablecoins like Tether and USDC.
Payment coins are a type of altcoin built for everyday spending. Bitcoin isn't optimized for speed or low-cost transactions.Payment-focused altcoins address those limitations, helping crypto behave more like actual money.
The first payment altcoin was Litecoin, launched in 2011 as a faster, lighter Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash, which split off from Bitcoin in 2017, is another one.
Stablecoins are a type of cryptoasset that aim to maintain a stable value by referencing another asset, most commonly a fiat currency such as the US dollar (such as Tether or USDC). Stablecoins are commonly used for trading, payments and moving money across borders.
Platform tokens are altcoins that keep blockchain economies running. Just as countries rely on their own currencies to power their economies, networks like Ethereum and Solana rely on native tokens to facilitate transactions and reward the participants that secure the system. Whenever someone uses an app or moves assets on the network, fees are paid in the platform token. ETH and SOL are the best-known examples.
A utility token is more like a membership card than a currency. Rather than serving as general-purpose money, it grants access to something specific within a project, whether that's a service, a feature or discounted fees. Chainlink's LINK token, for example, is used to pay for the real-world data the network supplies to other blockchains. That means the token's value is driven less by the broader crypto market and more by demand for the product or service it helps power.
Memecoins are cryptocurrencies inspired by internet culture and online communities rather than a specific technology or use case. Their prices rise and fall largely on hype and attention. Dogecoin, which began in 2013 as a parody of crypto itself, is an example.Shiba Inu is another. The downside is that attention can be fleeting, making memecoins highly volatile.
Play-to-earn tokens turn gaming into a small economy. In these blockchain games, the items a player collects and the rewards they earn aren't locked inside the game. They're real digital assets the player owns and can sell or trade for money, with the token acting as the in-game currency that makes it all move. Axie Infinity brought the model mainstream around 2021.
Transaction histories on most blockchains are visible to anyone. Privacy coins, however, use cryptography to hide the sender, receiver and amount being transferred. This makes transactions extremely difficult to trace. Monero and Zcash are the best-known privacy coins. Privacy coins have been a target for regulators. Many exchanges have delisted them rather than deal with the scrutiny.
Governance altcoins give holders a say in how a crypto project evolves. Much like shareholders vote on corporate matters, governance token holders can propose and vote on changes such as fee structures, software upgrades or how community funds are spent. The idea is to give people, rather than a central authority, control over the direction of the project. Uniswap's UNI and Maker's MKR are two of the best-known examples.
What is an altcoin?
An altcoin, short for "alternative coin," is any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. These coins were created to improve on Bitcoin or provide capabilities it wasn't designed for, such as smart contracts, stable value, privacy or digital identity.
Which coins are altcoins?
Every cryptocurrency except Bitcoin is considered an altcoin.
How many altcoins are there?
There are roughly 16,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation, and all but one of them (Bitcoin) are altcoins. The exact number changes constantly as new projects launch and others disappear.
What type of altcoin is Worldcoin?
Worldcoin (WLD) is most closely associated with the emerging category of identity-focused tokens because the World network is built around proving you're a real, unique human. However, WLD also functions as a platform and utility token, powering payments, transactions and apps across the World network.
Altcoins cover everything in crypto beyond Bitcoin, from stablecoins built to hold steady value to platform tokens that keep entire networks running. That range is the whole point: each one tries to solve a problem Bitcoin was never designed for. It also explains the risk. For every project with a real product and lasting demand, plenty more run on hype and disappear just as quickly.
The takeaway from the people building this space is to stay selective rather than dismissive of the field as a whole. And as verification becomes central to the internet, identity-focused tokens like Worldcoin point to where part of this category is heading: proving you're a real, unique human in an age of bots and AI agents.
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