A hard fork in the blockchain can happen for a number of reasons. For once, if there is a security breach in the older version, developers could initiate a Hard-fork to solve the security issues, to undo transactions, or add another functionality to the technology. Secondly, even without any security issues a Hard-fork might be useful to improve the network. Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency and since its creation in 2008, it has become a valuable and fully established medium of exchange. Today, many coins have been created on the blockchain platform having similar functionality, while some like Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold were created from a Hard-fork execution.
Since the introduction of the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, over 2000 plus coins have sprung into existence, these are just a few among multiple coins in the crypto sphere.
Bitcoin (The big-daddy of all cryptos)
Bitcoin is the first digital currency; it was introduced in 2008 as the first the blockchain platform. Since its introduction, it has risen in value so much that its face value is higher than gold although it’s market cap is much lower. Despite its excellent qualities and benefits, it has a big flaw, and it is it’s old legacy features. It mainly lacks privacy and this lack of privacy is a flaw that other coins like Dash, Spectrocoin, Monero, etc are attempting to resolve.
Litecoin is one of the many forks of Bitcoin. It is called a fork or a variant of bitcoin because it was created using the same original protocol which was used to create Bitcoin. However, it has a different underlying code that gives it a unique set of features. So in plain English, it is a bitcoin look-alike. The benefit is low transaction fees and its fixed supply, just to mention a few; no wonder it’s perceived as a Silver equivalent if Bitcoin is gold.
The value of Bitcoin cash is hyped but the real fact is that the perceived value is very low. The prediction of its future value is discouraging as experts believe that it will fade off soon. Like Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash was created from the fork of bitcoin in August 2017. The aim was to increase the size of its blocks allowing a boost in the transaction process. On Nov. 2018, Bitcoin Cash underwent another fork splitting into Bitcoin Cash SV and ABC.
Bitcoin cash has a big problem and it is the inability to deliver the promise to cover up bitcoin’s lapses. The failure to fulfill this promise is one of the reasons people believe the coin is doomed to fail.
Bitcoin SV (Satoshi Version)
Bitcoin SV came into existence as a consequence of the Bitcoin Cash hard fork. The primary plan is to adopt crypto solely as a trade and payment procedure and to increase the network capacity of the original bitcoin. The person behind this coin is Craig Wright who declares himself as Satoshi Nakamoto.
Bitcoin Gold is another hard fork of Bitcoin. The hard fork occurred on the 24th of October 2017. The reason for the bitcoin gold hard fork is to address the bitcoin mining process. The main objective of the developers was to change the algorithm through which the cryptocurrency is mined. Eventually, Equihash-BTG was adopted as the new algorithm.
There are over 2000 alternate coins. A token is different from a coin. Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency and all other coins that came after it is called alternate (alt) coins. If you are interested in investing check out our Bitpanda Review!