This article is more than 8 years old Nine Bitcoin alternatives for future currency investments This article is more than 8 years old Bitcoin's rapid rise in value and profile has spawned over 60 different 'altcoin' digital peer-to-peer currencies Bitcoin is one of over 60 different alternative digital peer-to-peer cryptographic currencies. Like bitcoins most of these currencies are mined by computers solving hard mathematical problems. The "coins" do not exist physically, of course, as the currencies are virtual existing only as computer files.

As they are based on peer-to-peer protocols, no one computer controls the currencies, but networks keep track of all transactions made using these digital currencies, but they do not know what the coins were actually used for — just the ID of the computer "wallet" they move from and to.

Here are nine alternatives to think about before putting your time, effort and money into bitcoin. Litecoin Like bitcoin, litecoin is another crytography-based digital currency, which has also seen a dramatic rise in value in recent months. Litecoin, a peer-to-peer opensource digital currency, could be described as an offshoot of bitcoin.

In fact, it is based on the bitcoin protocol, but instead of requiring extraordinary computing power to mine effectively, can be mined efficiently using standard computers due to its algorithm originally designed by Dr Colin Percival for the Tarsnap secure online backup service for Linux and other opensource operating systems. Namecoin Also based on bitcoin, namecoin is another opensource offshoot.

A cryptocurrency, namecoin also acts as a decentralised DNS — the protocol on the internet that turns human-comprehensible website names such as theguardian. By acting as its own DNS, the currency operates outside the regular internet and therefore outside the governance of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers Icann.

The store will usually ask you to submit the funds within a certain time frame, for example, 15 minutes. This protects the store from possible exchange rate volatility. If you are paying from a wallet not from an exchange you will also be asked to set the fees for the transaction. It can take a few minutes and, in some extreme cases, even some hours for the transaction to be confirmed on the Bitcoin blockchain. This is due to how the Bitcoin blockchain works: the higher the fees you pay, the faster the transaction can be processed.

If you are buying digital items or services, your email or mobile number will usually be sufficient to complete the purchase, while for physical products online, you will likely have to provide a name and address where you can receive the goods. If you are using Bitcoin inside a store, it is anonymous, just like cash. Disadvantages of Paying With Bitcoin — and Possible Solutions Despite the many advantages of being able to shop with Bitcoin, there are still some issues that likely prevent users from much stronger adoption, especially when it comes to day-to-day shopping.

The main issues users face when buying goods and services with Bitcoin are mainly: High transaction fees; Exchange rate volatility. Points 1 and 2 are strictly interlinked and we will look at them together. As said above, Bitcoin payments require you to pay a fee to the miners to process the transaction. The higher the fee, the faster the payment will go through. It is important to understand that this fee is not in any way linked to the amount that is being transferred.

The perception of fees varies depending on what you are buying. The chart below compares the fees paid by CryptoRefills users between November and January in relation to the price of the goods and services they were purchasing. The three snapshots provided are based on the mempool size the number of transactions awaiting verifications and confirmation.

According to this chart, the average median to be precise Bitcoin fees paid by shoppers in relation to the value of what they were buying was about 1. In some extreme cases, users paid more in fees than for the product itself. These are rare exceptions that occur for people buying products worth a few dollars. The bottom line is that a direct Bitcoin payment can be very expensive and inconvenient if you are making a small purchase, and especially if you want the transaction to be processed immediately.

Possible solutions to the fee and speed issue are to use other cryptocurrencies such as Dash and Litecoin, which have much lower fees than Bitcoin. You can also consider paying directly from an exchange because they group many transactions together, so the fees will be cheaper.

If you are still eager to pay with Bitcoin from your wallet, you should consider using Lightning Network more about that later. Exchange rate volatility is also an issue, because most goods and services are originally priced in fiat value. If the exchange rate changes, so will the price in Bitcoin. This means that if as a consumer you wanted to purchase U.

Furthermore, Bitcoin price changes can be sudden, with two-digit appreciation or depreciation over the USD that can happen in minutes. Imagine shopping at your local store with a fiat currency and seeing the prices make huge bounces up and down. One solution for avoiding exchange rate volatility is to use stablecoins instead of Bitcoin. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies, generally based on the Ethereum ERC standard, that are pegged to the major fiat currencies. Some stores do accept stablecoins; however, as with Bitcoin payments, stablecoin payments can be very expensive when transacted over the Ethereum network.

Less expert shoppers can use exchanges and integrated payment solutions within their exchange account such as Binance Pay to pay with stablecoins or other cryptocurrencies. Put simply, it allows users to complete the payments immediately, and with close to zero fees. New generation Lightning wallets like Phoenix might be more user friendly for the less expert users.

CryptoRefills accepts Lightning Network payments and offers a step-to-step guide on setting up a Lightning wallet and buying products using Lightning Network. The LightningNetworkStores website offers a directory of stores accepting Lightning Network payments, ranging from e-commerce to physical stores, restaurants and other types of retailers that have adopted this new technology.

Conclusion Bitcoin adoption as a payment method its original intention is increasing despite its price volatility. Businesses like PayPal and Overstock are paving the way in this direction by accepting Bitcoin directly. It seems we still have a long way to go for full retail adoption of this payment method. However, since most top brands in the world offer gift cards, it is possible to use services like CryptoRefills to use Bitcoin to buy gift cards and then redeem the gift card for the payment.

Purchasing products with Bitcoin still presents some challenges. Transaction fees paid to miners and time to process the transaction are the top two issues. However different solutions are emerging, such as using other widely accepted cryptos or paying with Bitcoin via the Lightning Network. Exchange rate volatility can also be an issue. Crypto-funded debit cards and credit cards are also an option to reduce fees, complete transactions immediately and reduce exposure to exchange rates.

BITCOIN CREATOR DEAD

He brings his wealth of experience for high performing and rare exotics with commercial technology to BitCar. Charles Kilborn — International Engagement. Charles is a success-driven executive with over 25 years of experience in enterprise strategy, turnaround, operations management, corporate finance and business development.

He is an industry-recognized leader in the development, implementation and integration of technology infrastructure. Sheree formerly practised as a Commercial Lawyer and Litigator, and leverages her four years of experience in blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies to provide a strong commercial background in BitCar.

Sheree leads the team in new product development on compliance from design architecture through to the implementation phase and leads the BitCar marketing campaign. Alasdair is a full stack blockchain developer at BitCar. Collaborating with the business to prioritise key technical initiatives, Alasdair utilizes his expert knowledge from positions at Ledger Assets and BitCar to provide technical guidance, in all phases of the software development lifecycle.

Mar, Go! Sep, Enjoyment Trading volume accelerates volume of Exotics increases rapidly. Mar, Getting ready Marketing of Bitcar and incentivization of partners will start. The best performing users get rewarded! Q1 Enjoyment Trading volume accelerates volume of Exotics increases rapidly.

Q2 Win!! Potentially first Exotic sold from Platform. Team Daniel Woodroof — Executive. Daniel is a race-winning national formula car champion having progressed from a successful karting career into international motorsports including formula and GT car racing.

He brings his wealth of experience for high performing and rare exotics with commercial technology to BitCar. Charles Kilborn — International Engagement. Charles is a success-driven executive with over 25 years of experience in enterprise strategy, turnaround, operations management, corporate finance and business development. He is an industry-recognized leader in the development, implementation and integration of technology infrastructure.

Sheree formerly practised as a Commercial Lawyer and Litigator, and leverages her four years of experience in blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies to provide a strong commercial background in BitCar.

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