Crypto isn’t all about Bitcoin!

Sure, Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency. The blockchain was invented for Bitcoin, But bitcoin ISN’T the only cryptocurrency out there.

As I write, there are over 8,000 different types of cryptocurrency in existence – some are variants of Bitcoin, while others are completely new, stand-alone cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin is, of course, the granddaddy of them all, and it's fair to say that there wouldn't be any cryptocurrencies at all without Bitcoin. However, because Bitcoin is open source, ANYBODY (even YOU) can take the technology and start their own cryptocurrency.

At this point I need to make clear that there are two different types of cryptocurrency you can create. One is a coin, the other is a token. There are some pretty big differences between them, so listen up.

A coin (like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin etc.) operates on its own blockchain. These cryptocurrencies have been started from scratch and are completely independent of each other. They act as money, and you can buy stuff with them, or convert them into Dollars or another “hard” currency.

A token, on the other hand, relies on an existing blockchain infrastructure. In other words, you don't have to create your own blockchain, you just use a platform like Ethereum. You can use the features of your own cryptocurrency while benefiting from the security of the native blockchain.

The big upside to creating a coin is you have your own blockchain and you can control its development. All this takes time and costs a lot of (real) money.

The big upside to creating a token is you can use an existing blockchain – so you don't have to go to all the hassle and expense of creating one yourself. However, you are reliant on other teams to make regular technical improvements.

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