Being the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has overcome a lot of the problems that newer currencies are still facing. Bitcoin simply had more time to develop and to evolve into the coin it is today. This is one of the biggest differences with most other coins. Bitcoin is relatively stable and has been leading the market for the past eight years, thus becoming extremely popular. When discussing cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is always mentioned.
In addition, most people use Bitcoin to buy other cryptocurrencies, since it is one of the few coins that can be exchanged for almost any other coin.
Besides being the most well known coin, Bitcoin also differs in varioustechnical aspects from other coins. The main purpose of Bitcoin is to be adecentralized digital currency which people from around the globe can use to payfor all sorts of products and services without any interference of a thirdparty. Moreover, many people use Bitcoin to store value, hence its regularcomparison to gold.
However, not all cryptocurrencies have the same vision and goals as Bitcoin. Many novel projects strive to fill existing voids, not always related to the financial market. For instance, the world’s second biggest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, differs greatly from Bitcoin. Ethereum uses the blockchain technology to enable developers to create decentralized applications, thus having a completely different purpose than Bitcoin.