Since 2009, the cryptocurrency industry has come a very long way, and it has finally started achieving its true purpose and goal. The industry is now being adopted by many mainstream institutions and retail investors. 

With time, the cryptocurrency industry has become so popular that most independent internet users who never heard of cryptocurrencies are jumping into the space. The majority of these investors think that the entire cryptocurrency industry consists of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (Ethereum).

However, the reality is that the cryptocurrency industry is very vast and it has so much more than just Bitcoin and Ethereum. To be honest, even saying that Bitcoin and Ethereum are the tip of the iceberg for the crypto-verse wouldn’t do justice to its size.

What are Altcoins?

The simple definition for Altcoins is that anything that is not Bitcoin, is an altcoin. The term is tagged with cryptocurrencies that are not Bitcoin so it even includes Ethereum. However, I will not be talking about Ethereum as you may already have a very good idea about Ethereum. 

As of now, there are over 15,900 cryptocurrencies that have been launched into the crypto-verse and Bitcoin is one of them. The cryptocurrency industry not only comprises Bitcoin exchanges but also comprises exchanges that offer services for thousands of cryptocurrencies.

At present, there are several major brokerages for cryptocurrencies that have been providing you with access to thousands of cryptocurrencies. Some of these cryptocurrency brokerages include Robinhood, TradeStation, Coinbase, FX Robotix, and many more. 

Major Altcoins and their Market Presence

Now that you know what altcoins are, it is now time to get yourself acquainted with some of the largest and most prominent altcoins. There are currently some really prominent cryptocurrencies that have really high potential and market demand:

Binance Coin (BNB)

Binance Coin is one of the most prominent assets that has been around for a while. BNB is the native coin that was launched by the largest cryptocurrency exchange “Binance back in 2017. Since then, Binance has gained a tremendous amount of growth. 

Just like the rest of major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, BNB has also gained huge growth in the running year. From the beginning of 2021 until now, the price of BNB has grown by 1550.53% and it is currently trading at a price of $624.14 per BNB. Binance Coin has a valuation of $104,356,462,497, which ranks it as the 3rd largest cryptocurrency, right after BTC and ETH.

Solana (SOL)

Solana is next in the list that is currently the 5th largest cryptocurrency in the entire crypto-verse. Among the list of top-10 cryptocurrencies in the overall crypto-market by valuation, it is Solana that has recorded the highest amount of growth. If you were to look at the growth of Solana since the beginning of 2021, you would see that it has grown by 11,376.96%. Solana is currently trading at a price of $209.97 per SOL. 

XRP (XRP)

XRP is one of the most prominent cryptocurrencies in the entire crypto-verse. Back in 2020, XRP was the third-largest cryptocurrency in the entire crypto-verse after BTC & ETH. The cryptocurrency was doing really well until the US SEC knocked at its door and decided to take it down. 

The US SEC accused Ripple, the creator of XRP that it was selling its securities (XRP) to US citizens illegally. Since then, the US SEC and Ripple have been at war trying to defeat the other party. Still, XRP has ended up facing a loss, where the first thing it lost was its position.

At the time of writing, XRP is the 7th largest cryptocurrency in the entire crypto-verse. It has a unit price of $0.9889 per XRP, and currently has a market valuation of $46,812,180,137. 

If you wish to acquaint yourself with more altcoins, then you can start looking for Polkadot (DOT), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Shiba Inu (SHIB).