What is an altcoin?

As you spend more time in the world of cryptocurrency, you come across certain terms which you can usually infer the meaning of from context without entirely understanding.

One you will certainly encounter is altcoin. But what exactly is an altcoin?

Essentially an altcoin is any coin or token launched after Bitcoin (the original cryptocurrency). Literally an alternative coin. Some of them are even built on the same architecture as Bitcoin. There's a nice explanation of it here: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/altcoin.asp (incidentally, Investopedia is a solid go to site for quick, reliable answers)

Ethereum, and Litecoin are probably the two best known altcoins, but there are literally hundreds of them with different applications including Dash, Bitcoin Cash, SpankChain, NEM, Dogecoin and  (at time of writing close to 1,400!).

Most of them will probably disappear, taking your investment with them! Some will go on to establish themselves as market leaders and could make you rich.