Altcoins: Brave New World Beyond Bitcoin

Bitcoin has gone from a little known and little understood technology to front-page news in the past year.

But just as Americans start to wrap their minds around Bitcoin, a slew of alternative virtual coins -- altcoins -- are waiting in the wings, hoping for their chance in the spotlight.

"Bitcoin is the standard bearer at this point," says Mark T. Williams, a master finance lecturer at Boston University who has been closely studying Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. "As (Bitcoin) tries to charge the hill, there are over 100 other virtual currencies right behind it, ready to pick up the flag and carry it to the top."

Questions about where these altcoins fit into the cryptocurrency landscape have been renewed in recent weeks after blows to Bitcoin's reputation, including news in February that Mt. Gox, one of the top Bitcoin exchanges, suddenly shut down and filed for bankruptcy.

"Virtual currencies will play an innovative role in the global economy, but (I'm) not sure that Bitcoin will win the race," Williams says.

Below is a rundown of the cryptocurrencies taking shape in the shadow of Bitcoin.

Altcoins: Smaller market caps

Go to CoinMarketCap.com, which tracks the price of all these cryptocurrencies, and you'll find coins like Litecoin and Peercoin and even Dogecoin, some of which have significant market capitalization. There are many more with decidedly smaller market caps.

"Other virtual currencies are ... trading and seeing large price movements," Williams says. "They're all trading with this great speculation of which will be the next Bitcoin."

Some of the altcoins hope to provide real innovations to the cryptocurrency landscape, while others are mostly just copies meant to capitalize on the Bitcoin publicity. Some are created as jokes or to support a cause.

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Altcoins: Brave New World Beyond Bitcoin