Bitcoin

Bitcoin is the oldest, most established and well-known cryptocurrency. Since its launch in 2009, Bitcoin has become the most recognized and trusted decentralized digital currency with no single entity responsible for issuing coins or processing transactions. Bitcoin transactions are validated on a peer-to-peer network, meaning that anyone can become a validator, verifying individual user’s transactions on the network.

Compared to other cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is unique in its extended history as pioneering cryptocurrency and large active user-base and support from merchants, including brick and mortar stores. It has more support from financial institutions and increased demand from individual investors. It stands as the most recognizable of all crypto coins and even holds some influence amongst governments and institutions, due to its use as gold-substitute reserve asset. Many other crypto projects exist today, however, none have matched the current dominance Bitcoin holds over this industry – in terms of both market capitalization and size of the user-base.

Whilst other cryptos have made advances in certain areas such as faster transaction speeds and greater energy efficiency, and blockchain-based computing (smart contracts), none have yet to reach parity with Bitcoin’s collective acceptance and widespread use by mainstream traders and merchants. This suggests that despite fierce competition from new coins arriving every month, Bitcoin remains formidable stalwart leader in this rapidly evolving market space.

Over years there have been several attempts to fork Bitcoin blockchain and spawn new and "improved" or "more conservative" versions of the same idea, however, these have failed to surpass the following and support of miners and nodes that support generally accepted longest chain - the original Bitcoin.