The word “altcoin” is an abbreviation of “Bitcoin alternative,” and thus describes every single cryptocurrency except for Bitcoin. Altcoins are referred to as Bitcoin alternatives because, at least to some extent, most altcoins hope to either replace or improve upon…

What is an ASIC? Short for Application-Specific Integrated Circuit, an ASIC is a dedicated piece of hardware used for, in this context, cryptocurrency mining. ASICs are designed with a singular purpose in mind: to mine a certain cryptocurrency using that…

What is an atomic swap? An atomic swap is the exchange of one type of cryptocurrency for another—like bitcoin swapped for ethereum—without the supervision of a trusted third party. A relatively new notion, cross-chain atomic swapping looks to change the…