With bitcoin on a tear, Mira Kwon decided there’s more money to be made elsewhere.A little over a month ago, the University of Maryland economics graduate began pouring more than $2,000 into a different crypto-currency called dash.“Bitcoin is expensive,” Kwon, a mother, investor, Korean interpreter and U.S.Army veteran, said in a telephone interview.“I think dash has a bigger growth rate.”So far, it’s worked.Dash has risen to $46 from $15.20 when Kwon started, according to prices at CoinMarketCap.With a market value of $326 million, dash has become the third-largest crypto-currency, behind bitcoin and ether.Other digital currencies are on the move, too, including monero and zcash, to name some of the 700-plus out there.Investors who feel they missed out on bitcoin are seeking a different path to crypto-riches.“They think they’ve missed most of the move, so they are starting to look at other coins that could be their ticket,” said Adam Wyatt, chief operating officer of the crypto-currency researcher BullBear Analytics.Trading crypto-currencies is speculative.

Characteristics that may give each version value include a restricted supply, the willingness of merchants to accept it as terms of trade, technical features and ultimately the faith investors put in it.Chris Burniske, an analyst at Ark Investment Management LLC, sees signs that some investors are cashing out of bitcoin and putting funds into so-called alt coins, varieties that haven’t gone up as much.His company operates an exchange traded fund with 5 percent of its assets in blockchain -- the database technology underlying bitcoin -- and peer-to-peer computing.Bitcoin fell 0.5 percent to 1,239.35 Tuesday in New York.It’s up 30 percent this year.Others are trying to hedge as bitcoin approaches possible speed bumps: The first bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund is expected to be rejected or approved by U.S.regulators by March 11, and the price has risen in anticipation of new investor interest in the digital currency.A decision -- one way or the other -- could lead to more volatility.

With a rejection, “probably the entire crypto-currency market as a whole could drop,” said Alex Sunnarborg, an analyst at researcher CoinDesk, said in an interview.Another issue facing bitcoin is network speed, which has been sluggish.At high congestion times, bitcoin transactions have taken hours to clear.While that’s faster than a traditional cross-border money transfer through a bank, it’s too slow for some users.Bitcoin developers are having trouble agreeing on ways to scale up the network, and the deadlock is pushing some investors to look at the alternative coins.“This creates tension and uncertainty,” said Leah Stephens, a Kansas City-area writer who has investments in crypto-currencies such as steem, dash, monero and bitcoin.“Many traders are hedging in alt coins because of these reasons.”Other coins have features that bitcoin lacks: Dash transactions are confirmed much faster, so it may be better for payments, Kwon said.Many of the coins that are on a tear -- such as dash, monero and zcash -- offer extra privacy protection.“What I think you are seeing is dash emerging as a true challenger to bitcoin in the market,” said Ryan Taylor, director of finance at the team that developed dash.

“We are doing it by adding features customers really like.bitcoin litecoin wikiWhat you are seeing is recognition on the part of the users.”Smaller markets also present major disadvantages: The currencies tend to be less liquid, and more volatile.bitcoin robot bonusLarge holdings of dash, for example, are concentrated in several thousand hands, Burniske said.Not that that’s deterring investors like Kwon, who are partial to crypto-currencies because they reduce dependence on money regulated by central banks.“We need some alternative currency other than fiat currency, and bitcoin is too slow and expensive,” Kwon said.bitcoin kaufen schnellThere is hardly a way the Bitcoin price won't maintain its current spot or continue on a rising trend with the prices of several major alternative digital currencies starting to reflect their respective networks’ gains as they establish in chosen areas of usefulness.bitcoin price python

A quick look at how Dash, Ethereum, Monero and maybe Augur, have performed with their prices in the last few days show that despite the attention that has shifted to these altcoins, Bitcoin’s standing does not seem to be affected at all.ethereum benefits over bitcoinRather, it maintains a strong grasp of the market and continues with its back and forth movement over or around the $1200 price range.galaxy bitcoin miningThe altcoins’ rising prices could not go unnoticed by serious-minded investors who may be exhibiting a practical foresight into what the future could hold for the financial sector - or how cryptocurrencies could help simplify the sector’s coordination in time.ethereum code languageThe influence Bitcoin wields over other alternative currencies - probably for its early adoption advantage or other technical reasons that I am not qualified or able to explain now - is enough to sustain its backbone role into the distant future even as its supply gets thinner while the awareness of its use spreads wider.best bitcoin sportsbook

From the Philippines to, let's say, India and back to Russia and Mexico, the struggle to lay hands on a fraction of Bitcoin continues.bitcoin paper wallet iphoneHowever, the intensifying scramble for bits of Bitcoin considering the rising price of acquiring a full coin is, in a sense, a major factor pushing many to look into the new economy that the totality of cryptocurrencies is creating.Many are now inching towards altcoins instead of a full Bitcoin to be a part of the new economy that is devoid of any form of restrictions and dependence on the status quo but rather afloat in a new world that has little to do with the financial arrangements we've known for years.Still looking away from traditional markets like the US, Europe and China which are still the largest in my view but just that the others have started squeezing out their share, a Nigerian asked me recently if I think the most populous black nation is ready for the 'Bitcoin craze'.

I replied that it isn't yet.I still stand on that view.With a population of about 200 mln people, about a tenth of Nigerians - or even less - can claim all the Bitcoins in existence from a practical view.However, it isn't about the money or the lack of a risk appetite to invest a huge amount into the digital currency because the country could boast of some of the most shrewd business owners the continent of Africa has ever produced.It also has a huge young population that is willing and ready to take on the world at several levels.Rather, what has been stopping them is the information gap or a lack of the good understanding of what Bitcoin is doing or could do.The same applies to people in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa or even Rwanda where tech-savvy individuals are being developed at a faster pace in Africa.Put another way, a fraction of people in one or a combination of two or three of these countries have what it takes to achieve what is being suggested of Nigerians in terms of Bitcoin acquisition but for a similar hindering factor.