ALT, ANN, TX, COIN vs TOKEN, AIRDROP, BOUNTY Explained

In this post I’m going to break down the following terms:

ALT(COIN)
TOKEN Vs COIN
AIRDROP
BOUNTY
ANN
TX.

Starting with ALT which is short for Altcoin, which is short for Alternative coin. This is any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin – since Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency of its kind, any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin is seen as an alternative, hence the term Altcoin. There are several thousand Alts at this point which you can see listed on CoinMarketCap.com (this is considered the main database for cryptocurrencies).

Ok, so what is the difference between a COIN and a TOKEN?

A coin is a cryptocurrency (a.k.a digital asset) that has its own blockchain and is independent of other blockchains or platforms.
The key feature of a coin is that of a currency is essentially used as a medium of exchange or even as a store of value such as Bitcoin.

Tokens, on the other hand, are cryptocurrencies that do not have their own native blockchain but are built as smart contracts on another platform like Ethereum, EOS, Tron, NEO, BNB Zilliqa and many more.
Unlike coins, tokens can serve utility functions – such as to give access to services, represent votes within a community or to denote storage capacity on decentralized cloud storage among others.

Moving on to AIRDROP – this is a free distribution of tokens/coins.
Usually happens after a project has completed its ICO and the token has become tradeable on the open market. There are several motivations for carrying out airdrops, from creating awareness and interest, to actually distributing the whole supply of coins/tokens.
A hard fork of a coin can also produce an airdrop of the newly formed coin.
Not sure what a Hard Fork is? Subscribe to this blog so you can catch the forthcoming post where I break down the types of forks and explain what they mean.

A BOUNTY (in cryptocurrency terms) is a reward offered to incentivize certain work, behavior (such as referrals or development) or completing random tasks. For example, a “bug bounty” is given to a person finding a bug on a company’s website or in a company’s product, etc.
Many start-ups offer bounties in the early stages of their development to people who can provide useful services like translating their white paper or websites, marketing campaigns, and other uses.

Ann is short for announcement and usually refers to an announcement of a new ICO, product or service on the forum Bitcointalk which is one of the main platforms for crypto discussion. and TX is basically an abbreviation indicating a Transaction.

These and many more terms are explained in my eBook “Crypto Jargon A-Z: definitions of crypto terminology” which is the most up-to-date publication of its kind. With over 700 terms, acronyms and trading slang, it contains everything related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain tech: a must-have guide for every crypto investor. It’s an Amazon bestseller and it’s available for Kindle here.