Bitcoin Stack Exchange
Bitcoin Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [alternatives]

Questions about alternative blockchains are off topic unless they are applicable to Bitcoin.

This is the tag for all questions concerning alternatives to Bitcoin (altcoins). This includes forks of the Bitcoin Core software with possible modifications and / or a new genesis block (such as litecoin) and also blockchain-based cryptocurrencies which were created using an entirely new codebase. It also covers cryptocurrencies which were created by hard-forking the bitcoin blockchain (eg a deliberate, non-backwards-compatible change to the consensus rules).

Note: questions related to a project that has its own SE site should be moved there eg:

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Is there a way to set up proof-of-work systems so they would be even more useful?

One of the arguments made against Bitcoin's design choices is that it wastes resources authenticating transactions. In particular, finding small hashes is completely useless for the world. Are there approaches (or other crypto-currencies) that use…
Artem Kaznatcheev
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How does Chaum style e-cash work? (all the Wiki links are broken)

I'm trying to learn how Chaum-style ecash worked specifically how: "the issuer does a blind signature on a serial number" I tried looking up on Wikipedia but the page is pretty light on the details, and all the pages don't work (even the Wayback…
makerofthings7
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Does flattr complement or compete with bitcoin?

I realise that the underlying technologies for Bitcoin and flattr are different, but do they serve the same purpose? For example: if I set up a webapp that uses micropayments for revenue (like github - being able to buy private repositories) would…
Matt Ellen
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What are the perceived advantages of bitcoin as a means of exchange?

There are lots of ways to send money - western union, paypal, bank wire, etc that are more established and fairly quick. What are the advantages of using bitcoin from a bitcoin-proponent's point of view?
lemonginger
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Will forks and alternative block chains cause hyper-inflation of decentralized digital money?

Great effort has been put into Bitcoin's concept of money supply and that there will never be more than 21 million units. However, it's relatively easy to fork it and create alternate block chains. SolidCoin, IXCoin, IOCoin etc are much less worth,…
herzmeister
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Has anyone attempted to make a working voting system using a bitcoin based system?

It occurred to me the other day that the difficult problem of electronic voting could possibly be solved quite nicely using a bitcoin system. I believe it's transparent enough to be trusted. I found a few threads discussing this already. Has any…
barrymac
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Why do we need alternatives to Bitcoin?

I don't understand why people need to create alternatives to Bitcoin such as litecoin. Why were these created? What's the point? You can't answer those questions using the same arguments for why Bitcoin was created.
Emre Kenci
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Speed of operations in the Bitcoin network

Did anyone measure how fast transactions spread through the Bitcoin network? For example, how long does it take for a newly generated block to be propagated to most active clients? Mainly asking this question to get some general idea whether an…
ThePiachu
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Can Bitcoin technology be leveraged to implement a decentralized trust system (i.e. a replacement to SSL)?

Like Namecoin is intended to replace / augment DNS, can the Bitcoin principles / protocol be extended to support a distributed "trust" mechanism, in a way that no central authority will need to be trusted in order to verify public key…
ripper234
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What Bitcoin-esque alternatives are there?

I'm seeing lots of bitcoin-esque alternatives mentioned here. What alternatives exist and how do they differ from Bitcoins?
billpg
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What is the "zeitgeist attack"? Does it affect all blockchain technologies?

What exactly is this attack? It would be nice to have a good explanation of how it works and which chains can be effected by this. Does it apply to the bitcoin main chain, or only the newer and smaller alternative chains?
MaxSan
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What keeps a dominant Bitcoin client vendor with the majority of the market share from unilaterally changing the protocol?

I've been asking this in the comments, but I'll be more direct. If a third-party Bitcoin client, say "iBitcoin" (for example), becomes the dominant client by acquiring most of the market share, what would keep the vendor from unilaterally changing…
Manish
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What is Proof of Burn?

Can someone explain me: What is Proof of Burn What is the difference between Proof of Burn and Proof of Work How Proof of burn works Which virtual currency uses Proof of burn technology instead of Proof of Work Can someone explain these things to…
tdumidu
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Are there alternatives to Bitcoin which take a different approach?

Are there any alternative approaches to decentralized, electronic currencies? Bitcoin was built with certain technical characteristics in mind. I'm hoping to see if there are alternative approaches. I don't mean things like Namecoin or other…
Andrei Railean
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Turing completeness of Bitcoin Script

For me, scripts are one of the most interesting features of Bitcoin. They provide possibilities which have no equivalent in classical currencies. However, the wiki states It is purposefully not Turing-complete, with no loops. What's the rationale…
jnnk
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