As we mentioned in the previous chapters, Bitcoin planted the seed of blockchain technology and cryptoassets, and quickly started gathering a passionate and dedicated community of enthusiasts and supporters. A new movement was set in motion by the ingenious system Satoshi created. The momentum accelerated at an exponential rate and generated a snowball effect of innovation. Further technological disruption and breakthroughs in the blockchain space were imminent. These effects were reinforced by the open source nature of Bitcoin.
Many developers started experimenting with the Bitcoin code by creating alternative cryptoasset protocols. Such new alternative blockchains came to be referred as altcoins (given that they are an alternative to the original coin, Bitcoin). The following diagram shows the evolution of Bitcoin:
By far the greatest impact and most...