Bitcoin is a decentralized peer-to-peer digital currency controlled by all Bitcoin participants around the world. No single entity controls Bitcoin. Nodes function as communication hubs, storing the blockchain, validating transactions, and relaying information. Miners, on the other hand, provide computational power to create new blocks, validate transactions, maintain consensus, and secure the network. Bitcoin is the most secure network in the world.

There's absolutely no other digital asset, which has ever achieved this. Bitcoin is simply the best form of money (medium of exchange, store of value and unit of account). Better than fiat, better than gold. It is the best alternative to the centralized financial systems. (A peer-to-peer electronic cash system). It is a sovereign currency, completely independent of any other forms of money.

An "altcoin" refers to any coin that is an alternative to Bitcoin.

My simple question is: How's an altcoin alternative to Bitcoin, anyway?