Whitepaper. A startup or established company publishes a whitepaper to tell potential investors about its ICO, or Initial Coin Offering — the technical details, objectives of the product, information about the team behind the company, and other details.
The difference between a digital currency and a cryptocurrency is that the latter is decentralised, meaning it is not issued or backed by a central authority such as a central bank or government. Instead, cryptocurrencies run across a network of computers. Digital currencies have all the characteristics of traditional currencies but exist only in the digital world. They are issued by a central authority.

However, while there are some organisations that accept it as currency, others shy away due to Bitcoin’s dramatic price swings. Driven largely by speculation, the price per Bitcoin rose sharply from $1,151 in January 2017, to an all-time high of $19,783 in December the same year.* It then dropped to below $7,000 by February 2018 and rallied again to around $11,000 over a matter of days, before plunging once more to trade below $4,000. Subsequently, one of the key characteristics of Bitcoin that traders should understand is its potential for extreme volatility.
Some major differences between Bitcoin and altcoins can be found in the blockchain itself. Some altcoins have an uncapped supply, which changes how the coins are used. Some altcoins have made the blockchain faster, which speeds up both mining and transactions.