Does this include all of the altcoins built on top of ethereum? For example, BAT adds another $90million of value that isn't represented strictly by looking at the ethereum market cap[0]. [0] https://coinmarketcap.com/assets/basic-attention-token/
I'm not familiar with what "built on top of" means in this case, as it pertains to overall cryptocurrency value. Is it additional, actual coin with tradable value? Is it a derivative? Can someone describe in comparison to traditional means what this is?
Every program in the EVM is called a "contract" but in reality it's a program. One of the fundamental contracts built atop Ethereum are additional coins, traditionally sold in an ICO. Most coins follow a protocol called ERC20 that allows them to be easily exchanged with any other ERC20 coin and Ether itself. In liquid markets, like for the Basic Attention Token (BAT), one can sell off a lot of BAT for Ether without tanking the market too much.