In any ecosystem, be it in nature or business, there is always a competition. And most often than not, the best always rises to the top. And here in our crypto ecosystem, a competition do also exist. Between Bitcoin and Altcoin. We all very well known that bitcoin, being the first and most proven cryptocurrency already took the center stage in crypto market. Now that altcoins came into the picture, where does it really stands? What will be the selling point of altcoin that will eventually led the bitcoin enthusiasts to finally switch places?
In my opinion Bitcoin is the source and the rest is a very interesting evolution, I think technological developments in altcoins will lead to the future of digital fiat money that will be something like centralized digital currencies but will also lead to better decentralized cryptocurrencies. I also think it's too early to predict which altcoins will survive the test of time, so far Bitcoin seems to be the only one to be truly capable of that but there will be more of course and more than probably altcoins currently existing.
So yes, they are as important, it's from the same family as BTC, it's expanding the technology.