No bitcoin didn’t became popular because of them, when you mention cryptocurrencies the first thing even someone who is not into crypto will you say is bitcoin. Without altcoins bitcoin might have surpassed that amount because many people wouldn’t just go and invest in other coins and will have invested more in bitcoin and with high demand the price of bitcoin will go up and in turn the ATH might have gone past that price. Also without them many people wouldn’t be afraid to come into this space because cases of altcoins dumping after tricking people into investing wouldn’t suffice

Altcoins are the true MVPs that are extending the possibilities of cryptocurrency; they are not merely "alternatives." In the current market, faster transactions, cheaper fees, and even privacy that Bitcoin cannot match are not just "options," but rather must. Why restrict ourselves, you ask? Indeed, it seems like everyone believes that Bitcoin is king, but even kings can fall. The cryptocurrency kingdom is huge, and if you look behind the crown, there's gold in those hills.

Lets now discuss portfolio strategy. Playing the field, observing what works, and gauging the direction of the wind are all crucial. Why commit to just one cryptocurrency when you wouldnt wear the same clothing every day? My friend, accept the fact that this is a dynamic world or risk being rolled over. Alternative coins are here to stay and arent just backing Bitcoin; they're part of the band, contributing their own unique sound.

Of course Bitcoin offer solutions to P2P, anonymous transaction, store of value etc though there are other problems in the society that other altcoins proffered solution to, however if Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency, I believe it demand would be very high thus prompting a high price, almost all crypto enthusiast, traders, investors, wage earners of the coins etc would depend solely on the coin that would trigger a very high volume traded on daily basis because there is no other competitor or alternative, however the existence of altcoins is also a welcome development though their pump in price depends majorly on the volatility in the price of Bitcoin.

There are so many other factors aside competition that influence the price of bitcoin and one of them is the forces of demand and supply.

Currently, the availability of several altcoins is just like a joke compared to Bitcoin, the demand for Bitcoin is still very higher that all altcoins put together. Now, if there were no other coins, making Bitcoin the only cryptocurrency,  everyone will fall back to Bitcoin and of course we know this will result in an increase in demand, thereby  making the price of Bitcoin to be high due to its high demand and limited supply.

If there were no other crypto currency then surely value of Bitcoin would have increased even further because of accumulated investment. But we wouldn't have got faster transaction and lesser fees which are yet is not available in Bitcoin

Though there are thousands of altcoins but they cannot exist as long as Bitcoin has survived with constant survival over various oppositions from goverment and banks, expect some Altcoin which has usage in daily life rest are just fooling investors with no real life use and don't even reach markets (new coins).

Responding to your point that the value of Bitcoin will be lesser if there is no competition I appreciate your POV but I have a different view on this which is tested in the past, let's rewind to pre 2015 days and see how many altcoins existed there were very few but still Bitcoins value prospered and this proves that compitition is not having any benefit on Bitcoin.

I don't think that any alt coin can able to stay as strong as Bitcoin in the future.
Altcoin is a marketing coin or trading coin only.
It is somewhat true that some people came to know about Bitcoin through Alt-coin or altcoin Marketing. I myself came to know about Bitcoin through Another altcoin in 2014 but no coin can compete with Bitcoin. If there is no Alt-coin then the price of Bitcoin is very high. Because altcoin holders will buy more bitcoins.
 

Nah.. Bitcoin has no competition. In fact, I see bitcoin has currency like saying USD and EUR have competition..other coins are for profit-making whereby we take advantage of it to make money just look at Pyth and how people are talking about it "The hype" and"The season"

Yeah, I agree with you. If there were no competition then Bitcoin won't be what it is today. When you are presented with only one choice you may take it or you may not. But when you are presented with multiple choices, you ask yourself which one should be better if I have to choose one. And then you start to do your research and you choose the best one. This applies to not only just Bitcoin but to everything. This is a well known tactic in order to grow customers.

If something does not have any kind of competition, then its growth will be slower but here is the thing of not having any kind of competition. Once people get to know how good it is and what it can do, left with only one choice people will choose it by default. And the growth will increase like a spike rather than the up and down growth with competition. It will suddenly grow and keep on growing when there's no competition.

Both way, if the thing you are talking about is good enough for consumers, they will pick it despite having any competition or not.

Having other cryptocurrency wouldn't cause Bitcoin to be any cheaper it will even make bit more expensive because the demand will be even higher than the supply so it's even better there are other altcoins where investors with smaller amounts can always invest in and still be profitable but they aren't as solid as Bitcoin because it's block chain is what most of other cryptocurrency rely on for their transactions as it's like the mother of them all.

Personally I don't think with Bitcoin there's any competition with others coins, Bitcoin is independent on its own and other coins are literally following suit so there's almost no competition and if there is I think it's only amongst the altcoins and never with Bitcoin, although some of the altcoins try so hard to be like Bitcoin , having block chain of their own and community, just like ETH with the ERC block chain, tron with TRC but then they all still remain as altcoins and are not like Bitcoin although they do have solid projects and community behind them but Bitcoin still stands out. Buyers decision most times on cryptocurrency depends on how much knowledge they have and that's why regardless of the many altcoins and their appreciative index some investors still stick to Bitcoin because it still stands tall it only those with little or amateur knowledge about cryptocurrency would continually be indecisive about purchasing Bitcoin and that's why you can see an investor having having other altcoins and still insist on add Bitcoin but strict Bitcoin investors hardly look into altcoins.