Digital currencies have come a long way in the past few years. In 2016, cryptocurrency went mainstream with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin dominating the market. Here are the top 10 digital currencies of 2016 along with their platforms and pros/cons:
1. Bitcoin — the first and most popular digital currency in the world. It is also the first decentralized cryptocurrency that was introduced to the public in 2009. The platform uses blockchain technology to verify transactions. It was created by an anonymous individual or group known as Satoshi Nakamoto.
Pros: No third-party control, highly secured, easy payment method using mobile/PC, transparent system, low transaction fees
Cons: Slow transaction processing speed, high volatility (price), limited acceptance
2. Ethereum — a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts on a custom built blockchain. It provides a cryptocurrency token called “ether” that can be transferred between accounts and used to compensate participant mining nodes for computations performed. “Gas”, an internal transaction pricing mechanism, is used to mitigate spam and allocate resources on the network.
Pros: Open source platform, Turing complete programming language (Solidity), contracts to store code and data, true peer-to-peer communication between miners and clients
Cons: Scalability issues (Ropsten test network
The top 10 digital currencies of the year and their platform:
1. Ethereum – is an open software platform based on blockchain technology that enables developers to build and deploy decentralized applications.
2. NEM – a blockchain-based smart asset system which was designed to address some of the most pressing problems in digital currency today.
3. Ripple – enables banks, payment providers, digital asset exchanges and corporates to send money globally using advanced blockchain technology.
4. Litecoin – is a peer-to-peer Internet currency that enables instant, near-zero cost payments to anyone in the world.
5. Dash – a self-governing and self-funding model driven by incentivized full nodes and masternodes , which provides financial privacy features similar to those found in cash transactions.
6. Ethereum Classic – a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference.
7. Monero – an open-source cryptocurrency created in April 2014 that focuses on fungibility, privacy and decentralization.
8. NEO (formerly Antshares) – is a next generation smart economy platform (formerly Antshares) and China’s first ever open source blockchain.”
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Digital Currency is gaining momentum and is here to stay. It is the future of payments and with it, comes a new set of currencies that are making waves in the market. The market capitalization for digital currencies has grown from $1.8bn in 2013 to over $10bn in 2016! This year, we have seen some major players emerge into the market:
1) Bitcoin – BTC
2) Ethereum – ETH
3) Dash – DASH
4) Ripple – XRP
5) Litecoin – LTC
6) Monero – XMR
7) ZCash – ZEC
8) Neo – NEO
9) IOTA – MIOTA
10) NEM – XEM
1. Bitcoin
Platform: bitcoin
Pros: large community, first mover advantage, brand recognition, relatively high liquidity and exchange rates
Cons: small number of merchants that accept it as a form of payment, lack flexibility (due to the nature of blockchain), relatively slow transaction speed
2. Ethereum
Platform: ether
Pros: smart contracts, decentralized applications (DApps), faster, can be more profitable than mining bitcoin
Cons: high volatility, not as widely accepted as bitcoin
3. Ripple
Platform: ripple
Pros: faster transaction speed, capable of handling 1,500 transactions per second with potential to go even higher (bitcoin is 7), low fees (0.00001 XRP)
Cons: centralization (the company owns over half the tokens), not as widely accepted as bitcoin or ether
4. Litecoin
Platform: litecoin
Pros: better privacy protection than bitcoin, faster transaction approval time (2.5 minutes versus 10 minutes for bitcoin)
Cons: less support from developers than other cryptocurrencies, few merchants that accept it as a form of payment
5. Dash (previously Darkcoin and XCoin)
Platform: dash (previously darkcoin and xcoin) pros instant private transactions, decentralized
In the world of digital currencies, there are many to choose from. Some, like Bitcoin, have been around since the early days, while others are just now making their way onto the market. Many are offering innovative solutions to very real problems in the industry.
Unfortunately, with so many to choose from it is often hard to know where to start. This blog will provide you with 10 of the most interesting and promising digital currencies on the market today. It will also cover what makes each one unique and why they may be worth investing in.
– Litecoin – Pros: Low Fees; Cons: Slow Blockchain
There are many digital currencies today. Some of them have been around for a very long time and some of them have just been introduced to the market.
There has been much speculation about what the future for these digital assets may hold. Some people think that they will all crash, like many tech bubbles in the past. Others think that digital currencies are here to stay and that they will be an important part of our future lives with the Internet of Things.
These are ten of the most popular digital currencies listed by market capitalization:
1. Bitcoin
2. Ethereum
3. Ripple (XRP)
4. Litecoin (LTC)
5. Monero (XMR)
6. Dash (DASH)
7. NEM (NEM)
8. MaidSafeCoin (MAID)
9. Factom (FCT)
10. Dogecoin (DOGE)
Digital currency is a form of currency that is available only in digital or electronic form, and not in physical form. It acts in the same manner as conventional money with the exception that it only exists electronically. It can be transferred from one person to another, used to buy things and services, or exchanged for other currencies either digitally or through ATMs.
Digital currency has emerged as one of the hottest investments around. Now that you know more about it, it’s time to get started with making your first investment. Here are a few exchanges that you can use:
Binance