All Facts About TOP 5 Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Dash and Litecoin
Bet, when you think about the cryptocurrencies, the only thing you imagine is a bitcoin. But apart from bitcoins, there are more than 1,300 different cryptocurrencies.
Not all cryptocurrencies are created equal. Some feature amazing underlying blockchain technology behind its creation. Some were created ‘just because’, or as a joke. Some are absolutely useless or were a part of an elaborate pyramid scheme.
Of course, there’s no point in showing them all, but Nexter reviews top 5 cryptos and their main features.
Note: The ranking was taken from CoinMarketCap. All figures are accurate as of Nov. 2017.
1. Bitcoin
Probably you all have heard about bitcoins. Today, it is the most famous cryptocurrency and an ancestor of the whole branch. Bitcoins were invented by a group of IT / banking specialists named “Satoshi Nakamoto” in 2009. Today its price raised up to $9 420.64 per coin making it the costliest virtual currency in the market. Bitcoin is known for being the first, easiest to get, limited up to 21 million coins and for widest acceptance.
Bitcoin has two forks in August 2017 when Bitcoin Cash was created and in November 2017 when Bitcoin Gold was released.
2. Ethereum
Ethereum (or Ether) was released in mid-2015 as an alternative to Bitcoin. Till now, it’s the main bitcoin corrival. The key difference between them is that bitcoin has the hard limit of 21 million coins will ever exist, while the amount of Ether is not limited.
As of September 2016 and as a result of an attack to The DAO, Ethereum was split into 2: Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC).
3. Ripple
Released in 2012 it has a strong focus on banking market. Ripples code was written from the ground base. The main function of Ripple is to increase the speed of transactions between banking operations. Ripple also allows you to save on transactions.
Ripple technology is already used by top banks such as Bank of America, HSBC, and the Western Union “experiments” with Ripple protocols.
4. Dash
Dash (short for ‘digital cash’) is another cryptocurrency that came out as a result of a bitcoin code modification. In 2014 Dash system was originally called XCoin, then changed to DarkCoin and in March 2015 it received its current name. Dash is well-known for a strong focus on both privacy (using anonymization technology) and speed (of transaction).
5. Litecoin
Litecoin was released in October 2011 by former Google employee Charles Lee as an alternative to Bitcoin. Overall, Litecoin is similar (and familiar) – it can be mined, used as currency and transacted for goods and services.
See also:
Nearly 4 Million Bitcoins Just … Disappeared!
Cryptocurrency From A To Z – What Is Cryptocurrency and How it Works
What’s new on Bitcoin Market: Huge Crush and Bitcoin Cash
