Trading of valuables has been going on for many centuries. People first used the barter system, then moved on to the currency we know of today. Over the last 10 years, however, things have begun to change. It seems the world is taking a turn toward digital money and cryptocurrencies are becoming more and more prominent. Have you ever heard of Bitcoin? We’re sure you have.
There are so many stories out there that speak of individuals investing in cryptocurrencies and getting massive returns on their investments. These stories sound like fairytales. Investors who put their money in pioneering cryptocurrencies benefitted in the form of immense returns, as compared to major world indices across the commodities and currencies exchange markets. The rags to riches story always gets everyone’s attention, but it’s important to have good information on these digital currencies before you can go ahead and invest in them.
The search for the best cryptocurrency, from an investment standpoint, is on every investor’s mind. Insights into the best of them will help you make a better sale and purchase decisions. Here are 10 of the best cryptocurrencies to invest in, in 2018:
Bitcoin
Created in 2009 by the unknown, infamous and possibly a genius, Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin has seen major fluctuations in its value over the past year or so. Yet, it still holds the top spot among the most popular, widely traded, secure, and growing cryptocurrencies. There are ways you can receive Bitcoins as rewards. This process is called mining. To mine Bitcoins means to simply solve complex math problems and you get your reward. And also you have to store them securely; thankfully there are lots of Bitcoin wallets on the market. The current average of Bitcoins being rewarded is about 12.5 Bitcoins every 10 min. However, due to its volatile nature, you have to invest in Bitcoin thoughtfully. In December 2017, its value was $20,000 and in February of this year, it came down to $6,000. Now, its market cap is estimated to be close to $191 billion.
Ethereum
Coming in second is Ethereum. Co-founded by Joseph Lubin, ETH is truly unique. The value of Ethereum fluctuates just like Bitcoin but has seen a rise of nearly 3000% in just one year! Unlike Bitcoin, you can use Ethereum to make your own cryptocurrencies. Lubin argued that this online currency had the potential to be more programmable than its rival, Bitcoin. It gives its users the ability to build programs in which they can central servers to store and keep their information safe. Recently, Ethereum’s mining concept has been changed from “Proof of Work” to “Proof of Stake”. The market cap for Ethereum is now more than $116 billion.
Ripple
Ripple or XRP is third on our list, and it deserves to be there. XRP has been around since January of 2017 but only got fame at the end of the year. Starting at $0, it went up to $2.4 by December 2017. Using HashTree, a system similar to that of the blockchain system, Ripple makes it possible to make international transactions within a few seconds. This is mainly why people choose Ripple. Financial institutions like American Express and JP Morgan are already using Ripple. This is due to the fact that it is used for enterprise transactions. It has the option of being used from person to person but that isn’t why it was made. Ripples market cap is around $52 billion now.
Bitcoin Cash
Derived from Bitcoin, but made to be better than it, Bitcoin Cash or BTC was developed with new tokens, new rules, and a completely new blockchain. Despite its best efforts, however, BTC hasn’t really been able to catch up to Bitcoin. This split happened in the month of August 2017. This split was also one of the reasons why the price of Bitcoin dropped so suddenly. Bitcoin cash was essentially made to fulfill Bitcoin’s original M.O of peer-to-peer Electronic Cash. Its market cap now is an estimated $28 billion.
Litecoin
Litecoin was designed after the model that worked so well for Bitcoin. Trying to be better than Bitcoin, Litecoin has faster transactions speeds, a token limit of $84 million and a more memory-driven mining process. Litecoin was designed by a Google employee named Charlie Lee. Litecoin gives a great view of the future of shopping or transactions. The way it works would make it possible to buy groceries, electronics, clothes and much more online. Its market cap is now about $10 million.
Cardano ADA
Created by the co-founder of Ethereum, Charles Hopkinson, you can tell Cardano’s credibility is legit. It is in fact called the “Ethereum of Japan” due to its initial 95% of coins being in the Japanese market. It is built on a digital token system and is managed by an international group of scientists who specialize in blockchain technology. Cardano ‘s protocol is divided into 2 layers i.e. the settlement layer that is linked to the control layer. All these protocols are implemented to protect the privacy of its users. Cardano’s market cap is now estimated to be over $16 billion.
Stellar
Stellar is yet another blockchain platform designed to make international payments easy. Its core functionality may differ from that of Ripple. However, because it’s been designed by the co-founder of Ripple there are similarities. Stellar is an open source network that works toward facilitating cross-asset transfer of values. The recent growth in Ripple also gave a boost to Stellar; now, its market cap is around $10.5 billion.
IOTA
IOTA is a unique cryptocurrency in this list and that’s mainly because it has been designed with the future in view. Firstly, its payment system allows you to transfer money with zero charges. This means that all your transactions have no fees involved. Its blockchain platform considers the possibility of a future where the machines will talk to other machines. This will make it possible for smart machines to transfer resources like electricity with money. IOTA’s market cap is over $12 billion.
NEO
NEO looks to the future of a new “smart economy.” It makes use of its blockchain technology to digitize physical assets that can be traded without the need of a third party. Basically, NEO works to ensure that transfer of physical assets through digital means becomes cheaper and safer. In many instances, it has been compared to Ethereum as they share similar operating principles. Unlike Ethereum however, NEO supports many additional code bases like C#, VB.Net, Java and Kotlin. Ethereum has its own language called Solidity that developers would need to learn before any development could take place. NEO’s market cap is about $10.4 billion.
STEEM
STEEM is a rather new addition to the cryptocurrency family. It works very differently to the other digital currencies out there in that it asks its users to write comments, write blogs etc. for which they are awarded with token. The token however, can be used only within the platform that is STEEM. This new cryptocurrency may be last on the list, but it made the list due to its potential to be great. STEEM is used to power the platform Steemit which is an incentivized blockchain social media platform.
Conclusion
The ongoing year will once again see many cryptocurrencies come and go. It’s natural, considering that this method of making transactions is becoming very popular and will only grow further. Research and try to understand the 10 cryptocurrencies we’ve discussed in detail. A well-timed investment is all you need to make it big.
