Alex Manea
Cryptocurrencies have been springing up like mushrooms in the past 10 years. There are over 4,000 cryptocurrencies in existence, while some 2.000 have already failed (January 2021). So, which ones should you invest in? In this article, we created a list of the top 10 most popular cryptocurrencies, other than Bitcoin, that have already proven themselves on the market. In other words, cryptos that are, most likely, here to stay.
On the very top of the list of the top crypto, we have Ethereum. It can be defined as more than just another cryptocurrency. It is, in fact, a fully decentralized and open-sourced blockchain system that features a cryptocurrency token. Ethereum was first introduced in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin, and it officially went live in 2015. Right now, ETH is the crypto with the highest market price, after Bitcoin.
Litecoin is probably the most popular crypto after ETH and BTC. Litecoin was designed to enable quick, secure, and cheap payments through the use of blockchain technology. It essentially took the Bitcoin protocol and changed the hash algorithm and the hard cap. LTC currently trades at over $110.
XRP is a cryptocurrency token developed by the company Ripple. It was created to be quick, cost-efficient, and scalable compared to other assets and platforms.
The global XRP community fully maintains the RippleNet ledger, which gives the token its value. The ledger processes transactions every 3 to 5 seconds.
Cardano was created in 2017 by Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood. It is divided into two layers: the Cardano Settlement Layer (CSL) and the Cardano Computation Layer (CCL).
Cardano users need to purchase ADA to facilitate the transactions and participate within its governance program.
The ADA ownership determines who becomes a slot leader and adds new blocks and who earns a share of the fees paid for the transactions in blocks.
Bitcoin cash is a cryptocurrency that is an alternative to Bitcoin. It was created by a group of Bitcoin users that didn't agree with the roadmap. BCH has value is because it is used to facilitate transactions on the blockchain. Blocks in its blockchain can be larger, allowing it to process more transactions each time one is added. This additional space enables the users to avoid fees related to Bitcoin when there is heavy demand on the blockchain network.
Stellar is a distributed computer network where Lumens (XLM) is the cryptocurrency. The network uses a specific consensus algorithm based on a concept known as a federated Byzantine agreement, which is a type of consensus method that predates Bitcoin. This Stellar Consensus Protocol enables the nodes to vote on the transactions until the quorums are reached.
XLM has value due to its use as fuel when it comes to making transactions on the network.
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that was initially launched in December of 2013 by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. The 2 created the coin as a joke. It was a project that made fun of a lot of cryptocurrencies out there. But, when it came to the cryptocurrency itself, the developers took it seriously. They copied the code from a cryptocurrency known as Luckycoin, a fork of Litecoin (LTC).
Dogecoin implemented a script-based consensus mechanism when it came to enforcing how the network of computers that ended up running its software came to the consensus on the transaction history.
Neo was initially launched as Antshares. Created in 2014 by Erik Zhang and Da Hongfei, it was rebranded to Neo in 2017.
To secure the blockchain and keep the network operators in sync, it employs a consensus mechanism known as the delegated Byzantine fault-tolerant (dBFT). It leverages real-time voting and determines which computers that run the software can create the next block. The NEO token powers the blockchain and can be used for holding, sending, spending, and even staking. At the same time, it allows those who stake to vote on the upgrades within the network.
Miota has its own native cryptocurrency token known as IOTA and is a distributed ledger that is not a blockchain. Instead, it uses a proprietary technology known as Tangle, a system of nodes that confirm the transactions.
It was founded by Sergey Ivancheglo, Serguei Popov, David Sønstebø and Dominik Schiener.
Dash was created by Evan Duffield in 2014 and implemented features such as InstantSend and PrivateSend. The cryptocurrency network has its token known as DASH. The price of DASH has been extremely volatile in the past. In December 2017, it reached an all-time high of about $1,600 before dropping to $80 in just one year.
Now that you know which are the most popular cryptocurrencies (other than the world-famous Bitcoin), you're probably wondering where to buy them from.
Our crypto exchange comparison platform will tell you exactly which crypto exchange is best suited for your needs. Just go to the page, answer a few quick questions, and our algorithm will take care of everything. Try it now!
