Cryptocurrency keeps on acquiring importance in the monetary world because of the popularity of Bitcoin; the prevalence that is presently preparing for more digital forms of money to fabricate and shape the worldwide decentralized financial system.
In July 2021, there were over 6000 sorts of cryptocurrency recorded all over the planet, then the number dropped to around 5800 in August, 2021. In total, that is as yet a stunning increment from 66 sorts of cryptocurrency in 2013. Nowadays, It seems like another digital currency launches everyday.
The cryptocurrency is profoundly competitive and the vast majority of the currencies are yet to build up gain traction. As indicated by CoinMarketCap positioning, the main 10 cryptocurrencies dominate around 90% of the whole market.
Here are the main 10 sorts of cryptocurrencies as indicated by their market capitalisations (caps) and exchanging cost per unit.
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Bitcoin (BTC):
This is the first and the most famous cryptocurrency; it was launched in 2009 by Satosh Nakamoto. Due to being the market pioneer, individuals use it to for the most part utilize bitcoin instead of cryptocurrency.
BTC didn’t make a ton of traction until 2013 when it broke into the standard, yet its new bullish/bearish run made it much more trend in the market of cryptocurrency.
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Etherium (ETH):
ETH is an independent blockchain platform that enables the structure of global decentralized financials items. It’s right now the second biggest digital currency after Bitcoin, with a market cap of $414 billion.
ETH’s local coin – Ether – was launched in 2015 to help traders and developers exchange and assemble applications across the ETH blockchain.
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Cardano
Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform that says its goal is to allow “changemakers, innovators and visionaries” to bring about positive global change.
Cardano is one of the fastest-growing projects in the cryptocurrency space. The team behind its open source blockchain conducts extensive research and regularly publishes its results in peer-reviewed academic papers. Their research is focused on building a scalable, secure and efficient decentralized network by taking a systematic approach to blockchain research and development.
The Cardano project began in 2015 when one of Ethereum’s co-founders, Charles Hoskinson, and his former colleague Jerry Wood left the Ethereum Foundation following internal disagreements. They established a new company, Input Output (IOHK), which went on to launch the Cardano network and ADA token in 2017.
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Binance Coin (BNB):
Binance Coin (BNB) was lunched in July 2017, Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange globally based on daily trading volume. Binance aims to bring cryptocurrency exchanges to the forefront of financial activity globally. The idea behind Binance’s name is to show this new paradigm in global finance — Binary Finance, or Binance.
Aside from being the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, Binance has launched a whole ecosystem of functionalities for its users. The Binance network includes the Binance Chain, Binance Smart Chain, Binance Academy, Trust Wallet and Research projects, which all employ the powers of blockchain technology to bring new-age finance to the world. BNB is an integral part of the successful functioning of many of the Binance sub-projects.
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Tether (USDT):
USDT is a stablecoin (stable-value cryptocurrency) that mirrors the price of the U.S. dollar, issued by a Hong Kong-based company Tether. The token’s peg to the USD is achieved via maintaining a sum of commercial paper, fiduciary deposits, cash, reserve repo notes, and treasury bills in reserves that is equal in USD value to the number of USDT in circulation.
Originally launched in July 2014 as Realcoin, a second-layer cryptocurrency token built on top of Bitcoin’s blockchain through the use of the Omni platform, it was later renamed to USTether, and then, finally, to USDT. In addition to Bitcoin’s, USDT was later updated to work on the Ethereum, EOS, Tron, Algorand, and OMG blockchains.
The stated purpose of USDT is to combine the unrestricted nature of cryptocurrencies — which can be sent between users without a trusted third-party intermediary — with the stable value of the US dollar.
Stablecoins are increasingly used as an inflation hedge in recent times; compared to keeping fiat currency in a savings account averaging 0.06%, users can lend their stablecoins and earn yields ranging from 3% to as high as 20%. However, keep in mind that regulatory, platform risks and more entail.
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XRP / XRP Ledger
XRP / XRP Ledger was launched in 2021, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is an open-source, permissionless and decentralized technology. Benefits of the XRP Ledger include its low-cost ($0.0002 to transact), speed (settling transactions in 3-5 seconds), scalability (1,500 transactions per second) and inherently green attributes (carbon-neutral and energy-efficient).
The XRP Ledger also features the first decentralized exchange (DEX) and custom tokenization capabilities built into the protocol. Since 2012, the XRP Ledger has been operating reliably, having closed 70 million ledgers.
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Solana (SOL):
Solana is a newer cryptocurrency platform launched in March 2020. Its transaction speed and the seamless user experience of its platform makes it the fastest growing cryptocurrency network in the world.
Solana SOL is capped at $41 billion in the market and currently trades for $140.84.
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Polkadot (DOT):
Polkadot is another new type of cryptocurrency that launched in May 2020. DOT is unique in the way it works; it connects blockchain technology from different cryptocurrencies and allows traders to interoperate between them.
Many cryptocurrency experts believe DOT may be the best digital currency yet and could be gunning for the Ethereum throne soon. DOT has a market cap of $35 billion and trades for $35.99 per unit.
Polkadot provides a foundation to support a decentralized web, controlled by its users, and to simplify the creation of new applications, institutions and services.
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Dogecoin (DOGE):
DOGE started as an internet joke after the bullish run of Bitcoin; it was named after an internet meme featuring a Shiba Inu dog. Unlike other digital currencies that limit the number of coins traders can issue; Dogecoin has unlimited issuance and can be used to make payments or send money.
DOGE is arguably the most controversial currency and owes its popularity to Elon Musk’s consistent support, which garnered DOGE millions of impressions across social media platforms. It has a market cap of $33 billion and trades for $0.2518.
