A cryptocurrency is basically a form of virtual/digital money that does not rely on banks to verify transactions. While some cryptocurrencies have drifted into the physical world with credit cards or other projects, the majority remains intangible.
Cryptocurrency is usually built using blockchain technology. You can store your cryptocurrencies in a digital wallet and whenever you transfer your cryptocurrency funds, the transactions get recorded in a public ledger. The currency uses encryption to verify its transactions and the encryption provides safety and security in transactions. This means a high level of coding is involved in storing and transmitting the currency data between wallets to public ledgers.
While Bitcoin is majorly seen as a pioneer globally, analysts have adopted many approaches for evaluating tokens other than bitcoin.
Cryptocurrencies are also free from government control and manipulation, although they have grown more popular in recent days, it is always advisable to do your own research before entering the world of magic internet money.
Below we have discussed the top cryptocurrencies that have had a bright outlook thus far.
Top 10 Cryptocurrencies That You Need to Invest in Other Than Bitcoin
-
Ethereum
After Bitcoin, Ethereum is the most popular platform that offers blockchain cryptocurrencies. It is a kind of digital token that can be used for global payments and has multiple applications that are wider than many other cryptos. The current Ethereum price is fluctuating near USD 4.028.80.
Specifications
- In short, we call it ETH
- Decentralized platform
- Accessible by all
- Name of the platform it runs upon is Ether
Pros
- The team behind Ethereum has delivered its promises since ever
- It is a decentralized cryptocurrency which is better than centralized cryptos
- Three layered: Application layer, software layer and hardware layer
- The next big token wave is expected to take place in Ethereum
Cons
- Slow speed transactions
- The proof of stake is pending from some time
-
Tether
Tether is also known as a stable coin. Although cryptocurrencies can never be stable, this one is somewhat different. The meta data in tether is embedded with Omni Protocol. The reason for its popularity is that it makes entering the crypto market easy as compared to other cryptocurrencies.
Specifications
- It currently has the daily trading volume of $2.4 billion and a $2.2 billion global market cap
- Can be bought through Bittrex, Bitfinex, poloniex and many other exchanges.
Pros
- Transparent auditing
- Can be stored in any ERC-20 compatible wallet
- Has its own wallet with the name tether.io wallet
- Pegged to real world fiat currencies just like USD and EUR
Cons
- It can be harmful to users according to some of the rumours that are denied by the company
-
Dogecoin
It is one of those currencies that has been established by its creators while researching for some other codes. So now the crypto which was created just for fun or on an experimental basis now has numerous transactions. It was casually created by two software developers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer who were an expert in cryptocurrency speculation.
Specifications
- Its short name is Doge
- It is profitable only when receives a wider acceptance by the public
- It was unveiled on 6th December 2013
Pros
- Its transactions costs are cheaper than litecoin, nano and stellar
- It has a lot of memes and that is the reason for its widespread popularity
- Best if you have some spare money then must invest in Doge coin
Cons
- Very risky as it may shortly collapse
-
Binance Coin
Binance coin is issued by Binance exchange and trades as a cryptocurrency. It is to be known that Binance Exchange is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. It was established as a utility token which has now become very popular because of various uses.
Specifications
- It’s symbol is BNB
- Binance burns or destroys one fifth of its Binance coins every quarter
- It makes around 1.4 million transactions per second
- It was established in 2017
Pros
- In terms of market cap it is the fourth largest crypto in the world, other three being Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether
- It uses a large portion of its profits for the purpose or marketing and advertising
- One third funds are used to perform necessary upgrades to Binance ecosystem.
- It was initially based on Ethereum but has its own blockchain
Cons
- It can be used as a payment options only on a limited platforms or shops
-
Cardano
The first image that comes to mind from Cardano is that it is an “Ouroboros proof of stake.” It means that it was created as a result of various researches by the engineers, mathematicians and cryptography experts. This was also initially part of Ethereum but later on due to some conflict got separated.
Specifications
- Cardano has researches by experts as its backbone
- People also call it Ethereum killer
- It is aiming at being the world’s financial operating system
Pros
- It has an academic backing that most cryptocurrencies lack and not a team of speculators
- It has two layers settlement layer and a computational layer
- No interference in payments
- Third generation blockchain
Cons
- It is still under development and not be trusted like many other cryptos
-
Stellar
The next crypto worth investing in is the Steller. Those who even have a minor interest in cryptocurrencies must have heard of Stellar. It is one of the open blockchain networks of cryptos that are being used for institutional transactions.
Specifications
- It is commonly known as XLM
- It has a market capitalization of $565 million
Pros
- The stellar coins are a mixed bag
- It aims at serving as a universal medium of exchange all over the world
- A decentralized currency
Cons
- It takes several days because of the involvement of a large number of middle men
- Quite expensive transactions usually
- Requires to hold Lumens for transactions
-
Nano
The Nano coin has achieved huge mainstream success in recent times. The nano coins are also known as “RaiBlocks”. It was named Nano in 2018. It is another crypto that aims at replacing fiat currencies and making all the transactions as Nano coins.
Specifications
- It was launched in 2015 with the name Raiblocks
- The name change proved to be quite beneficial for Nano coins
Pros
- It has more flexible and faster transactions
- Peer-to-peer crypto transactions are more scalable
- It is a mixture of two systems that includes DAG
Cons
- Huge transaction fees
- Super slow speed of trading
-
Litecoin
Litecoin is not very popular yet worth giving a try. It is basically a global payment network that offers open source transactions. It is a mathematics based currency. As soon as a miner of litecoin verifies a block a fresh one enters.
Specifications
- It has been observed that the litecoin is easier to mine as compared to other cryptos
Pros
- It offers storage that is efficient than many other cryptos
- One block of litecoin is generated at every 2.5 minutes
- An open source cryptocurrency
Cons
- Very limited supply in the market
-
Polkadot
The Polkadot is another open source blockchain that does not need to attract too many miners. It is a scalable secure blockchain network that can be interoperable. It is expected to expand in the near future.
Specifications
- Commonly known as DOT
- It was launched in may 2020 in Switzerland
- Aims at becoming a large platform for smart contracts and deployment of dApps
Pros
- The polkadot para chains don’t run in isolation and can communicate with each other
- They can be exchanged in any kind of messages
- Independent network
- A new cryptocurrency trends
Cons
- One cannot use metamask or Mycrypto wallet to hold polkadot
-
Chainlink
Next in the list of cryptocurrencies that is worth trading in is Chainlink. It offers decentralized oracles and is both a blockchain system as well as smart contract platform. It has shown tremendous growth in the past few years with its peak in 2020, making it a good option to invest in.
Specifications
- Many connections have been noticed among chainlink and other trusted partners
- It is also present at various social media platforms
- It was unveiled in 2017
Pros
- The data they offer is not corrupt or incorrect and is delivered timely
- Is a crypto present in Binance hence trustworthy
- Both chain link and LINK are legit currencies
- It was built on ethereum blockchain
Cons
- Not sure if it will show further developments
Cryptocurrency is the new obsession of the investing world given its high returns. In Spite of that, you have to keep in mind the volatile nature of this investment. Therefore carefully assess the pros and cons before investing. Since you have read this far, we hope this blog was helpful for you.
Things to keep in mind when investing in cryptocurrencies
Everybody in the investing world is talking about cryptocurrencies, if you are also thinking of investing in cryptocurrency then below are few things you must keep in mind:
- Extreme Volatility
Before investing you must understand that it is a high risk and highly rewarding game. If you invest in cryptos either you will earn huge profits or may suffer losses that are very hard to recover. So, you must be careful while investing your hard-earned money and do your research properly before investing in any of the above cryptos.
- Huge investment in a single crypto should be avoided
In crypto investments one should avoid investing only in a single blockchain network. Rather invest in small portions in different types of cryptocurrencies. A very common saying “Never keep all your eggs in a single basket” applies perfectly to cryptocurrencies.
- Verification is the essence
While you are up to investing in any crypto, always verify the options by checking the market cap and the trading volumes on a particular crypto. For example: If you are an investor from India then just don’t depend upon Indian transactions but also keep track of how a crypto is performing internationally as well.