In this era of technology, cryptocurrencies can be 21st-century unicorn or the money of the future. It is a form of digital money, which is specially designed to be secure, private and mostly anonymous. But with too many options, sometimes it is difficult to stay updated.
In this post, we’re have rounded up top 5 cryptocurrencies that every user should know in 2017.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin is top on our list, as it is known as the largest and most valuable cryptocurrency across the world. The original cryptocurrency idea rolled out on white papers under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto and released as open source software back in 2009. In fact, the network of Bitcoin is peer-to-peer and users can trade directly without any intermediary. Unlike other traditional currencies, this first decentralized digital currency works without a single administrator and central repository, unlike government-issued currencies.
Even though Bitcoins don’t follow in a legal perspective, still Bitcoin is climbing the charts of popularity in a tremendous way. The idea behind the invention of Bitcoins as a reward for a process known as mining, using the computing methods. The Bitcoin was created with the aim of exchanging in another country, products & services. With the grown popularity, Bitcoin has released apps like bitcoin wallet app which makes it pretty convenient to track and manage your bitcoins. bottom line is, Bitcoin is an intangible investment that is unpredictable but growing with the remarkable speed.
Litecoin (LTC)
Like Bitcoin, Litecoin is an open source software, which set up in the market in the year 2011 under the MIT/X11 license. Charlie Lee, an MIT graduate, and former Google engineer decided to create Litecoin based on the Bitcoin model and peer-to-peer cryptocurrency. Litecoin is also following the footsteps of Bitcoin and decided to be fully decentralized without any central authorities. This open-source global payment network identifiable different in terms of use of scrypt and faster block generation rate.
Being released under the MIT/X11 license, Litecoin is released under the transparent process that allows to modify, run and copy the software and to distribute, at your option.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is also known by its abbreviation ETH. It is an open source, peer to peer network and blockchain based on the computer-generated platform. It is a decentralized platform, which is capable of running smart contracts and applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third-party interference. Ethereum supports cryptocurrency token called “ether”, which helps to transfer among the accounts and public nodes.
Vitalik Buterin (a cryptocurrency researcher and programmer), proposed Ethereum in the year of 2013 and come into the picture on 30th July 2015 with over 11 million coins “premined” for the crowdsale. However, after the collapse of the DAO project in 2016, Ethereum was divided into two different blockchains. Ethereum Classic (ETC) is the preliminary and Ethereum (ETH) is the new form of it.
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple is a real-time gross settlement system (RTGS) that helps you to make swiftly and cost-effective international payments. It is end-to-end transparency to share or make payments worldwide with ease. Ripple was an initially released in 2012 and developed by Ripple. It is recognized by the name of Ripple protocol and Ripple Transaction Protocol (RTXP).
Like other cryptocurrencies, Ripple is also created on an open source Internet protocol, consensus ledger and native cryptocurrency called XRP. It claims to be “secure, instant and nearly free global financial transactions of any size with no chargebacks.”
Monero (XMR)
Last but not the least, Monero is an open-source cryptocurrency and a digital currency that provides and ensures high-level privacy for its users. It is safe, secure and undetectable currency, which was launched three-year ago on 18th April 2014. Like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and others, Monero is a decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency but deal with a private digital cash.
This cryptocurrency uses a public ledger to records transactions and it is also using mining process to create new units. Monero is created with the aim to give complete control to users for their money and transactions. It supports “selectively transparent,” process that let the users decide who can check their info, transactions and who can’t. The bottom line is, Monero is a brilliant cryptocurrency option for those who look forward to their privacy and security.
Overall, there are many other cryptocurrencies available in the market with tons of features and specialties. We have covered the top 5 cryptocurrencies that stand out in 2017.
