Most people likely think of Bitcoin when they hear about cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is regarded as the cryptocurrency’s pioneer, having launched thousands of other coins. In the emerging field of digital currency, Bitcoin had little to no competition when it first appeared in 2009. But by 2011, new varieties of cryptocurrencies started to appear as competitors, and suddenly the race to produce more crypto was on.
The cutting-edge nature of cryptocurrency’s blockchain technology is one of the reasons it has so many people’s hearts, minds, and wallets. It’s impressive that blockchain technology and the idea of decentralization are applicable not only to the financial sector but to so many other societal requirements and purposes as well.
Most popular cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin (BTC)
Since its launch in 2009, Bitcoin, also known as “digital gold” or the “gold standard for cryptocurrencies,” has dominated the market. Bitcoin dominates the other cryptocurrencies with the lion’s share of the overall cryptocurrency market cap, having a market capitalization of over $900 billion.
Litecoin (LTC)
Known as the “silver to Bitcoin’s gold,” In order to compete with Bitcoin, Litecoin was developed as a split from Bitcoin and was designed to conduct transactions more quickly and inexpensively than Bitcoin.
Ethereum (ETH)
While Ethereum is a formidable cryptocurrency in its own right, it is not designed to function as a peer-to-peer payment system in the same way as Bitcoin. Ethereum was introduced in 2015 in order to support distributed applications (also known as “decentralized” apps or dApps) and smart contracts (to know what dApps and Smart contracts are, keep reading this article till the end)
Tether (USDT)
USDT’s performance as a stablecoin, token holders have a secure way to store money and carry out transactions thanks to USDT’s tying of the token’s value to the US dollar. Other stablecoins, such TrueUSD (TUSD) and Pax Dollar, were developed as a result of USDT’s popularity (USDP). Additionally tied to the US dollar, these tokens offer holders a reliable method of storing value and carrying out transactions. A trustworthy store of value is required in the cryptocurrency market, as evidenced by the rising demand for stablecoins.
Wondering what stable coins and tokens are? Worry not, we will cover this in our next article.
U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC)
Another stablecoin that has been a huge success is the U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC). The USDC is backed by the U.S. dollar and has a market valuation of more than $55 billion, it is one of the most well-known stablecoins. It’s important to note that USDC is not just popular among traders, it’s also largely used by corporations.
Binance USD (BUSD)
Another stablecoin tied to the US dollar is Binance USD (BUSD). In collaboration with the trust firm Paxos in New York, Binance introduced BUSD. BUSD is a cryptocurrency that can be traded against other well-known cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance and Tether.
Why do cryptocurrencies come in different forms?
Bitcoin was created as an alternative form of payment (similar to money), but not all countries allow the use of cryptocurrencies as legal currency. In other cases, some countries have prohibited the use of crypto. As a result, a large portion of the different forms of cryptocurrency are not used at all as money or currency, rather, some cryptocurrencies are used as investment vehicles, stores of value that may be bought, sold, or traded on crypto exchanges. Numerous more cryptocurrency networks provide uses other than only exchanging of currencies. As time goes by, blockchain can as well provide solutions in industries other than finance, such as supply chain management, real estate, healthcare, and cybersecurity.