{"id":2012,"date":"2018-03-19T23:35:42","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T23:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atozcrypto.org\/?p=2012"},"modified":"2018-03-19T23:36:14","modified_gmt":"2018-03-19T23:36:14","slug":"the-6-most-important-cryptocurrencies-other-than-bitcoin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atozcrypto.org\/the-6-most-important-cryptocurrencies-other-than-bitcoin\/","title":{"rendered":"The 6 Most Important Cryptocurrencies Other Than Bitcoin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By\u00a0Prableen Bajpai, CFA (ICFAI)<\/a>\u00a0| December 7, 2017 \u2014 1:55 PM EST<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Bitcoin<\/a>\u00a0has not just been a trendsetter, ushering in a wave of cryptocurrencies built on decentralized\u00a0peer-to-peer\u00a0network, it\u2019s become the de facto standard for\u00a0cryptocurrencies<\/a>\u200b. The currencies inspired by Bitcoin are collectively called\u00a0altcoins<\/a>\u00a0and have tried to present themselves as modified or improved versions of Bitcoin. While some of these currencies are easier to\u00a0mine<\/a>\u00a0than Bitcoin is, there are tradeoffs, including\u00a0greater risk brought on by lesser\u00a0liquidity, acceptance and value retention. Since Bitcoin prices are soaring new highs, we look at six cryptocurrencies, picked from over 700 (in no specific order) that could be worth your while.<\/p>\n

1) Litecoin (LTC)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Litecoin, launched in the year 2011, was among the initial cryptocurrencies following bitcoin and was often referred to as \u2018silver to\u00a0Bitcoin<\/a>\u2019s gold.\u2019 It was created by Charlie Lee, a MIT graduate and former Google engineer. Litecoin is based on an open source global payment network that is not controlled by any central authority and uses “scrypt” as a proof of work, which can be decoded with the help of CPUs of consumer grade. Although\u00a0Litecoin is like Bitcoin in many ways, it has a faster block generation rate and hence offers a faster transaction confirmation. Other than developers, there are a growing number of merchants who accept Litecoin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Don’t spend a penny on bitcoin without first reading this<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2)\u00a0Ethereum (ETH)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Launched in 2015, Ethereum is a decentralized software platform that enables\u00a0Smart Contracts\u00a0and Distributed Applications (\u0110Apps) to be built and run without any downtime, fraud, control or interference from a third party. During 2014,\u00a0Ethereum<\/a>\u00a0had launched a pre-sale for ether which had received an overwhelming response. The applications on Ethereum are run on its platform-specific cryptographic token,\u00a0ether. Ether is like a vehicle for moving around on the Ethereum platform, and is sought by mostly developers looking to develop and run applications inside Ethereum. According to Ethereum, it can be used to \u201ccodify, decentralize, secure and trade just about anything.\u201d Following the attack on the DAO in 2016, Ethereum was split into Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC). Ethereum (ETH) has a market capitalization of $41.4\u00a0billion, second after Bitcoin among all cryptocurrencies.\u00a0(Related reading:\u00a0The First-Ever Ethereum IRA is a Game-Changer)<\/p>\n

3) Zcash (ZEC)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Zcash, a decentralized and open-source cryptocurrency\u00a0launched in the latter part of 2016, looks promising. \u201cIf Bitcoin is like http for money, Zcash is https,” is how Zcash defines itself. Zcash offers privacy and selective transparency of transactions. Thus, like https, Zcash claims to provide extra security or privacy where all transactions are recorded and published on a blockchain, but details such as the sender, recipient, and amount remain private. Zcash offers its users the choice of \u2018shielded\u2019 transactions, which allow for content to be encrypted using advanced cryptographic technique or zero-knowledge proof construction called a zk-SNARK developed by its team. (Related reading, see:\u00a0What Is Zcash?)\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

4) Dash<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dash (originally known as Darkcoin) is a more secretive version of Bitcoin. Dash offers more anonymity as it works on a decentralized mastercode network that makes transactions almost untraceably. Launched in January 2014, Dash experienced an increasing fan following in a short span of time. This cryptocurrency was created and developed by Evan Duffield and can be mined using a CPU or GPU. In March 2015, \u2018Darkcoin\u2019 was\u00a0rebranded\u00a0to Dash, which stands for Digital Cash and operates under the ticker \u2013 DASH. The rebranding didn’t change any of its technological features such as Darksend, InstantX.\u00a0(Related reading, see:\u00a0Top Alternative Investments for Retirement)<\/p>\n

5) Ripple (XRP)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ripple\u00a0is a real-time global settlement network that offers instant, certain and low-cost international payments. Ripple \u201cenables banks to settle cross-border payments in real time, with end-to-end transparency, and at lower costs.\u201d Released in 2012, Ripple currency has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion.\u00a0Ripple\u2019s consensus ledger — its method of conformation — doesn\u2019t need mining, a feature that deviates from bitcoin and altcoins. Since Ripple\u2019s structure doesn’t require mining, it reduces the usage of computing power, and minimizes network latency.\u00a0Ripple believes that \u2018distributing value is a powerful way to incentivize certain behaviors\u2019 and thus currently plans to distribute XRP primarily \u201cthrough business development deals, incentives to liquidity providers who offer tighter spreads for payments, and selling XRP to institutional buyers interested in investing in XRP.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

To learn more about investing in Cryptocurrencies like Ripple,\u00a0AtoZCrypto Education<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6) Monero (XMR)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Monero\u00a0is a secure, private and untraceable currency. This open source cryptocurrency was launched in April 2014 and soon spiked great interest among the cryptography community and enthusiasts. The development of this cryptocurrency is completely donation-based and community-driven. Monero has been launched with a strong focus on decentralization and scalability, and enables complete privacy by using a special technique called \u2018ring signatures.\u2019 With this technique, there appears a group of cryptographic signatures including at least one real participant \u2013 but since they all appear valid, the real one cannot be isolated.<\/p>\n

The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Bitcoin continues to lead the pack of cryptocurrencies, in terms of market capitalization, user base and popularity. Nevertheless, virtual currencies such as Ethereum and Ripple which are being used more for enterprise solutions are becoming popular, while some altcoins are being endorsed for superior or advanced features vis-\u00e0-vis Bitcoins. Going by the current trend, cryptocurrencies are here to stay but how many of them will emerge leaders amid the growing competition within the space will only be revealed with time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Source: Investopedia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Prableen Bajpai, CFA (ICFAI)\u00a0| December 7, 2017 \u2014 1:55 PM EST Bitcoin\u00a0has not just been a trendsetter, ushering in a wave of cryptocurrencies built on decentralized\u00a0peer-to-peer\u00a0network, it\u2019s become the de facto standard for\u00a0cryptocurrencies\u200b. The currencies inspired by Bitcoin are collectively called\u00a0altcoins\u00a0and have tried to present themselves as modified or improved versions of Bitcoin. While some …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe 6 Most Important Cryptocurrencies Other Than Bitcoin - AtoZcrypto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/atozcrypto.org\/the-6-most-important-cryptocurrencies-other-than-bitcoin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 6 Most Important Cryptocurrencies Other Than Bitcoin - AtoZcrypto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By\u00a0Prableen Bajpai, CFA (ICFAI)\u00a0| December 7, 2017 \u2014 1:55 PM EST Bitcoin\u00a0has not just been a trendsetter, ushering in a wave of cryptocurrencies built on decentralized\u00a0peer-to-peer\u00a0network, it\u2019s become the de facto standard for\u00a0cryptocurrencies\u200b. 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