Andrew Asmakov

Andre Cronje

Fantom is a layer 1 blockchain platform for decentralized finance (DeFi), decentralized applications (dapps), and enterprise applications.

Fantom

Tim Hakki

Do Kwon

DeFi

Andrew Hayward

NFTs are provably unique crypto tokens that are quickly becoming increasingly popular among digital artists, gaming companies, and investors. Track the NFT revolution here.

NFT Revolution

Your one-stop-shop for all things NFTs

Gary Vaynerchuk

Pharrell Williams

Scott Chipolina

First described in a 2013 whitepaper by programmer Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum (ETH) is a cryptocurrency and blockchain platform that allows developers to create programs and run smart contracts using its native language. It can thus be viewed as a virtual computer, whose resources are paid for using Ether.

In 2020, Ethereum began the transition to Ethereum 2.0, in which its proof-of-work consensus mechanism is replaced by a proof-of-stake model. The aim of the upgrade is to increase Ethereum’s scalability and security.

Ethereum

Bitcoin (BTC) is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency, originally described in a 2008 paper by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. Launched in January 2009, it was the world’s first cryptocurrency, and remains the most popular, with the highest market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin was built on several key innovations. Firstly, Nakamoto guaranteed that Bitcoin transactions were immutable, by recording all transactions on a distributed ledger known as a blockchain. Secondly, he ensured Bitcoin’s scarcity by capping the total number of Bitcoin in existence at 21 million. Finally, the community was incentivized to verify transactions by receiving rewards in the form of “mined” Bitcoin for checking the accuracy of the blockchain.

Bitcoin

XRP is a cryptocurrency designed to facilitate transfers between financial institutions. Ripple, the project behind XRP, differs from both Bitcoin and Litecoin in several key aspects: it relies on sale as opposed to mining as a means of freeing up new currency, and its transaction speeds are of a different order of magnitude (nearly 1,000 transactions per second to Bitcoin’s 7 tps) .

While the ideas behind XRP date back to 2004, the currency was created in 2012 by Jed Caleb and Chris Larsen.

In brief

Digital asset manager Grayscale Investments has sold all the XRP in its Digital Large Cap Fund. It has bought Bitcoin and other coins instead.

Grayscale Sells All XRP in Large Cap Fund for Bitcoin, ETH

Digital asset manager Grayscale Investments has sold all the XRP in its Digital Large Cap Fund. It has bought Bitcoin and other coins instead.

Want to be a crypto expert? Get the best of Decrypt straight to your inbox.