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.


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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.


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.


Litecoin is a cryptocurrency introduced in 2011 using similar code to Bitcoin. Its value proposition lies in its comparative ease of use and transaction time: whereas, at the time of Litecoin’s release, Bitcoin transactions required six confirmations and up to an hour to process, Litecoin billed itself as a more streamlined alternative for merchants. It is considered the first successful “alternative currency,” or altcoin.

 

Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency designed to be an electronic payment system—as opposed to merely a means of storing value like Bitcoin. It was created as a hard fork of Bitcoin in August 2017 and, while technically similar, differentiates itself through faster transaction times. As Bitcoin Cash’s block size is substantially larger than Bitcoin (32MB relative to 1MB), its transaction costs are also reduced.


Stellar is a payments network with the goal of democratizing financial transactions through its native token, Stellar Lumens (XLM). Whereas Ripple markets itself as a tool for banks, Stellar claims to represent the everyman—reducing transaction fees across borders and thereby reducing barriers to entry for the world’s unbanked population. Jed McCaleb, also the inventor of Ripple, created Stellar in 2014.


Binance Coin (BNB) is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token used as a medium of exchange for Binance, one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges. Those who own a number of coins and spend them on trading fees receive discounts at Binance, that are not available to those who use alternate currencies.


Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (or Bitcoin SV) is a fork of Bitcoin Cash—itself a fork of Bitcoin. It was created in late 2018 with the aim of further reducing transaction fees through increased block size, thus democratizing the currency. Named in reference to Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin SV (BSV) proponents believe it is more closely aligned with his original vision than any currency to date.


Monero (XMR) is one of the leading “privacy coins”. Where most cryptocurrencies are completely transparent in their transactions, Monero (XMR) offers users privacy and anonymity. Wallets and addresses are encrypted and hidden from public view and oversight, thus ensuring both users’ protection and the token’s fungibility.


EOS bills itself as Ethereum for big business. Like its predecessor, EOS is a smart contract and DApp development platform, but better suited for scalability and usability for developers. It tweaks Ethereum’s build in a few subtle ways—transitioning from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, not charging transaction fees and instead relying on one’s network capacity for permission.


Founded by entrepreneur Justin Sun, Tron is a blockchain-based operating system underpinned by the native token TRX. Originally built on Ethereum, it migrated onto its own proof-of-stake blockchain in 2018. In the same year, Tron acquired file-sharing site BitTorrent, as part of its plans to build a decentralized entertainment ecosystem.


Tezos is a proof-of-stake blockchain network that’s designed as a platform for deploying smart contracts. Like Ethereum, it’s intended to function as a decentralized global computer on which developers can create decentralized apps (dapps). It differs in that it features an on-chain governance model that enables XTZ holders to vote on the future direction of the network. Its native token, XTZ, is used for transaction fees, staking and earning rewards. Its ICO was held in 2017.


Zcash (ZEC) is a privacy coin for making anonymous payments. Like Monero, its tokens are fungible—each one is identical, and not tied to its transaction history—and it uses cryptography to obfuscate users’ identities. It differs in a few key aspects; namely in that it’s capable of conducting public transactions in addition to private ones, thus sparing it some of the regulatory scrutiny that Monero has encountered. Launched in October 2016, Zcash was created by the Zcash company, founded by Zooko Wilcox.


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