The virtual money market was flooded with altcoins with little-known and hard-to-pronounce names. Which of them deserve attention? They can be listed on the fingers of the hand.
Bitcoin is still considered the flagship currency, against which many types of digital coins are simply lost.
But this does not mean that it remains the only type of virtual money that deserves attention. When there are 1,500 positions in the cryptocurrency market, it is difficult to choose which ones are worth betting on. In a young market, investors use a variety of strategies.
Some buy up all the new tokens at the lowest prices in large quantities, hoping that some of them will increase significantly in price. Others are betting only on those altcoins that have low transaction fees, in the network of which there are no problems with transfers. In the field of digital coins, you cannot give investment advice. But there are several currencies that are advanced compared to other competitors.
Before moving on to the list of promising altcoins, it is worth clarifying that any investment in cryptocurrencies, whether new or established, is a gamble with an unknown outcome.
This is not like traditional investment methods, where you can predict profitability, where there are guarantees and insurance against losses. Prices for virtual coins are unstable until regulators get involved in control over the industry, it is difficult to say which tokens will remain and which will go into oblivion. At the same time, headlines on the network are full of allegations that there are supposedly cryptocurrencies that guarantee profit.
And that as if there are such types of tokens in which you can invest with confidence. Most often, when clicking on the link, coins are found that have a very narrow niche, something like dentacoin. Or is it even an ICO of unknown currencies, which are still looking for funds to implement the project. Want good alternatives to bitcoin? Forget those options! Although the profit ceiling for new cryptocurrencies is much higher than for established ones, they may not work, they may not gain a foothold in the market.
This guide will only look at proven options that are unlikely to go away, disappear from the market or become very cheap. There are objective reasons that will not allow this to happen. Consider a few altcoins that have proven themselves as a store of value or means of payment.
The best bitcoin alternative is Ethereum (ETH)
Last year was successful not only for bitcoin, ethereum in 2017 also significantly strengthened its position in the market.
It went from a one-digit currency to a $1,200-per-unit crypto coin. ETH has also proven to have more room to process transactions in times of high public interest. Network bandwidth is better than Bitcoin. Operations with ethereums are faster than with bitcoins, commissions are significantly lower. Many experts believe that Bitcoin will remain the face of the virtual money industry for several more years.
And it's hard to disagree with them. This type of coins will become more widespread and will be in demand. But one cannot deny a number of difficulties that are still insurmountable in the bitcoin blockchain, at least in the short term, it is impossible to get rid of them. Ethereum and many other cryptocurrencies have corrected these shortcomings, which is why they are gaining popularity among virtual coin holders. We are talking about scaling problems in the Bitcoin network, which lead to higher prices and slower transactions using it. Ethereum is not aware of such complexities, in addition, additional options like smart contracts will make ETH a useful cryptocurrency for a wide variety of industries in the near future.
Other alternatives to bitcoin:
Litecoin (LTC)
Like many altcoins on this list, litecoin is one of the coins that many investors would like to have in their wallet in early 2017.
In January, one LTC token cost $4, and at its peak, its price reached $350. As in the entire market, in general, there is no guarantee that Litecoin will return to such heights again. But as long as it is inexpensive, acquiring it can be a good investment opportunity. Compared to bitcoin, litecoin is more convenient for regular transactions.
The speed of block formation in its chain is four times faster, the commissions are kept at the level of less than a dollar. An increasing number of developers and merchants are starting to accept Litecoins for their goods and services. Although litecoin does not have the same potential as ethereum when it comes to building a new payment platform, it is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies.
It has been in existence since 2011. This is a recognized altcoin, recognizable by the majority of virtual coin holders. It is among the top ten in terms of capitalization. And in terms of trading volume, it surpasses many cryptocurrencies, except for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple.
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple has a number of detractors who criticize the token for its centralization.
With this, XRP stands out in a decentralized environment. But most experts have no doubt that Ripple has a huge potential, absolutely real, tangible. After all, this payment network is in demand and support not only in the cryptocurrency industry, but also in the world of traditional finance. The value of Ripple rose to $2.5 at the end of 2017, up from $0.2 at the beginning.
Among other tokens, XRP stands out in that its value can rise while the entire market falls, and vice versa. Since Ripple is supported by large banking and financial organizations, this gives reason to think that it has been registered in the list of market leaders for a long time.
Santander, RBC, American Express, Money Gram have partnerships with Ripple. They already use or only plan to use the network protocol for making international transfers.
Digital Cash (DASH)
The DASH token also survived 2017 well, rising in price from $10 to $1,200 at its peak.
The currency is usually among the top twenty market leaders in terms of capitalization. This type of coin was called Xcoin, then Darkcoin.
DASH has existed much longer than other altcoins, its history stretches back to 2014. From the very beginning, the currency was very popular, because it allows you to more protect data about the owner of the tokens, about the parties to transactions. DASH transactions are intricate, providing an additional layer of anonymity and privacy for holders. Compared to Bitcoin, DASH is faster and cheaper to transact with.
Commissions are less than half a dollar. The "InstantSend" function allows you to transfer money instantly.
Monero (XMR)
At the beginning of 2017, Monero cost $9 per unit, at the time of writing, about $210.
Significant growth in a short time, although XMR has a different transaction algorithm than Bitcoin. In short, the currency allows the owners and parties to transactions to maintain greater confidentiality than when working with other coins. Increased anonymity is carried out by hiding some data: IP addresses, amount and parties of transactions.
This is very different from bitcoin, whose book of transactions is completely open, lying on the network in the public domain. Tracking bitcoin transactions is difficult, but possible. Monero is much harder. Many people like to use Monero as payment methods for purchases, which are not talked about loudly.
These can be online casinos or adult movie sites. However, ordinary sellers often accept XMR for payment.
ZCash (ZEC)
ZCash is another cryptocurrency with increased anonymity.
Along with Monero and DASH, it will always be in demand. Bitcoin has become popular on the topic of privacy.
But when the public realized that transactions could be traced, many began to look for more secure currencies. This is why many of the tokens that provide this have risen in price so much. As for ZCash, the currency went from $50 at the beginning of 2017 to $900 at its peak.
At the time of writing, one ZEC token cost $240. ZCash appeared in October 2016, it is the youngest cryptocurrency in the list.
But its growth in price, the degree of acceptance is impressive. The token is supported by the ZCash Company, that is, among all the most secure currencies, it is the most centralized type of money. This is similar to Ripple, where all processing nodes are owned by the same host. As for ZEC, 10% of the total number of coins that will be mined during its existence will be distributed among the founders and investors. ZCash is faster and cheaper than bitcoin in transactions, which makes the currency convenient to use as a means of payment.
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