10 Cryptocurrencies You Should Know About

If you’re familiar with cryptocurrency and the blockchain, you probably know that there are hundreds of cryptocurrencies out there. In fact, according to CoinMarketCap, there are more than 1,300! Many of these cryptocurrencies have been created with very specific purposes in mind, which may appeal to some and not others. Of course, all 1,300+ cryptocurrencies can’t be covered here but we want to highlight 10 altcoins that really stand out.

1. Bitcoin
   The first cryptocurrency is easy to understand, but it’s also over seven years old. Launched in 2009, Bitcoin was released as an open-source software project designed to be a form of digital cash. The system operates using blockchain technology that allows for records to be distributed and shared among users on a public ledger that can be verified by consensus. This is done without any central authority or banks; every transaction takes place between two parties directly, though there are some exchanges and other third-party services involved in keeping everything running smoothly.

2. Ethereum
   As a platform for applications that run exactly as programmed without any chance of fraud, censorship or third-party interference, Ethereum is something special. But its cryptocurrency Ether is not merely a digital currency—it’s like a programmable money you can use to purchase real things with. That has made it one of Bitcoin’s biggest competitors, and investors are betting it will be able to fill in some of Bitcoin’s gaps and help it mature into an actual currency people use on a daily basis. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen. Right now, Ethereum has some serious scaling issues that are slowing down its adoption process, but these could be overcome by simply buying more hardware.

3. Ripple
   When it comes to cryptocurrencies, there’s no question that Bitcoin is king. But that doesn’t mean other cryptocoins are dead on arrival. In fact, Ripple, a relatively new cryptocurrency (it was first launched in 2012), is becoming increasingly popular with investors. And at just $0.005 per coin, it could be one of your best bets for 2018.

1. Litecoin
   Litecoin was created by Charlie Lee, an 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. The target block generation time for Litecoin is 2.5 minutes compared to Bitcoins 10 minutes. The Litecoin network has a faster transaction confirmation time (2.5 minutes) than Bitcoin (10 minutes). Some technical details are available on litecoin's GitHub site . There are currently about 52 million litecoins in circulation.

2. Dash
   One of many altcoins—alternative coins, if you will—to hit it big in 2017, Dash began life as Darkcoin. It was rebranded as Dash (Digital Cash) later that year. Along with being its own cryptocurrency network, Dash is a quick way to pay people directly or make transactions between devices using its open-source peer-to-peer software platform. Think Venmo on steroids. One of Dash’s main selling points is that it’s self-governing: Its masternodes vote on how to allocate money for future development, and coin holders get their say via a Decentralized Governance By Blockchain system.

3. IOTA
   If you've followed cryptocurrencies over any period of time, you've likely heard of IOTA. The cryptocurrency got a lot of attention back in 2016 when it was trading at ~$0.90 per coin. Although IOTA offers something fundamentally different than blockchain-based currencies, its price has risen more than 400% since then (as of May 2018). I can't say whether IOTA will last as long as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies do, but it's certainly worth paying attention to.

4. NEM
   NEM is an interesting cryptocurrency for a couple of reasons: It’s not just a currency but also allows users to build applications on its blockchain. NEM has been around since 2015 and is backed by a large community. For added security, you can pay to have additional nodes run your transaction for you, meaning it’s less likely someone will tamper with it.

5. Monero
   If you’re looking for a truly anonymous way to conduct financial transactions online, look no further than Monero. Launched in 2014, Monero is not only one of the most private cryptocurrencies around but also one of the most secure. While other coins use traditional blockchain data, known as a public ledger, Monero uses ring signatures. This technology obscures both where transactions come from and where they go—which makes it that much harder for hackers to steal your money or track your spending habits. In recent years, more tech-savvy criminals have begun using so-called cryptocurrency mixers to launder their ill-gotten gains by mixing them with other digital currencies.

6. Golem
   Golem is a global, open sourced, decentralized supercomputer that anyone can access. It’s made up of combined power of users machines, from personal laptops to entire datacenters. Anyone will be able to use Golem to compute (almost) any program you can think of, from rendering 3D graphics to running advanced machine learning algorithms. The Golem Network is a decentralized sharing economy of computing power, where anyone can make money renting out their computing power or developing & selling software. Computations take place in sandboxed environments and are secured by blockchain technology.

7. OmiseGO
   OmiseGO (OMG) is a very popular cryptocurrency created in June 2017. It is currently ranked number 20 by market cap with over a $3 billion valuation. OMG was created by Jun Hasegawa, who was formerly an executive at Ethereum and is now working on OmiseGO full-time. OmiseGo wants to help realize its vision of Unbank the Banked by bringing a banking structure to underbanked individuals around Southeast Asia. To do so, they are creating an e-wallet platform that will be used for payments and money transfers between people and businesses worldwide.