5 Most Important Cryptocurrencies Other Than Bitcoin

Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is easily one of the most well-known cryptocurrencies after Bitcoin and saw a surge in popularity over the past couple of years. It is currently the second-largest digital currency by market cap, after Bitcoin. The aim of Ethereum is to create a group of decentralized financial products that can be used anytime, by anyone in the world. It works as a decentralized software platform that allows smart contracts and dApps (decentralized apps) to be built and performed with virtually zero fraud or interruption by third parties. This is increasingly popular with people from countries with poor economies or infrastructure due to the fact it allows anyone to create and have access to financial products such as loans and bank accounts, which they otherwise would not be able to get. After Ethereum’s launch of ‘Ether’ tokens in 2014, it has been adopted quickly by many and can be used for a host of services, including crowdfunding, lending systems, and insurance. With lending criteria, for example, it is common for traditional lenders to take a long time to inspect your credit score and errors often occur; however decentralized lenders take your cryptocurrency as collateral, making it far easier to borrow money. For reference, there is also no coin limit on Ethereum (compared to Bitcoin’s limitation of 21 million) which means anytime is a great time to buy, however, this doesn’t create as much demand so it is unclear where ETH prices may head in the future.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Bitcoin cash came about as the result of a hard fork in the original Bitcoin, which is a radical change to the protocol of a network, which comes as the result of much back and forth between miners and developers. Because of the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, the code underwriting its processes cannot simply be changed on a whim and must be agreed upon by general consensus. However, if not enough people agree to the change, this can lead to a split where a new chain is created (essentially a shiny new version of the coin) with the new code implemented, although the original still remains. This is where BCH was born in 2017 because many people agreed that transaction times for Bitcoin were simply too long – a concern that it is still valid, as well as the issue of its high transaction fees. BCH has succeeded in both of these areas and is ideal for small-scale transactions such as buying a cup of coffee, which leaves many asking whether it’s the future.

Cardano (ADA)
In simple terms, Cardano differentiates from Bitcoin due to its PoS (Proof of Stake) mechanism, versus Bitcoin’s PoW (Proof of Work) algorithm. What this means, without sounding too technical, is that a security system is in place just like Bitcoin’s, which aims for ethical and sustainable growth, with virtually no adverse environmental impact. Although popular, Cardano is still far behind Bitcoin and also many other cryptocurrencies which may be due to its large availability of 45 Billion ADA – which is still a limitation but will take a long time to be considered ‘in demand’. Cardano’s eventual aim is to be the world’s foremost financial operating system by providing solutions for issues such as voter fraud and legal contract tracing, and this remains to be seen. It has the eighth largest market cap of cryptocurrencies, however, is only recently becoming as well-known and accepted as its peers such as Litecoin.

Stellar (XLM)
Stellar comes with a different purpose than many other cryptocurrencies, which is to be a blockchain facilitating very large transactions, such as between investment firms and banks. While before a crypto transaction of this nature could take days or even weeks to process, with eye-watering fees, XLM has made it almost instantaneous. The beauty of this for the average user is that despite this use, it is still an open blockchain that can be used by anyone – so anyone who wants to process a very large transaction, and this works across almost all countries and currencies (although you must own XLM to use it). Proudly backed by the Stellar Development Foundation, the currency also has a noble cause – to provide financial access and inclusion globally by giving low-cost access to even those in the poorest of countries.

Litecoin (LTC)
Another of the first cryptocurrencies to follow behind Bitcoin, Litecoin was created by Charlie Lee, a graduate of MIT and ex-Google engineer. It runs on an open-source blockchain that is not controlled by anyone central authority. Litecoin differs from Bitcoin in that transactions are much faster, due to its faster block generation rate and there is also a far larger supply- some 84 million coins, almost four times the amount of Bitcoin. There are also a growing number of merchants accepting Litecoin which is a positive sign and now is a great time to get on board with the currency. Its popularity with merchants is again due to its fast processing times compared to Bitcoin – one Litecoin block takes a mere two and a half minutes to be mined, compared to Bitcoin’s 10 minutes. Although it is not quite at the top of the list; 21st in the world of cryptocurrencies by market cap; Litecoin is nevertheless a very popular option for trading and transacting.