Cryptocurrencies have revolutionized the financial market and it seems there’s no stopping now. The first one, Bitcoin was invented back in 2009, and more than a decade later it’s still going strong. The improvements that crypto brought to the table haven’t been upped since, and thus they’re the mainstays in the world of payments and finances. Many people are developing an interest in them and may question arise on the way. One of the most common you’ll hear is how many different types of cryptocurrencies are there?
This is a good question, but the answer changes almost daily. Yes, cryptocurrencies are so popular that we have new ones coming to the world almost on a daily basis. People find it hard to comprehend what lies behind this technology which is changing the financial landscape. First of all, we have blockchain technology. This tech is based on open source, which means that it’s free to any software developer willing to deal with it to write a new code based on the original source. At the moment of writing this article, there’s a rough estimation that we currently have more than 4,500 cryptocurrencies. All of them are active, and as we said, the number will keep growing. The growth is quite noticeable as only a few years back we only had around 1,000 cryptos.
The reason why the number keeps growing is simple. Technology has evolved enough to make it easy for many individuals to create a cryptocurrency. The source code is public and it can be easily used to create new crypto. If you want to create your digital coin, you can start by using the Ethereum network. The funniest part is that there are flaws in the code that even allowed for various players on the cryptocurrency market to become relevant. The best example is Bitcoin Cash which was created five years ago due to a bug in the blockchain. Because of things like these, programmers and developers are trying their hand in creating new crypto daily. Blockchain is an excellent technology, which managed to alter the part of the world that solely revolved around fiat currencies.
Of course, you need to know that while the number of cryptocurrencies is growing, it’s not like all of them become valuable and continue their life. No, many of them end their life cycle quite fast. Instead, they’re replaced by a set of new ones. But, the tech behind them remains appealing to those close to the source, and we’ll without a doubt see a rise in the number of new crypto with each passing year. This trend exists for a while now, and the way we see it, it is not going to stop anytime soon. Of course, with progress comes difficulties, but so far BTC and other digital currencies have managed to do their best, the wave is still on an upward trajectory even after all these years.
Which Are The Main Cryptocurrencies?
As you already know the father of them all is Bitcoin. This is the world’s first known digital currency and to this day it remains the most popular one. It is also the most valuable one, hence the popularity. All the others are better known as alternative coins thus they’re called an altcoin. BTC stands at the top of the mountain and it is hard to rank the rest in order in which they’re shown by their best traits. There’s a lot of equality among those that managed to come even close to the BTC. So, we are going to focus only on the ones that are at the top of the food chain.
Bitcoin
Not even one article regarding a digital currency can be written without mentioning Bitcoin at least once. It was created in 2009 by a man called Satoshi Nakamoto, while now it’s believed that this is, in fact, an organization. There are 18.8 million mined BTC with estimates claiming there are no more than 21 million available. As most currencies on this list, it is based on a blockchain and it was designed as an option to regular fiat currencies.
Ethereum
Ethereum proudly takes second place as it is one of the earliest alternatives to BTC. It uses decentralized software which enables users to create their own transactions network which is safe from fraud, control, and any outside interference. The sole goal of this product is to give its user full authority over their transactions. Thanks to this it has gained massive popularity in some countries. It was launched back in 2015, and it’s still trying to catch up with its role model, the BTC.
XRP (Ripple)
This digital currency is a product of the company named Ripple, and their payment platform called RippleNet. When it was first introduced its creators wanted to make a safe payment system that would function all over the world, with reduced costs of transactions. We can say that their mission succeeded. This digital currency is stable and used by many people. Its biggest compliment is that it is mentioned in the same sentence as BTC and Ethereum.
Dogecoin
Dogecoin exploded in recent times and it’s still trending upwards. This is funny considering that it was created as a meme, with all the wild theories that surround cryptocurrencies. The best part is that this digital currency managed to attract the attention of no other than the Tesla owner Elon Musk. After Musk, another famous person joined the bandwagon and it was Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner. Their presence and conversation they had about this digital currency raised its value. While the whole thing still looks like a meme, it is not. It offers quicker payment recording even compared to BTC. Another upside that it has over its older brother is that there’s no cap set on how much of it can be mined.
Conclusion
We could write another hundred or so paragraphs considering that there are thousands of cryptocurrencies out there. We’re not going to do this, but you’re free to dig deeper. Much can be found out about digital currencies if you dare and visit this website.
