For over a year you must have constantly heard the term “Bitcoin”. Wherever you go, you keep hearing various terms related to cryptocurrency. Investing in crypto has seemingly become the hottest trend right now in the Indian market and everyone you know is doing it, to make more money. Among the crypto world, the most common and the first currency to be founded is in fact Bitcoin.
Bitcoin’s History; A Brief
Bitcoin is a 2009 decentralized digital money. According to a white paper, it was founded by the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto. The creator(s) of Bitcoin are still unknown. Unlike government-issued currencies, Bitcoin has no central authority and is controlled by a decentralized network. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency because it uses encryption to protect its security. Instead, balances are shown on a public ledger (although each record is encrypted). The “mining” process uses a lot of computing power and energy to validate all Bitcoin transactions. Bitcoin is not backed by a bank or a government. Although Bitcoin is not legal tender in most countries, it has spawned hundreds of other cryptocurrencies known as altcoins.
Here are 6 cryptocurrencies, other than bitcoin, that you can invest in. Let’s have a look.
- Ethereum
A decentralized software platform, Ethereum (ETH), allows developers to create and execute smart contracts and decentralized apps (dApps) without third-party interference, fraud, or control. Ethereum apps use ‘ether’, a platform-specific cryptographic token. Ether is a digital currency that is used to buy other digital currencies on the Ethereum network. Founded in 2015, Ether is the second-largest digital currency by market value, although it lags well behind Bitcoin. Ether’s market valuation is less than half of bitcoin. 1 Ether token’s estimated value is around $2,580 (ETH to INR)
- Litecoin
Litecoin or LTC, established in 2011, was one of the first cryptocurrencies to follow Bitcoin and has been called the “silver to Bitcoin’s gold.” Charlie Lee, an MIT alumnus and former Google developer is the founder of Litecoin. It is similar to Bitcoin in many aspects, however it generates blocks faster and hence enables faster transaction confirmation. Litecoin is being accepted by more retailers than only developers. Litecoin has a market valuation of $7.0 billion (Litecoin to INR) as on March 8, 2022, making it the world’s 21st biggest cryptocurrency.
- Polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) is a one-of-a-kind PoS coin that aims to provide compatibility with other blockchains. Its protocol connects permissioned and permissionless blockchains, as well as oracles, allowing systems to collaborate under one roof. Polkadot’s essential component is its relay chain, which enables network interoperability. Parachains, or alternative blockchains with their own native coins, are also supported for certain use cases.
- Cardano
Cardano aspires to be the world’s financial operating system, in addition to building DeFi products, Cardano is working on solutions for chain interoperability, voting fraud, and legal contract tracking. In terms of market cap, Cardano is ranked 8th with $26.7 billion. Cardano (ADA) is a “Ouroboros proof-of-stake” cryptocurrency created by engineers, mathematicians, and cryptography experts. Charles Hoskinson, who co-founded Ethereum with the other five initial founders, established Cardano after he quit Ethereum. His exit was due to concerns about Ethereum’s direction and therefore helped establish Cardano.
- Dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE), dubbed the first “memecoin,” skyrocketed in value in 2021. In addition to the Dallas Mavericks and Kronos, the coin can be used to pay at SpaceX, an American aerospace business owned by Elon Musk. Dogecoin was founded in 2013 by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. In a satirical nod to the bitcoin market’s wild speculation, Markus and Palmer created the token as a joke. Thanks to Elon Musk, DOGE hit an all-time high of 0.74 cents. On March 8, 2022, Dogecoin was valued at $15.5 billion, making it the 13th-largest cryptocurrency.
Other than Bitcoin, these are some of the top performing cryptocurrencies in the world.
