Ten years on from the launch of the original cryptocurrency, bitcoin, there are thousands of cryptos in existence today, every with a unique function. Which of them are possibly to actually change the world?
ETHEREUM/ETHER (ETH)
Ever since the Ethereum network was launched in July 2015, its associated currency – also known as ethereum, or ether (ETH) – has proven massively popular for investors. This is due to its impressive transaction speed, compared to bitcoin, and also its widespread adoption.
To appreciate the advantages of the ethereum cryptocurrency, first one needs to understand Ethereum. It's a decentralised, open-source, public-distributed computing platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third-party interference.
The Ethereum network has given rise to hundreds of DApps (decentralised applications), designed and deployed by developers. This programmable blockchain technology has several applications; digital currency is just one of them.
In the Ethereum protocol and blockchain there's a price for each operation. Ether is simply the unit of cryptocurrency used on the Ethereum blockchain and is used to pay for computation time and for transaction fees.
As a platform, Ethereum has gained momentum, thanks to the backing of some serious players. The United Nations, Toyota, Deloitte, and many others wanted to take advantage of its tremendously powerful shared global infrastructure. And massive financial institutions, such as JP Morgan and Credit suisse, and tech titans, including Microsoft, have invested heavily in a bid to fulfil its potential.
Cryptocurrencies can fluctuate widely in prices and are thus not appropriate for all investors. Trading cryptocurrencies isn't supervised by any EU regulative framework. Your capital is at risk.
DASH (DASH)
Dash (DASH) is a portmanteau of “digital” and “cash” and is an open supply peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that offers the same features as bitcoin, but has advanced capabilities, crucially. These include instant transactions, private transactions and ‘Decentralised Governance Blockchain Budget’ (DGBB).
It has been one of the world’s preferred cryptocurrencies for investors ever since its beginning in early 2014. That's largely because of its impressive transaction speed, which compares very favourably against bitcoin, and other cryptos.
Evan Duffield designed Dash for its pace and anonymity. Specifically, it was Dash’s processing time that made it an instantaneous hit in the crypto community.
Dash’s platform has been likened to PayPal, and its tokens are well established as one of the top-10 cryptos.
Cryptocurrencies can fluctuate widely in prices and are therefore not appropriate for all investors. Trading cryptocurrencies isn't supervised by any EU regulatory framework. Your capital is in danger.
STELLAR (XLM)
The Stellar network is an open-source blockchain that allows cross-border transactions with equal access for all users involved.
The concept behind the Stellar Network, launched in 2014, is to push currencies to the background, fiat or digital, enabling  individuals to have access to a quicker, cheaper and more efficient way to make cross-border transactions.
Stellar uses lumens (XLM) as the network currency. There were initially 100 billion Lumens created but the supply is infinite as lumens have an annual growth of 1 per cent. the current transaction time when using lumens is minimal, taking between two and five seconds to finish. Not solely is this network fast, but the cost of a transaction exploitation lumens is only .0001 XLM.
A combination of significant partnerships with likes of IBM and Deloitte, fast transaction times and low fees mean Stellar’s future looks promising.
Cryptocurrencies can fluctuate widely in costs and are therefore not appropriate for all investors. Trading cryptocurrencies isn't supervised by any EU regulatory framework. Your capital is in danger.
IOTA (IOTA)
The IOTA project aims to become the distributed ledger for the internet of Things (IoT). Its growing legion of supporters believe that as a cryptocurrency IOTA, which uses unique Tangle architecture, has a number of benefits over blockchain-based cryptos. Namely: It's infinitely scalable; decentralised; modular; and has zero transaction fees.
In 2018 there are some 31 billion devices that rely on the internet of Things (IoT) in the world, according to London-headquartered analysts IHS Markit. That number is growing exponentially, with millions of more new sensors added every week, because the planet becomes ever-more connected.
The thinking is that this cryptocurrency will permit data exchange between sensor-equipped devices that populate IoT. The IOTA cryptocurrency is one aspect of the overall IOTA platform, and is designed to serve as the universal method of payment for the future of machine-to-machine transactions that occur on the IOTA network.
The world will become ever-more connected with IoT technology, and as a lot of individuals use the IOTA platform, its transactions per second will be even more impressive than it already is.
Cryptocurrencies can fluctuate widely in prices and are therefore not appropriate for all investors. Trading cryptocurrencies isn't supervised by any EU regulatory framework. Your capital is at risk.
EOS (EOS)
Can EOS.IO be the “Ethereum killer” that its various avid supporters predict it'll become? The signs are definitely promising.
The white paper on the Hong Kong-based project was only published in 2017, and it didn’t take long for Eos (EOS) – the cryptocurrency token of the blockchain-powered system that promises a decentralised application (DApp) platform – to break into the top-10 cryptos in terms of market capitalisation.
The EOS.IO platform was launched in late January 2018 by block.one. Incredibly, block.one has raised over $4 billion in its ongoing Initial Coin offering (ICO) – a record. That massive financial backing means analysis and development can continue on a large scale for decades, in theory.