Cryptocurrencies have been growing in popularity, and many people are wondering how they can invest in them and start making money. The following list contains the top 10 best cryptocurrencies to invest in today. Each of these cryptocurrencies has unique qualities, so be sure to read the descriptions before deciding which one is right for you. You’ll also find links to each coin’s website where you can find out more information or purchase them directly online.
1) Bitcoin
BTC would be perfect for long-term investment. It is currently trading at 692 USD with a market cap of almost 27 Billion Dollars, and it’s been traded as high as 1,000 USD so far. If you believe in cryptocurrency and are looking for an investment, Bitcoin is arguably a good choice. You should invest at least 10% of your portfolio into Bitcoin if you want it to diversify your investments. Some people consider Bitcoins as safer than gold which has never been hacked or stolen. Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and issuing bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network.
2) Ethereum
The open-source, public, blockchain-based distributed computing platform featuring smart contract functionality. Offers a built-in Turing-complete programming language that allows developers to write decentralized applications. Ether is used to pay for computation time and transaction fees on its platform. Released Jul 30, 2015. Market cap of $63 billion at press time (September 12, 2017). (CoinMarketCap) Price: $273.45 USD per ether at press time. Market cap of Ethereum: $27 billion
3) Ripple
Ripple is a cryptocurrency designed for large-scale transactions between financial institutions. It’s not at all suited for transactions with individuals, and its value will likely remain low compared to other options. Ripple boasts its speed of up to 1500 transactions per second, but that’s only when compared with Bitcoin – compared with mainstream payment services like Visa, it’s incredibly slow. You’ll also need a large minimum investment: 100 XRP (around $1,000). This doesn’t include fees if you want your transaction processed any faster than regular, or if you want to do anything besides transfer funds. You can always send XRP around without fees, but then you might find yourself waiting days before your transaction processes; that just doesn’t cut it as an everyday currency.
4) Litecoin
An altcoin (alternative coin) that is almost identical to Bitcoin, Litecoin takes 2.5 minutes to generate a block—four times faster than Bitcoin. It also has more coins at 84 million compared with 21 million for Bitcoin. Like other altcoins, it can be mined or traded for profit. The main differences between Bitcoin and Litecoin are 1) Scrypt was used instead of SHA-256, which means GPUs and CPUs were used to mine litecoins instead of ASICs; 2) The difficulty retarget time is four times as fast; 3) There are four times as many litecoins; 4) Transaction signatures are four times lighter on RAM, meaning wallets can contain more transactions and store them longer.
5) Zcash
Since its creation, Zcash has skyrocketed, skyrocketing from $1.91 per token at inception to $502 as of July 2017. However, it’s important not to get too caught up on price; while high value is generally a positive sign for investors, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Zcash will continue increasing in value over time.
6) Dash
Dash is a rapidly growing cryptocurrency that was designed from its inception to be user-friendly and scalable. The network processes transactions at a significantly faster rate than bitcoin, and new features are implemented regularly. This cryptocurrency’s governance system is decentralized, meaning that no central bank or authority oversees Dash—users simply download an app and begin using it.
7) NEM
With a market cap of over $1.6 billion, NEM is one of today’s top cryptocurrencies and is used for professional applications. The platform behind it—NEM blockchain—enables fast transactions with minimal transaction fees. In addition, the network boasts high security standards using advanced cryptographic features such as Multi-signature accounts and Eigentrust++ reputation system. Finally, just recently NEM announced its plan to integrate Catapult–new software developed by Tech Bureau as an upgrade of Mijin private chain-based software that aims at increasing scalability so more businesses can use it.
8) Steem
Steem is a decentralized social media platform that incentivizes users with cryptocurrency rewards based on their contribution to content. Steem is currently ranked 23 on CoinMarketCap, and has a market cap of $430 million.
9) Stratis
A low-cost and flexible blockchain development platform which makes it easy for developers and small companies alike to develop applications on a native C# blockchain. Stratis launched its ICO in June 2016. Their token (STRAT) has been underperforming, but they’ve recently released a sidechain called Breeze, which improves privacy and decentralization of blockchains. At $0.96 right now, with a market cap of $780 million, Stratis is one of my top picks for cryptocurrency investment.
10) Dogecoin
Dogecoin is one of those cryptocurrencies that takes its name from a popular internet meme. Created as a fun project by Billy Markus, it really didn’t seem like Dogecoin would amount to much but soon after its launch, people began taking notice and before long, there was a massive community building around it. Today, Dogecoin has a market cap of more than $350 million and a single Dogecoin is worth $0.001259 USD. It still remains as a funny coin with some serious implications — created to reach a broader demographic than Bitcoin, it boasts an incredibly active online community spread across Facebook, Twitter and Reddit; further bridging cryptocurrency with mainstream use cases.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a cryptocurrency investment and want your money to grow, it’s best to look at coins that are being used as currencies rather than pure investments. By using a cryptocurrency regularly, it becomes an essential part of your life. This means that even if its value dips, you’ll be among those who will hold on and wait for value recovery. As for coins that work as both?