As the crypto markets continue to mature, investors are looking for the next big thing. Which coin has the most potential?
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Bitcoin
Bitcoin has the most potential because it is the original cryptocurrency. Bitcoin also has the largest market cap and is the most widely accepted cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin’s price history
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a form of electronic cash. It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries. Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin was invented by an unknown person or group of people under the name Satoshi Nakamoto and released as open-source software in 2009.
Bitcoin is often called the first cryptocurrency, although prior systems existed. Bitcoin is more correctly described as the first decentralized digital currency. It is the largest of its kind in terms of total market value.
Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services. As of February 2015, over 100,000 merchants and vendors accepted bitcoin as payment.
Bitcoin’s current use cases
Bitcoin is often lauded for its potential use cases as a global currency, but it’s important to remember that it is currently mostly used as a speculative investment. While there are increasing numbers of places where you can spend your bitcoins, from gift cards to real estate, the vast majority of people who own Bitcoin are doing so simply in hopes that the price will go up.
Bitcoin’s potential use cases
Although there is a limited use case for Bitcoin at present, due to its high volatility and slow transaction times, it is still the most well-known and widely-used cryptocurrency. This gives it a first mover advantage, and myriad potential use cases that other cryptocurrencies simply do not have.
Bitcoin can be used as a store of value, much like gold. It is digital, scarce, and decentralized, making it an ideal asset to hold in one’s portfolio. Additionally, Bitcoin can be used as a payments system. Although slow and expensive at present, the Lightning Network is being developed to speed up transactions and lower fees.
Ultimately, Bitcoin’s value lies in its potential use cases. With a first mover advantage and a well-established brand name, Bitcoin is primed to continue being the most important cryptocurrency in the years to come.
Ethereum
When it comes to cryptocurrencies, Ethereum is often considered to have the most potential. Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts and enables developers to create decentralized applications. Ethereum is also one of the most active cryptocurrencies in terms of development and innovation.
Ethereum’s price history
Ethereum’s price history is full of ups and downs. After hitting an all-time high in early 2018, the price of Ethereum slumped throughout the second half of the year. By December, ETH had lost over 80% of its value from the January highs.
The bears continued to dominate in 2019, with Ethereum losing another 70% of its value by mid-year. However, the altcoin started to show signs of life in the second half of 2019, recovering some ground to end the year down around 50% from its January highs.
2020 started off on a positive note for ETH, with the price surging above $200 in January for the first time since mid-2018. The positive momentum has continued throughout 2020, with Ethereum regularly setting new all-time highs. As of October 2020, ETH is up over 2,000% from its December 2018 lows!
Ethereum’s current use cases
Ethereum is currently the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and it has been gaining popularity due to its unique features and potential uses.
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts, and it has been used for a variety of applications such as crowd-sourcing, voting, and managing supply chains.
One of the most popular use cases for Ethereum is creating Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). ICOs are a way for startups to raise capital by selling tokens, which can be used to access the features of their platform.
Ethereum’s smart contract functionality has also led to the development of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), which are organizations that run on Ethereum’s blockchain. DAOs are autonomous and decentralized, meaning that they are not controlled by any central authority.
There are currently over 1,000 different cryptocurrencies in existence, but Ethereum stands out due to its large ecosystem of developers, users, and applications.
Ethereum’s potential use cases
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of fraud or third party interference.
Ethereum is used as a platform to launch other cryptocurrencies. It has also been used to create platforms for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), which are organizations that are run by code instead of by people or companies.
Ethereum has the potential to be used for a wide variety of applications, including but not limited to:
– Creating a decentralized Internet
– Building Decentralized Applications (DApps)
– Building Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)
– Tokenization of assets such as real estate, art, and other physical assets
– Creation of digital identities that are tamper-proof and interoperable with other systems
Litecoin
Litecoin has been often referred to as the silver to Bitcoin’s gold. Created by Charlie Lee in 2011, Litecoin is very similar to Bitcoin but with a few key differences. One of those key differences is that it takes 2.5 minutes to generate a block, compared to Bitcoin’s 10 minutes.
Litecoin’s price history
Bitcoin’s dominance in the cryptocurrency market is undeniable. It is, however, not the only digital asset that has been growing in popularity in recent years. Below we take a look at Litecoin’s price history and what factors have been driving its price increases.
Litecoin was created in October 2011 by former Google employee Charlie Lee as a fork of the Bitcoin Core client. Its main difference from Bitcoin is that it uses a different proof-of-work algorithm – Scrypt, which is supposed to be ASIC-resistant and encourages decentralization by making it more accessible to hobbyist miners.
Litecoin’s speedier block generation also means that confirmations are quicker – 2.5 minutes on average as opposed to 10 minutes for Bitcoin. This can make Litecoin a more attractive choice for merchants who want to accept cryptocurrency payments but can’t afford to wait around for confirmations.
In May 2017, Litecoin reached an all-time high price of $41 after benefiting from both Bitcoin’s growth and positive news about potential partnerships and updates to its software. However, it then fell back down to around $4 by the end of the year along with most other cryptocurrencies.
In December 2018, Litecoin again surged in price after it was announced that Litecoin Foundation had partnered with Beam to develop confidential transactions on the Litecoin blockchain. This could make Litecoin even more attractive to businesses who want to use cryptocurrency but are put off by Bitcoin’s transparency.
Since then, Litecoin has remained relatively stable while other cryptocurrencies have seen more volatility. As of June 2019, its price is once again on the rise as investors become more confident in the long-term prospects of cryptocurrencies.
Litecoin’s current use cases
Litecoin is currently used as a payment method on a number of platforms and websites. It can also be bought and sold for fiat currency on a number of exchanges.
In terms of real-world use cases, Litecoin has been used to successfully purchase a car, and it is also accepted by a number of online retailers. In addition, Litecoin can be used to pay for VPN services, and it has also been used to tip content creators on platforms like YouTube and Twitch.
Litecoin’s potential use cases
Litecoin is often called the silver to Bitcoin’s gold. While Litecoin doesn’t have the same level of adoption as Bitcoin, it is still a popular cryptocurrency with a large community. One of Litecoin’s main selling points is its faster transaction times. While Bitcoin transactions can take up to an hour to confirm, Litecoin transactions only take a few minutes. This makes Litecoin a good choice for everyday purchases.
Litecoin also has a lot of potential in terms of use cases. For example, Litecoin could be used to facilitate Lightning Network payments. Lightning Network is a second-layer solution that allows for near-instantaneous cryptocurrency transactions. With Litecoin’s faster transaction times, it could be well-suited for use on the Lightning Network.
Another potential use case for Litecoin is in atomic swaps. Atomic swaps are a way to exchange one cryptocurrency for another without the need for a third party (like an exchange). This could be useful for exchanging cryptocurrencies without having to go through the hassle of setting up an account on an exchange.
Lastly, Litecoin’s fungibility makes it a good choice for privacy-focused applications. Fungibility refers to the ability of a asset to be interchangeable with another asset of the same type. For example, one dollar bill is interchangeable with any other dollar bill. In contrast, Bitcoin is not fungible because each Bitcoin has a unique history that can be traced on the blockchain. This traceability can be problematic for privacy because it means that people can see all of the past transactions associated with a particular Bitcoin address. Litecoin, on the other hand, is fungible because its transactional history is not publicly available on the blockchain. This makes it a good choice for privacy-centric applications such as Monero and Zcash
Monero
Monero has the most potential because its focus on privacy and anonymity. Transactions on the Monero blockchain are private by default and the identity of the sender and recipient are hidden. Monero also has a very active and engaged community that is constantly working on improving the protocol.
Monero’s price history
Monero’s price history is full of ups and downs, but the cryptocurrency has generally trended upwards since its launch in 2014. Here’s a look at some of the major events that have influenced Monero’s price over the years.
-2014: Monero is launched as a fork of Bytecoin.
-2016: The Silk Road marketplace begins accepting Monero as payment, giving the cryptocurrency a boost in exposure and adoption.
-2017: Monero hard forks twice, introducing various privacy and security enhancements.
-2018: Monero becomes one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, aided by a bull run in the wider crypto market.
-2019: Monero hard forks again to implement RingCT, further improving its privacy features.
Monero’s current use cases
Monero is a digital asset that is focused on privacy, fungibility, and decentralization. While Bitcoin is the first and most well-known cryptocurrency, it is not anonymous. All Bitcoin transactions are recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain. This means that anyone can see how much Bitcoin someone has and where they got it from.
Monero uses a technique called ring signatures to make transactions private. Ring signatures mix a user’s account keys with public keys obtained from Monero’s blockchain to create a ring of potential signers. This makes it impossible to determine which key was used to sign a transaction.
Monero is also fungible, meaning that each unit of the currency can be substituted for another unit. This is in contrast to Bitcoin, which has been involved in several cases of theft and fraud where units of the currency have been marked as stolen or worthless.
Finally, Monero is decentralized, meaning it is not controlled by any government or financial institution. The Monero network is run by volunteers around the world who work together to maintain and improve the currency.
Monero’s potential use cases
Monero, like most other cryptocurrencies, was created with the aim of filling a specific niche in the market. In this case, Monero’s niche is privacy. Monero is unique in that it is a completely private and untraceable cryptocurrency. This means that it has the potential to be used in a number of ways that other cryptocurrencies cannot. Here are some potential use cases for Monero:
-Illegal activities: Since Monero is untraceable, it could potentially be used for illegal activities such as money laundering or funding terrorist organizations. However, it should be noted that Monero is not specifically designed for illegal use and there are other more suitable cryptocurrencies for this purpose.
-Privacy-conscious individuals: Monero could be used by individuals who are concerned about their privacy and do not want their financial activity to be traceable.
-Businesses: Businesses may also find Monero useful as it allows them to conduct transactions without revealing their financial information. This could be particularly beneficial for businesses operating in industries where competition is fierce and secrecy is important, such as the technology sector.
Ripple
Ripple is a distributed open-source digital currency, and its native currency is XRP. Ripple is designed to enable secure, instant and nearly free global financial transactions of any size. It is supported by a network of servers that enable it to process payments quickly and efficiently.
Ripple’s price history
crypto’s price history
Ripple is a digital asset, like Bitcoin, that is used for payments and settling debts. It has a distributed ledger called XRP Ledger. Ripple is the company that created the XRP Ledger and also controls its supply.
Bitcoin’s price is mostly driven by speculation. Ripple’s price, on the other hand, is mostly driven by its utility. Ripple is used by banks and payment providers to settle international payments quickly and cheaply. As more banks and payment providers start using Ripple, the demand for XRP will increase, which will drive up its price.
Ripple has already seen some success. It is currently being used by over 100 banks and payment providers, including American Express, Santander, and UBS. If Ripple continues to be successful in onboarding more banks and payment providers, its price will continue to rise.
Ripple’s current use cases
Ripple is currently being used by banks and other financial institutions as a payment network. The company has partnerships with some of the world’s largest banks, including American Express, Santander, and UBS. Ripple is also working with governments and central banks to explore the possibility of using its technology to help them distribute money more efficiently.
In addition to its use as a payment network, Ripple is also being used by companies to provide cross-border payment solutions. For example, Ripple has partnered with money transfer giant MoneyGram to use its technology to speed up international money transfers.
Ripple’s potential use cases
While Bitcoin has mostly been used as a store of value and a way to send and receive money, Ripple’s primary use case is as a way to facilitate cross-border payments for banks and other financial institutions.
The problem that Ripple is solving is the slow speed and high costs associated with international payments. Today, it can take days for a payment to go through, and it often costs a lot in fees. This is because each payment has to go through multiple middlemen, including banks, before it gets to the recipient.
With Ripple, banks can send payments anywhere in the world almost instantly, and they only have to pay a tiny fraction of a cent in fees. This is because Ripple doesn’t use the traditional banking system. Instead, it uses a network of computers (called “nodes”) to verify transactions. This makes it much faster and cheaper than the existing system.
Ripple is already being used by some of the world’s largest banks, including Santander, American Express, and UBS. And its potential use cases go beyond cross-border payments. For example, Ripple could also be used to process transactions in other industries, such as real estate or e-commerce.
The bottom line is that Ripple has a lot of potential uses cases. And as more and more banks start using its technology, its potential will only keep growing.
