After weighing its pros and cons, you have decided to buy into cryptocurrency . Of course, you should do so with a good understanding of how they work .
You may even end up buying or trading numerous cryptocurrencies at once. Some are more suited to day trading while others are more suited to swing trading or investing.
When researching a cryptocurrency, it’s important that you do not just look at the price and market movements.
You also need to do a fair amount of other research too
Let’s look at cryptocurrencies that are known to be good for buying or trading. We’ll then also look at some keycryptocurrenciesyou should definitely keep an eye on and ones to avoid
Great cryptocurrencies to buy
These are our favourites for buying and trading:
Bitcoin (BTC)
Despite its high price, Bitcoin remains the most favoured cryptocurrency to buy largely because it is the oldest in the market hence, the most trustworthy.
Other than that, Bitcoin seems to have a stronghold on the prices and market of altcoins .
That said, Bitcoin is the most volatile cryptocurrency , maybe even the most volatile financial product in the world.
It will almost certainly go through cycles.
At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin reached prices of $11,622.40 per coin, which is a huge gain compared to 2018’s slump where prices reached as low as $5,938.18.
Unfortunately, it is likely to happen again. When? Who knows, but it is something to bear in mind.
Even if you don’t decide to buy Bitcoin, you should watch it closely as its price usually has a knock-on effect to other cryptocurrencies .
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum ’s application of smart contracts makes it very useful to businesses, and a favoured cryptocurrency in terms of predicted longevity.
On top of that, a large number of other cryptos have now been built on top of its blockchain . Plus, Ethereum also has a wide number of dApps (decentralised app) now using their system.
In terms of price, Ethereum has been quite stagnant over the last few years, but for some buyers who would prefer to avoid such volatility, Ethereum is appealing.
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple aims to be a viable means to bank transactions, and its currency is the XRP.
With Ripple, you could make a transaction to another person in one currency or cryptocurrency and they could receive it in another.
If and when banks fully apply Ripple to dealing with their transactions, you may benefit substantially if you have holdings in this currency.
Ripple may end up acting as a bridge between the crypto world and the banking world and open them up to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency (something that is arguably already happening).
However, if such a bridge is no longer needed, Ripple may not have a future.
Further to that, much of the cryptocurrency world have shunned Ripple due to it trying to cosy up with banks, which to them are the mortal enemies of crypto enthusiasts.
Litecoin (LTC)
Litecoin has definitely lost a lot of momentum since its original release back in 2011, only a couple of years after Bitcoin.
A clone of Bitcoin, it once took the second spot of the most bought coin before Ethereum and Ripple came along.
That said, it is a very respected brand and is still the second most accepted cryptocurrency for making payments.
In some senses, Litecoin keeping things simple may work to its advantage.
EOS (EOS)
EOS continues to compete with Ethereum to take the no. 1 spot for smart contracts and dApps. In the last few years, it has developed the largest community of dApps users.
What also makes EOS stand out is that it has also been highlighted for its ability to defeat the issue of scalability by adopting horizontal scaling over traditional vertical scaling.
Essentially, what this means is that as the system grows, instead of making it more powerful by enhancing the machines, they will simply add more machines.
Of course, we are still yet to see if this method will work effectively.
Stellar (XLM)
Stellar is by far the closest thing to Ripple. In fact, it was created by hard forking Ripple and has similar functionality, which is the ability to facilitate transactions between different cryptocurrencies and fiat money.
What makes it different to Ripple is what they are aiming to do with the crypto. Despite the many similarities, Stellar’s purpose is to be completely open source.
This makes it more a tool for the people and less a tool for the banks, winning over the appeal of many in the crypto community.
Cardano (ADA)
Cardano is another contender for Ethereum’s spot also providing smart contracts and dApps.
What makes it stand out is its two-layered blockchain; one specifically for smart contracts and another for normal transactions.
This two-layered blockchain, named ouroboros , maybe a potential way to overcome the dreaded issue of scaling.
However, like all cryptocurrencies trying to overcome this problem, only time will tell if its strategy will really be effective or not.
Cardano also benefits from an academic backing as well.
MIOTA (IOTA)
MIOTA or IOTA is perhaps one of the most unique cryptocurrencies on this list. In essence, it uses the IoT (Internet of Things) to process payments.
By using the IoT, any device with a Wi-Fi connection may be able to validate payments. Not only does this make payments cheaper, but it may also reduce the computing power needed.
But its uniqueness doesn’t stop there, it may even be an alternative to blockchain technology altogether, using a new algorithm it calls the Tangle
The algorithm also has no need for miners which also means, at least for now, no transaction fees.
Dash (DASH)
Dash is competing in two crypto races: to be faster than all the rest and to offer more privacy than all the rest.
With Dash, users have the option to PrivateSendInstantSend
While Dash is growing in popularity, it is still yet to be used by many retailers.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Bitcoin’s little brother may fall to the same fate as Ethereum Classic and slowly be forgotten about.
That said, it shouldn’t be considered a carbon copy of Bitcoin as there is a key difference between the two; Bitcoin Cash ’s blocks are four times larger than Bitcoin’s.
Theoretically, this means that miners can validate four times as many transactions, increasing transaction speeds and possibly mitigating the issue of scaling.
However, there are critics that argue that by doing this, Bitcoin Cash has sacrificed security.
Tron (TRX)
Tron has an interesting niche; monetising online content.
They aim to remove third parties that profit from hosting online content like YouTube, Google and Facebook.
With Tron, as a content creator, you will receive funds for what you publish, which they believe is fairer.
Tron also claims to be able to handle 2,000 transactions per second.
2019 consensus
There seem to be four primary things cryptocurrencies are striving for:
- To beat Bitcoin
- To beat Ethereum
- To beat Ripple
- To offer the most privacy
Other cryptocurrencies to watch
These ones could go in any direction or may not be useful to buy just yet. Nevertheless, keep an eye on them, you may disagree.
Ethereum Classic (ETC)
There was a time when people felt that Ethereum Classic may be able to rival the original Ethereum, but as time has passed, it seems a lot less likely.
The fact is the team behind Ethereum Classic will likely never be a match for Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation.
That said, in terms of trading, it can still be profitable and worth your time for now.
Monero (XMR)
Monero is another privacy coin. It offers an obfuscated
Due to Monero’s secrecy, it has gained the attention of controversial groups such as white nationalists, the drug trade and hackers such as the WannaCry attack back in 2017.
For Monero to really strive, it needs to shake off its shady image. Until then, it is definitely one to watch.
Monero’s Biggest rivals are Dash and Zcash.
Zcash (ZEC)
Zcash is another fork of Bitcoin and has a focus on privacy.
It uses zero-knowledge proofs to validate transactions. What this basically means is that Zcash can fulfil a transaction correctly without revealing any information about it.
Zcash’s biggest rivals are Monero and Dash, and it is an incredibly difficult area to compete in.
That said, Zcash has attempted to be very transparent, which makes them a lot more appealing to regulators.
Bitcoin SV (BSV)
This coin has the cryptocurrency community divided. The SV part means ‘ Satoshi Vision
For some, this means it is closer to realising what cryptocurrency is supposed to be. Others aren’t sure and say Bitcoin is the real Bitcoin until it can be dethroned.
Aside from its vision
Bitcoin SV is definitely worth watching and it will be interesting to see if it will be able to reach the position of other Bitcoin offshoots such as Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash.
Binance Coin (BNB)
Binance Coin is quite intriguing despite not offering anything particularly unique in a technical sense. It has been highlighted as one of the most stable coins of recent times.
It was exclusively made to work on the Binance exchange, giving users a 25% discount when they purchase cryptocurrency .
The Binance Coin’s value is almost exclusively tied to how well the exchange performs and so by buying it you are effectively investing in them.
It is also worth considering that Binance is based in Hong Kong and as China continues to crack down on cryptocurrency and Hong Kong, this may represent problems in years to come.
Neo (NEO)
Another prospective cryptocurrency from China, Neo has a lot of prospects but until its status is sorted, it might not live up to its fullest potential.
It has an advantage over Ethereum in that it can be coded in many different languages that are already popular.
Ethereum, on the other hand, can only be coded in Solidity
If Neo is can shake the shackles of Chinese regulation, it may end up dominating the smart contract sphere.
What about the rest?
Our list is far from full and should change as things go by. There are of course thousands of cryptocurrencies out there and many more to watch.
Keep your eyes peeled and look out for them.
Top cryptos to avoid at all costs
According to Weiss Crypto Ratings , these cryptocurrencies are the worst rated, all with a rating of ranging from E-, E or E+.
To put that into perspective, at the time of writing, Bitcoin has an A- rating and Ethereum a B+, respectfully.
If come across any of these, stay far away:
Weiss updates their ratings quite regularly and this list may become outdated very quickly. Keep an eye on it when looking into new cryptocurrencies to buy .
When buying cryptocurrency
Buying stock investments generally requires a period of monitoring the market and learning the trends.
For cryptocurrency , the market is largely volatile and there are different trading options possible when dealing with cryptocurrency .
However, the majority of investors favour purchasing a coin when it is at its low price and then mining and growing it until it becomes a more profitable investment.
Key points
If you remember anything from this article, make it these key points.
- Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple are still at the top . Though they are facing ever tougher competition.
- Several cryptos are fighting to be the no. 1 privacy coin . It is especially hard to declare a winner in this area.
- There are still plenty of cryptocurrencies to avoid at all costs . Do your research and make sure a cryptocurrency is a safe investment first.
- Cryptocurrenciesare not like stocks
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