Cryptocurrencies have become increasingly popular over the past decade, with — the most popular of them all — Bitcoin reaching an astounding high of $20,089 on December 17, 2017. Earlier this year, in June, Facebook announced its cryptocurrency, Libra, alongside its wallet Calibra and joined the blockchain market. The company also gave its employees working on the Libra Project to choose to be paid in cash or Libra Coins. Isn’t that surprising?
With a plethora of cryptocurrencies in the market, it can become challenging to choose the right one at the right time so that the investment turns profitable. In this article, we have compared four of the most popular cryptocurrencies that should give you a headstart into the world of cryptocurrency.
Also read: Can cryptocurrency replace fiat currency?
Bitcoin (BTC)
Current Value: US$10,003.96 | Highest Value: $20,089 (17 December 2017) | Lowest Value: US$65.53 (July 5, 2013)
Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency by market cap and its current price, was created in the year 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto — a mysterious identity that could be a person or an organisation. Bitcoin is the most widely-accepted cryptocurrency around the world. It works on the concept of Blockchain and has public ownership.
It uses the proof-of-work algorithm and has a transaction speed of up to an hour, depending on the fees. It can handle up to six transactions per second and has a deflationary coin supply of 121 Million coins. It was built in Stack-based Language.
Bitcoins are generally used for investment but can also be used in buying products or services and has a transaction cost of US$40.
Also read: Can Cryptocurrency be counterfeited?
Ethereum (ETH)
Current Value: US$186.69 | Highest Value: US$1,432.88 (January 13, 2018) | Lowest Value: US$0.420897 (October 21, 2015)
Ethereum is a Blockchain organisation, which made the digital token Ether. Unlike Bitcoin, Ether has become more specific in terms of its usage. It is upheld by the Blockchain and was created in the year 2015. It has public ownership.
Ether also uses the proof-of-work algorithm and has transaction speed of six minutes, which is way better than Bitcoin. It can handle up to 20 transactions per second and has an inflationary coin supply of 21 Million coins. It was built in Turing Complete Language.
Ethereum helps in making decentralised applications and has a transaction cost of US$0.85.
Also read: Top 7 secure cryptocurrency wallets
Ripple (XRP)
Current Value: US$0.264836 | Highest Value: US$3.84 (January 4, 2018) | Lowest Value: US$0.002802 ( July 7, 2014)
Ripple was created in 2012 for making cross-border transactions secure, cheaper and faster. It has private ownership and is owned by Ripple company. A new Ripple ledger is created each second.
Ripple uses the consensus algorithm and has a transaction speed of three to five seconds, making it the fastest on the list. It can handle up to 1500 transaction per second and has a coin supply of 100 Billion coins. It currently holds a 3rd position in the list of top cryptocurrencies.
Ripple has a transaction cost of US$0.004.
Also read: Is cryptocurrency illegal in India? Where else is it banned?
Litecoin (LTC)
Current Value: US$72.81 | Highest Value: US$375.29 (December 19, 2017) | Lowest Value: US$1.11 (January 14, 2015)
Litecoin was created in the image of Bitcoin. Though, it is still better than Bitcoin in terms of transaction cost and block time. It is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency, which does not have any central authority and was built by Charles Lee — a US-based computer scientist, in 2011.
Litecoin uses the proof-of-work algorithm and has a transaction speed of 30 minutes, which is better than Bitcoin. It can handle up to 56 transactions per second and has a deflationary coin supply of 84 Million coins. It currently holds a 5th position in the list of top cryptocurrencies.
Litecoin has a transaction cost of US$0.04.
Note: All the value are true at the time of writing unless updated and specified otherwise.
Categories | Bitcoin | Ethereum | Ripple | Litecoin |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ownership | Market Rank | Public | #1 | Public | #2 | Private | #3 | Private | #5 |
Transaction speed | Appr. 1 hour (depending on the fee) | 6 minutes | 3-5 seconds | 30 minutes |
Block Time | 10 minutes | 15 seconds | N.A. | 2.5 minutes |
Algorithm | Proof-of-work | Proof-of-work | Consensus | Proof-of-work |
Coin Supply: Circulating | Total | Maximum | 17,890,175 | 17,890,175 | 21,000,000 | 107,424,267 | 107,424,267 | N/A | 42,890,708,341 | 99,991,376,954 | 100,000,000,000 | 63,087,599 | 63,087,599 | 84,000,000 |
Number of transactions/second | 6 | 20 | 1500 | 56 |
Current Value | US$10,003.96 (August 22, 2019) | US$186.69 (August 22, 2019) | US$0.264836 (August 22, 2019) | US$72.81 (August 22, 2019) |
Highest Value | $20,089.00 (December 17, 2017) | US$1,432.88 (January 13, 2018) | US$3.84 (January 4, 2018) | US$375.29 (December 19, 2017) |
Lowest Value | US$65.53 (July 5, 2013) | US$0.420897 (October 21, 2015) | US$0.002802 (July 7, 2014) | US$1.11 (January, 14 2015) |
Market Cap | US$178,972,575,110 | US$20,055,489,437 | US$11,359,009,415 | US$4,593,565,763 |
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