Almost 9 years have passed since the appearance of the first digital coin, and during this period different types of cryptocurrencies have seen the light. People have realized that it is really profitable, new and unusual - to have a currency that the authorities cannot manage by influencing its rate. And after political sanctions affected the dollar, the presence of coins began to reassure.

Perhaps they are not a salvation from the economic crisis, but as an alternative to ordinary money they look more than attractive. In particular, the difference between cryptocurrencies and fiat money is in their decentralization. At least, the most popular cryptocoins have this property. But the list of existing cryptocurrencies is constantly expanding. Hundreds of new coins appear on the market every year. True, most of them are not competitive and quickly burst, but there are coins that become hits and only grow in price every year.

Today, if we consider the list of all cryptocurrencies, we can count about one and a half thousand, 900 of which are in stable, albeit not always high, demand. Do not be surprised, but in addition to bitcoin, developers have released a lot of coins for settlements on the Internet. At first, in real life, new money has practically no weight, but with the growth of interest in it, the currency can be exchanged in special exchangers, receiving benefits.

Considering what cryptocurrencies exist, there are several general rules:

  • Decentralized, that is, not managed by anyone;
  • Centralized, which, as a rule, quickly burn out;
  • Game, used for calculation in Internet games and not only.

You can list for a long time, since each virtual coin that has just appeared has its own peculiarity. Of course, almost complete clones of popular coins sometimes appear on the market, but these do not last long. And users quite warmly accepted the changes in the financial world, which contributed to the need for a more thorough review of virtual money.

Overview of the cryptocurrency market

New types of cryptocurrencies appear almost every day. The total number of cryptocurrencies in the world is more than 1300 and is constantly growing, so it is quite difficult to calculate how many cryptocurrencies there are. But, as already mentioned, they are classified. Classifications may vary. Given the economic situation of these coins, the following types of cryptocurrencies can be distinguished:


Their popularity also depends on the characteristics of cryptocurrencies. For example, there are groups where the number of coins is:

  • Limited;
  • Not limited.

The first is bitcoin. Its monetization is limited, although the principles of such distribution of resources depend on many factors, in particular, on the desire of the developer. But when doing reviews of cryptocurrencies, bitcoins are not singled out in a separate category. The fact is that this is the first digital currency, and thanks to a high-quality system for increasing demand, it will most likely not be replaced by any other financial unit. Even considering the high speed of generating new products.

A review of cryptocurrencies today, at the end of 2017, shows that this market can no longer be closed. Coins appear at a catastrophic rate. Some occupy a place next to the leader for a long time, while others disappear after a couple of months, or even days. But in any case, we will discuss the list of leaders today, because we need to sum up the results of 2017 in the world of digital money.

Bitcoin - BTC

Considering the main cryptocurrencies, one cannot ignore the most famous of the known cryptocurrencies. Surely it is easy to guess that we are talking about bitcoin (btc). So, let's look at the features of this coin, because it is not only the first digital financial unit, but also the only coin that managed to achieve such a tremendous success.

In general, it is not surprising that the popularity of bitcoin as a cryptocurrency in the world is only growing. Today, the exchange rate fluctuates around 17 thousand dollars, and this is an almost unattainable mark for most other currencies. In addition, it should be replaced that bitcoin is constantly updated. The outgoing 2017 was a real breakthrough for the coin.

  1. The course has grown. If the year began with a rate barely up to a thousand dollars, today it is 17 thousand. This is a huge leap.
  2. The latest version of Bitcoin 0.15.1 has been released. This happened in November of this year, when a sharp increase in the coin rate began.
  3. In August of this year, the developers changed the structure of bitcoin, thanks to which a fork of bitcoin, called Bitcoin Cash, appeared. That is, this coin developed together with bitcoins until August, but after the fork it became a separate unit with an incompatible structure.

Ethereum-ETH

Russia has its own type of cryptocurrency called Ethereum. This financial unit was proposed by Vitalik Buterin in 2013, but the currency finally entered the market in 2015. Ethereum is not only a cryptocurrency, but also a platform created to implement decentralized online services based on the blockchain.

Peculiarities:

  • The basis of the current principle of the implementation of cryptocurrency works on the basis of smart contracts. This is its main difference from the Bitcoin blockchain base. Moreover, it is much more profitable, as it allows you to speed up data transfer, with which there are problems in the bitcoin network;
  • Ethereum has its own fractional parts. They are called: 1/1000 - finney, 1/106 - szabo and 1/1018 - wei;
  • The author did not limit the cryptocurrency solely to payments. Rather, they are something like a nice bonus, while the main task of the ethereum is to act as a resource exchange medium;
  • The current distribution of the cryptocurrency itself is quite positive. In particular, today the rate is 650 dollars and continues to grow;
  • According to the description of the founder of this cryptocurrency, mining is not so important for this coin. It's easier to buy;
  • In terms of capitalization, Ethereum is in second place after Bitcoin;

  • The Ethereum rate changes much more actively than the rate of other cryptocurrencies, which makes this financial unit an excellent option for working on stock exchanges, making it possible to earn on fluctuations in this rate;
  • October 2017 was a significant month for Ethereum, as Sberbank entered into a non-commercial alliance with the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) that month, significantly increasing the stability of the currency. And interest in it from users has increased;
  • The peculiarity of Ethereum is a large number of applications and platforms that significantly expand the functionality of the system. In particular, there is a decentralized and investment fund, FreeMyVunk (a platform that is used to monetize rating in games).

Ethereum is included in the list of the main types of cryptocurrencies that are in stable demand. It occupies the second or third position in the list of the most popular virtual coins, which is a very good indicator, given the short
the history of the coin. This points to its excellent prospects.

Of course, the system has vulnerabilities, which provoked the emergence of a new separate cryptocurrency. It appeared as a way to solve the problems that arose and now leads a completely successful separate existence.

Ethereum Classic - ETC

Ethereum Classic is one of the most scandalous cryptocurrencies in the world. Its history began with the discovery of an error in the code of The DAO of regular Ethereum in 2016. The developers chose the way to solve it and changed the block chain. A lot of people didn't like Hardfork. But the stolen funds in the amount of $50 million at the then exchange rate were returned to their rightful place. After such a decision, the first offshoot of Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, was formed.

The description of the distinctive features of this type of cryptocurrency is as follows:

Ethereum Classic is not only a coin that is included in the list of the most famous cryptocurrencies. In fact, this is the same classic Ethereum as it was developed at the very beginning, and not a fork. It’s just that, as already mentioned, changes in regular Ethereum were made without the opinion of all users. They decided to follow the standard scheme of the coin, and the ethereum went on its new course. That is why this coin is called the classic Ethereum.

Experts say that this currency has a great future, since the problems that were associated with the error have already been eliminated, and all the advantages of the cryptocoin have remained with it. Already, the rate is tending upwards, even if at the moment it is only $28. But there is every reason to believe that in the new year money will rise in value.

Litecoin - LTC

Litecoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world. This coin is a fork of bitcoin, created the second after Namecoin and released into the free float in 2011. Among the world's crypto coins, this coin occupies a leading position. Let's discuss the features and characteristics of this digital currency.


The peculiarity of this type of cryptocurrency is in their variability and versatility. The developer wanted to make them like that, and he succeeded. But the system also has its drawbacks. For example:

  • As with almost all cryptocurrencies, if the wallet is lost, it will be impossible to return the money;
  • Despite the rapid and rapid growth of the coin over the past month, its rate remains rather unstable, which forces you to be more careful when working with it;
  • Despite the fact that this is a fork of bitcoin, compared to the parent coin, the turnover of this digital currency is too low to pose a serious danger to bitcoin;
  • Due to the fact that block generation is very fast, double spending often occurs on the network. This is unacceptable for a reliable digital currency.

Zcash - ZEC

Today it is already difficult to calculate how many cryptocurrencies exist in the world, but Zcash definitely stands out among them. It was developed by the Zerocoin Electric Coin Company with an emphasis on open source. This ensures maximum confidentiality and selective transaction transparency.

Let's take a closer look at what this cryptocurrency is:

Naturally, they could not help but be interested in such a coin. In particular, donations can be sent to WikiLeaks in Zcash. As for individuals, Edward Snowden singled out this coin from the thousands of cryptocurrencies that exist today and called it the most promising replacement or, more precisely, an alternative to bitcoin. And this is considering the fact that Zcash appeared only in 2016.

Monero-XMR

The existence of cryptocurrencies is no longer surprising, although few can foresee which existing coins will be popular in the future. But still, there is an expert opinion that Monero will definitely be on this list. This currency is a fork of ByteCoin (it's not Bitcoin, just consonant names).

Initially, the coin was called BitMonero, but the Bit prefix was removed. Interestingly, shortly after its first block was generated in 2014, hackers began to attack the coin. The first major attack occurred in the early fall of 2014, and Monero successfully survived it, even without significant damage to itself. But this attack showed that the hackers knew very well the source code of the coin and how it works, which is different from other types of cryptocurrencies. Therefore, the danger existed. The developers have taken some very effective measures to minimize damage and make the system even more secure.

In principle, it is not surprising that the attackers were interested in the coin, because at the beginning it did not even have a normal interface, wallets, etc. It was confusing, because the actions had to be performed through the command line.

But let's discuss other features of the system:


For some reason, there is an opinion that Monero is used exclusively on the black market. Actually it is not. Monero is often used for settlement in games, online casinos and other online payments.

All cryptocurrencies in one table

The list of cryptocurrencies is already quite large: there are more than 1300 coins. Every year this list of cryptocurrencies will only expand. And in order not to get lost in this diversity, it is advisable to have a complete list of cryptocurrencies before your eyes. Then you can decrypt cryptocurrencies at any time and see which cryptocurrencies are suitable for mining at that moment.

The list of cryptocurrencies, of course, is a very convenient device that helps to understand the types of cryptocurrencies, their details, etc. The following information is usually included in the table of cryptocurrencies:


  • And to check where the rate is moving, you can look at the statistics of changes. As a rule, the table shows the changes that have occurred in a day, and the changes that can be traced for a week or longer. To help coin owners find their way - to sell or buy money.

In general, tables as miner and trader tools are very useful. And cryptocurrency producers, thanks to them and knowing the details of their coin, can view the rating of their financial unit in the world of virtual digital money.

The table looks like this. You can see how it works in practice here.

Name Ticker Price in USD Market cap. Volume (24 hours) Volume (%) Price in BTC Change for 7d (%)
1 bitcoin BTC 16.887,0 $288.71B $12.61B 55,07% 1 +49,69%
2 ETH 676,58 $45.98B $1.47B 6,40% 0,0276026 +2,53%
3 bitcoin cash BCH 1.566,20 $24.01B $951.42M 4,16% 0,0823458 -7,89%
4 IOTA MIOTA 4,26770 $12.24B $456.94M 2,00% 0,00025456 +59,28%
5 Litecoin LTC 341,020 $10.60B $2.12B 9,25% 0,0113507 +92,58%
6 Ripple XRP 0,43870 $9.70B $178.64M 0,78% 0,00001454 -0,42%
7 DASH EOS 6,44000 $2.33B $146.96M 0,64% 0,00025333 +13,60%
15 NEO NEO 42,760 $2.29B $78.77M 0,34% 0,00203516 -14,34%
16 BitConnect BCC 326,30 $1.87B $40.03M 0,17% 0,0226545 +20,31%
17 Populous ppt 37,6780 $1.19B $4.02M 0,02% 0,00167293 +118,28%
18 waves WAVES 13,6116 $1.12B $75.37M 0,33% 0,00064589 +70,27%
19 Stratis STRAT 9,7400 $1.06B $68.62M 0,30% 0,00062331 +47,89%
20 Qtum QTUM 14,8169 $985.81M $217.56M 0,95% 0,00077319 -2,55%

What is the future of crypto money

All cryptocurrencies have a future. For some it's good, for some it's not so good. In particular, it is no secret to anyone that many coins simply disappeared over time, failing to arouse a sufficiently large interest from miners or buyers. But how many crypto-currency coins have managed to achieve success and are now worth several hundred dollars, while their price continues to grow steadily? There is a pattern that the higher the rate, the greater the chance that the coin will stay with us. And the quote depends on the following indicators:

  • Frequency of use;
  • Generation speed;
  • The number of cryptocurrency coins;
  • System algorithm;
  • The ability to exchange for other coins and;
  • The life span of the financial unit.

Different cryptocurrencies were perceived in their own way. For example, bitcoin was not taken seriously for a long time. Again, the story of two pizzas that were bought for 10,000 bitcoins comes to mind. The coins that appeared later were easier in this regard. But the high level of competition in the crypto world forces us to come up with unique coins.

Most digital money was created as a means of speculation. It is they who do not have a limited number of units, like bitcoin. This really poses a threat to the economies of countries that will do nothing. The development of virtual finance cannot be stopped. They are anonymous, complex and decentralized.

Considering what cryptocurrencies exist today, we can already say that at least a thousand coins have a future. Which one depends on the users. But the most optimistic forecasts say that even if bitcoin disappears, the development of cryptofinance cannot be stopped. Everyone will have them sooner or later. True, it is necessary to simplify the system of their storage and expand the scope of the use of money to the real world, providing safe, fast and convenient ways to convert, for example, bitcoins into fiat money.

Hello! Cryptocurrencies are very popular in the media. Someone earns millions on the growth of the exchange rate, someone calls them another "bubble". Politicians accuse cryptocurrency owners of money laundering, and large stores start accepting payments in cryptocurrencies. I myself mentioned cryptocurrencies several times, and now I decided to explain what a cryptocurrency is and why it is needed - simple and understandable language.

What it is

Cryptocurrency (crypto, coins, coins, as soon as they are not called) is digital decentralized money. Now we need to clarify a few questions.


What is money? It is a universal medium of exchange that cannot be faked or created out of thin air. Paper money, minted coins, animal skins, shells - all this performs the function of a medium of exchange. Seller and Buyer acknowledge value money and can exchange them for the right product. At the same time, money must be valuable in itself, so that it is difficult enough to obtain or manufacture. Therefore, tree leaves cannot be money - they are too easy to get, so they are of no value.

The emergence of cryptocurrency the next step in the development of the economy. Coins and papers are the last century. They are not always convenient to use: you can carry a limited number with you, count and check the change yourself, they can be lost or damaged. Electronic money is the equivalent of paper money, only manage them more comfortable. From the point of view of the state and business, cashless payments are also convenient - electronic payments pass fast, cheap, safely.

What is decentralization? This is the way the system works all participants are equal. When paying by card, the terminal sends a request to the bank's server, which checks the availability of money in the account, writes off the required amount and sends a confirmation. If the server goes down, it will not be able to confirm the payment - this is flaw centralization. In a decentralized system, the terminal will contact any nearby system participants who will confirm the payment.

Who releases?

Someone has to make money. The Central Bank prints rubles, hunters mine skins, divers look for shells, and the crypt is mined. Mining is inextricably linked with decentralization and blockchain. Blockchain is an archive, which consists from consecutive blocks. Each block contains information about transactions in the cryptocurrency network, that is, information about the movement in general is stored in the blockchain all coins during the existence of the crypt. Each block also has hash sum previous blocks. If you change one block, the hash of subsequent blocks will no longer match it, because of which it is impossible to hack or change the blockchain. The blockchain is simultaneously stored by all participants in the system. Blockchain structure - in the picture.


Mining- the process of finding and signing new blocks. To do this, the miners run a program on the computer that enumerates and hashes random numbers until one of the miners finds a number that matches the condition. The conditions are selected automatically to ensure a certain speed of block mining, depending on the power of the computers involved in mining. For the found number, the miner receives reward in crypto. If you want to learn more about mining - watch the video.

Structure

Information about all transactions is stored in the blockchain. An article will be released soon, with a detailed description of how the whole system works. If we simplify it a lot, then by records in the blockchain, you can track all the coins and find out the balance of any wallet. This way you can do without a central server - the nearest participants in the system can confirm that there is money on the wallet, confirm the transaction and add it to the next block to complete the transfer. You have to pay for translations commission, the size of the commission affects the speed of the transaction.

Advantages over fiat money

  • Impossible to steal- you can withdraw money only if you know private key. I urge everyone to be careful security: every day we hear about another hacking of a wallet, an exchange or a private person.
  • Small commissions- for the transfer of several million dollars to another country, they will take from zero to 5 dollars.
  • No central server, which can be hacked or disabled.

What is a cryptocurrency for?

  • Like any exchange medium, the crypt must be used to exchange for goods or for another currency. For cryptocurrency you can buy goods and services while reducing fees for money transfers. Also, coin flows can be well confused and make your purchases completely anonymous.
  • Crypto is a good tool for long-term investment. You can just buy coins and wait for them to grow in value. The price of bitcoin has risen from $10/BTC to $10,000/BTC in just a few years.
  • Cryptocurrency rate volatile, jumps of 5-6% per day are the norm. Speculators and skilled scalpers make good money on such short-term fluctuations with the help of crypto exchanges.

Significant cryptocurrencies

Coins differ from each other much more than fiat money. They differ in the method of extraction, commissions and scope of use. But the main features are market capitalization And well.

Top 5 cryptocurrencies by capitalization:

  1. bitcoin. The most popular coin in the world, value - $8000 . Works with a regular blockchain, mines on farms and makes a profit;
  2. Ethereum. The second most popular crypto, created by a Russian programmer Vitalik Buterin. Smart contracts are written on Ethereum, which are executed automatically upon reaching the prescribed conditions. Price - $500 ;
  3. Litecoin. Made on the basis of the Bitcoin code, it has the technology of fast transactions, cross-currency exchange and smart contracts. Price - $200 ;
  4. Ripple. "Banking" cryptocurrency. Used for fast and ultra-cheap transactions between banks, it cannot be mined. Price - $0.5 ;
  5. Monero. Anonymous cryptocurrency, popular on the Darknet. Due to this, it is not so much subject to price fluctuations. Price - $200 .

In addition to the giants, there are also cheap cryptocurrencies with a small capitalization, but interesting idea.

  • El Petro. National cryptocurrency of Venezuela, first state crypt in the world;
  • GRAM. Cryptocurrency from the founders Telegram;
  • CryptoKitties. Blockchain-based cryptocurrency, in which instead of coins there are cards with images seals.

This is all? No, there are more several thousand cryptocurrencies that differ in functionality and audience. You can find out about them on Coinmarketcap website .


There are the main indicators: capitalization, cost of one coin, daily trading volume, number of coins in circulation, rate chart. Most coins are listed on exchanges, and this information will help you discover trend And earn money on course fluctuations.

Cryptocurrency calculator

Sometimes I find it difficult to convert dollars into euros, but mentally converting BTC into DOGE is generally unrealistic. To find out the exact value of a coin or calculate how much BTC I will buy for $1000, I use this page .

Everything is simple there - select currencies, enter the amount and get result. Useful if you want to calculate how to deposit cryptocurrency on your wallet with maximum profit.


Technical analysis

To make money on trading, you need to know everything about the previous price movements. On tradingview There is all the necessary tools for analysis: chart, drawing tools, indicators, trading volumes, price history. If you are a beginner, you can look at ideas And notes other users. Also, you can run market simulation to test your trading strategy. The site is complex but very useful, perhaps in the future I will write a complete guide to developing my own trading strategies.

How to buy cryptocurrency?

Crypto enjoys demand, so popular exchangers add automatic purchase of coins to the functionality. I use Bestchange to find the best exchange rate. Buy on exchangers profitable, as their offers are often updated late. Having guessed the moment, you can buy on 5-10% more coins than you would buy on a public exchange with the current rate. Exchangers accept electronic money, payment by bank cards and other cryptocurrencies, between payment and receipt of cryptocurrency takes about 15 minutes.

Use favorable exchange rates

Cryptocurrency can be bought on exchanges. There will be a link to an overview of the best crypto exchanges, you can read it. The differences between the exchanges functionality- you can use them to buy and store crypto on your wallet or start trading right away. A wallet on the exchange can be used in the same way as a regular one: you can receive and send money without restrictions. Usually, when registering, they do not ask for a name, but due to the “legalization” and the creation of regulators in the United States, in the future, exchanges may oblige users verify identity.

List of profitable crypto exchanges

  • Binance;
  • Yobit;
  • Exmo;
  • Bittrex.

Register on the Binance exchange

Which way did I choose? I buy crypto on public exchanges to get the maximum benefit from commissions. But I prefer to store on a separate wallet, as exchanges regularly hack and steal coins from users' wallets. I advise you to read the educational program on how to profitably buy cryptocurrencies, there are a few tricks.

Where to store?

On a special wallet. Each of them has public address And private key. The creators of cryptocurrencies came up with an interesting security scheme - for each transaction, the wallet creates new unique addresses. Let's say you want to transfer the coins that are on the wallet A. The wallet will first create a second wallet on its own IN and then send the money to the correct address. A wallet is created to accept a transaction WITH, from which money is automatically sent to the wallet A. So no one will know real the address of the wallet where the money is stored.


But not all wallets have such features and not all are equally convenient to use. There is a total four types:

  1. Online wallet. This is a site, a layer between you and your money. The site stores wallet data, in order to access them, you need to enter a username and password. At the same time, the sites user-friendly interface and the ability to manage your money from any device that has an internet browser. On this wallet don't store large amounts, since the login and password can be stolen by a virus, keylogger or other malicious program. Examples: Coinbase, Exodus, Wallet.BTC.
  2. Exchange Wallet. An online wallet with limited functionality, since on most exchanges you do not buy coins, but contracts. Only the main currency in which the exchange settles can be stored on the wallet of the exchange: this is usually USD, BTC or ETH. Convenient if you do not need other currencies, and you are actively trading in the crypto market.
  3. cold wallet. Access data (address, passwords) is stored in a special file wallet.dat. Why not store this file where no one can steal or peep it, for example, on a separate flash drive? Cold wallet - storing data on a device that generally not connected to the internet and protected from strangers. Not very convenient, but very safe if you want to make a big investment. Examples: flash drive, password on paper, hard wallets like Trezor.
  4. Local Wallet. You can store money on your computer, receive and send transactions - through a special wallet program. Safe enough, but to use it you will have to download a blockchain file that weighs several tens or hundreds of gigabytes. Examples: electrum, Jaxx.

There are many wallets, so I chose a few popular and reliable ones from each type - read the review of popular wallets. You can also see the review at Trezor- "iron" wallet.

It is safe?

Yes, it's safe. Cryptocurrency is the same electronic money as WMZ or Yandex.Money. But the media and politicians are trying to convince us of the opposite, since using cryptocurrencies, we do not pay taxes. So, popular myths:


But if you don't know how to use crypto, you risk losing money:

  • Wallet can be hacked. If you do not care about the security of information, do not come up with a sufficiently complex password and do not protect your computer, your wallet file or online wallet password can be stolen.
  • The investment may not be profitable. If you are going to invest in a new and not very promising cryptocurrency, take into account the probability of losing. Some cryptocurrencies are growing rapidly, others are losing value, just like with stocks, securities and fiat currencies.
  • You can lose on the stock market. The volatility of the cryptocurrency market is a very dangerous thing. You can determine the main trend, but it is very difficult to guess instantaneous sharp fluctuations. These fluctuations can easily cut stops or even eat up your entire margin, so trade very carefully.

Why have cryptocurrencies become popular?

The Internet is penetrating deeper into everyday life. Bank cards are a convenient way to pay for goods and services, but the owners have to pay for the service. Add here the percentage for withdrawal / replenishment, various commissions and "promotions" that eat up money. With the development of the Internet, it became possible to buy goods abroad and not pay intermediaries. But for international transfers too have to pay.


Cryptocurrencies allow you to send any amount of money to the other side of the world by paying a few cents for the transfer. Cryptocurrencies allow obfuscate transactions and ensure full anonymity. Blockchain stores all information on transactions to protect the system from hacking, and coins from theft. Cryptocurrencies automate monetary relations and make them completely transparent. In simple terms, this is new generation money.

At first, only enthusiasts were interested in these opportunities, later businessmen and investors became interested in them. Now banks, corporations and popular Internet resources create their own tokens and coins, implement blockchain and start accepting bitcoins and ether for payment. Cryptocurrencies are the future.

Summary

  • Cryptocurrencies - electronic money. Other users of the system recognize their value, which means that they are no different from ordinary money. Cryptocurrency can be used to buy goods, services and fiat money.
  • The crypto is stored in special wallets. Before you buy coins - get the appropriate wallet and take care of his safety.
  • Cryptocurrency can be bought in exchangers or exchanges, mined on a computer or a farm. Cryptocurrency can be used for trading, as a long-term investment or a trading tool. The crypto market is volatile, the rate of some coins is actively jumping up and down, and this is a good answer to the question of how earn money with cryptocurrency.
  • Popular cryptocurrencies vary greatly in structure, usage, and mining. For example, Ripple is used for large interbank transfers, so this coin is not interesting for ordinary users. Before buying interesting coins, Fine their study.

I tried to talk about all the main aspects of a new type of money. If I forgot about something or you have questions - write in the comments, I will definitely answer. Goodbye, wait for new articles!

If you find a mistake in the text, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter. Thanks for helping my blog get better!

In 2009, when the first Bitcoin cryptocurrency had just appeared, ordinary people could not even imagine that nine years later the whole world would follow its growth and decline with such close attention, and having a cryptocurrency in your wallet would become everyone's dream. At first, few people took the electronic currency seriously and, moreover, they did not see it as a substitute for fiat money. The increase in the number of bitcoins and varieties of cryptocurrencies, the growth in the volume of transactions using digital money proved to the whole world that cryptocurrency is the currency of the future.

How many cryptocurrencies exist?

Before you know the answer to this question, you need to understand what a cryptocurrency is. This is a fundamentally new type of money that does not depend on international relations or the economic situation in a particular country and does not require the launch of a printing press. New cryptocurrency coins are generated using certain mathematical calculation algorithms. A crypto unit is a chain of blocks, and a block is a complex mathematical formula. It is the complexity of mining (the so-called process when digital money is created using the computing capabilities of computers) that affects the rate of electronic money.

The term “cryptocurrency” was first used with the advent of bitcoin (as you already know) in 2009. But only two years later they began to conduct financial transactions with him, when electronic wallets for storing bitcoin appeared. For nine years, the world of electronic money has grown so much that it is simply unrealistic to keep track of the actions in it. New opportunities, features and benefits, new types of cryptocurrencies. How many are there now? It is simply impossible to give an exact number. And all because every day there are new types of digital money. According to CoinMarketCap data as of February 6, 2018, there are 1514 varieties of cryptocoins in the world with different numbers of coins and different exchange rates. The total value of the cryptocurrency market at the end of 2017 exceeded $500 billion. Impressive, right?

Overview of cryptocurrencies

The main view and the most expensive now, of course, is. Created by Satoshi Nakamoto. The identity of this character has not yet been revealed. Some say it was one person. Someone claims that a whole group of smart people. The cost of bitcoin does not stand still: it reaches a record $20,000, then drops sharply to $6,000. We are sure that you know a lot about this cryptocurrency, if not everything, then a lot. But there are other cryptocurrencies in a variety of types besides bitcoin. And we will talk about them in our review of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world.

Ethereum - second generation currency and smart contracts

A new cryptocurrency, which today is considered the main competitor of Bitcoin, Ethereum appeared on July 30, 2015. It was on this day that the first active release of the platform was presented, the blockchain of the distributed Ethereum base was launched. But Vitalik Buterin, a Canadian programmer with Russian roots, began working on the creation of a second-generation virtual currency back in 2013, when he presented to the public a white paper (White Paper) of a new type of world cryptocurrency.

Why Vitalik chose this particular name is unknown. Some suggest that a reference to an unlimited number of coins. Others talk about the connection with the technology of "smart contracts" and that the currency will be able to take the form of any object.

If bitcoin was designed specifically to transfer money, then the creators of ethereum saw their currency as a kind of analogue of fuel for “smart contracts”. How do they work, and what is it all about? Smart contracts are special programs that allow you to exchange money, shares, assets without intermediaries. For example, you and a friend are very fond of football and want to place a bet, but support different teams in the upcoming match. You support Manchester City, a friend bets on Manchester United. Using a smart contract and prescribing bet conditions in it, the "smart contract" removes the amount of your bets and keeps it until the match ends. This approach allows you to get rid of the participation of a third person in your bet. In general, such contracts can be registered in any blockchain, but today the most popular is Ethereum.

During its short history, the currency has experienced both ups and downs. After launching the blockchain project in the summer of 2015 and actively promoting his project, Vitalik Buterin managed to get major partners, including Microsoft. The price of Ethereum has been rising. And by March 2016, the value of all coins was one billion dollars. In June 2016, attackers used a bug in The DAO to steal $50 million. The authors insisted on a hard fork and a refund. But the team refused, explaining their decision by the fact that the main law of cryptocurrencies is the immutability of the blockchain. The creators insisted on their own and adjusted the base, returning the stolen funds. Such events could not but affect the course. So, the cost of Ethereum on the second day of the theft of funds collapsed by a third. And in early December of the same year, some managed to buy 1 ETH for $7. It was the bottom. But the ethereum pushed off from him and rushed up.

Ripple is the fastest digital currency

The creators of Ripple did not initially set out to invent a new type of digital money. Everything worked out by itself. Jed McCaleb worked on the exchange interface for depositing, withdrawing and exchanging different currencies, buying and selling services and goods. And already in the course of development, the author had an interest in creating his own XRP cryptocurrency. Ripple was born in 2012.

Ripple today is a platform for making currency exchanges with a minimum commission, making online payments and transfers to anywhere in the world where thousands of financial transactions are carried out per second. All money that passes through the Ripple Protocol is automatically converted to XRP, and then converted back to the currency the client needs. And all this without losing track.

Ripple is one of the currencies that cannot be directly mined. There are two ways to get money: by participating in calculations or by exchange. The calculations here are not mathematical, you can get paid for renting out capacities for processing huge data sets of socially significant projects.

The main difference between XRP and other coins is that it functions thanks to its own technology. Simply put, there are no analogues of this cryptocurrency. At least in terms of speed.

Today, Ripple is the most legal digital currency in the world. And every day it is being introduced deeper into the banking systems of many countries. Another plus is the price.

Dash - completely anonymous money

This currency appeared in 2014. True, it was originally called differently. Immediately XCoin, later DarkCoin. Well, in the end, the creator Evand Duffield and his team decided to call their currency Dash. On the one hand, the name means "jump up", on the other hand, it is an abbreviation for "Digital cash".

Evan Duffield always saw anonymity as the main point in creating digital money. He even suggested at one time to make changes to the bitcoin protocol, but they did not listen to him. This was the catalyst for the creation of their own cryptocurrency, which is very similar to bitcoin, but fundamentally different from it:

  • Two-tier architecture;
  • Complete anonymity;
  • Absolute security, because the system cannot be hacked.

Thanks to the function of instant transactions, Dash is very convenient to use for making payments. Especially after signing an agreement with one well-known online banking platform, which provides for the introduction of Dash into the banking system. This means that dasha holders can pay in the usual way using a VISA card.

Litecoin - electronic money for instant transactions

The Litecoin system is very similar to the well-known torrent: computers are connected to each other by an installed Litecoin wallet. This is a kind of network that allows you to exchange cryptocurrency without problems.

The system and its own cryptocurrency of the same name were invented in 2011 by the former engineer of the famous Google company Charles Lee. He conceived Litecoin not as a replacement for Bitcoin, but as an improved version of it. And in many ways this currency is really better:

  • Each piece of information is created faster: it happens every 2.5 minutes;
  • Mining Litecoin is much easier;
  • The limit of the allowed number of coins is 4 times higher - 84 million.

NEO - "Chinese" Ethereum

This currency is called "Chinese" Ethereum for a reason. Both Neo and Ethereum play the same role in the crypto community: the companies see it as their goal to create platforms for the “new” Internet: smart contracts, decentralized applications and ICOs. And they get it!

The main difference of the Chinese project is that it allows you to use a variety of programming languages. While Ethereum only uses its own Solidity.

The Chinese startup was launched in June 2014, followed by an ICO the following year. In 2016, the project launched its own currency, and in 2017 it rebranded and went global. Neo is actively developing and collaborating with large blockchain projects (Coindash, Agrello, Bancor).

IOTA - electronic money for the Internet of things

  • No commissions;
  • The system has every chance to revolutionize the world of the Internet of things.

Today one MIOTA costs $1.38. The total number of coins is about 3 billion. The total cost is about 4 billion dollars.

Appeared in 2015. The authors are Sergey Ivancheglo, David Sonstebo, Sergey Popov and Dominik Scheiner. The main goal of the creators is to develop a currency (MIOTA) that would help make financial transactions from devices from the world of the Internet of things.

At the heart of IOTA is a “registry of things”. This allows users to conduct financial transactions for IoT without commission. The main advantage of this system is the ease of microtransactions. Usually, due to commissions, with relatively small money transfers, transactions turn out to be too expensive. IOTA solves these problems. Experts believe that in the future, more than billions of devices from the world of the Internet of things will be connected to this network.

They are betting on this currency, calling it “a grandiose project that will revolutionize the Internet of things.” The project is still at the beginning of its journey, and you can invest in cryptocurrency until the price has grown significantly.

The cryptocurrency market is growing. For nine years, more than one and a half thousand varieties of digital money have appeared in the world. Most of them represent a variant of bitcoin in an attempt to attract investors and capitalize on the current popularity of this topic. But there are several hundred really worthwhile projects with great potential. For example, all of the above major cryptocurrencies. If you plan to replenish your wallet with electronic coins, take your choice seriously: carefully read the description of cryptocurrencies, study their history and take a look at the forecasts.

As you know, all cryptocurrencies showed a colossal price increase in 2017. Most of them grew by 10 times. Cryptocurrency mining difficulty reaches a new peak every week. Growth rates reach an exponential curve:

And apparently this is just the beginning.

There are a large number of cryptocurrencies (more than 1000). Some of them are emerging and emerging right now. The choice is very large. Consider the top 10 most promising cryptocurrencies in which it is worth investing money now. They have every chance of becoming widely used in the future, which means they will grow in price.

  • Technology Perspectives
  • Current capitalization
  • Number of transactions
  • General user interest
  • Growth in recent times

So, the latest and most relevant top promising cryptocurrencies for investment in 2018.

1. Ethereum (Ethereum, Ether)

The Ethereum cryptocurrency has been revolutionary in recent years. It appeared only in 2016 (creator Vitaly Buterin). During this time, she managed to grow 1500 times. In 2017, it increased by 120 times.

Only in 2017, Ethereum began to take first place in the list of the most promising currencies of the future. According to rumors, this coin was purchased by the largest corporations in the world: Microsoft, Google, Apple.

The exchange rate of the Ethereum in dollars ():

In September and October 2017, Ethereum was upgraded to further improve it. Mining will become extremely difficult for small holders. It is planned to give preference to those who already hold cryptocurrency. This will achieve network security. The idea is that those who have the means have no desire to hack the network.

2. Bitcoin (Bitcoin, Bitcoin)

Bitcoin lost its first place to Ethereum in 2017 for the first time in the known history of cryptocurrency. Despite everything, Bitcoin remains the most expensive digital currency. Its capitalization is more than 300 billion dollars. Ethereum is still lagging behind in capitalization.

Bitcoin is the oldest of all known cryptocurrencies. It has been in existence since 2009. It all started with her. Many traders use it as an index.

The future of Bitcoin is almost guaranteed to be positive. It is beginning to be accepted for payment by many online stores abroad. Many countries are starting to legalize it.

You can buy Bitcoin at every cryptocurrency exchange.

The exchange rate of Bitcoin in dollars (online Bitcoin rate):

3. Litecoin (Litecoin, Lite)

Litecoin is a fork of Bitcoin. In 2017, a new LiteNet network was introduced, which is much faster and more productive.

Litecoin has always walked toe to toe with Bitcoin before (I mean rise / fall). But then all the money began to go to BTC, and LTC cost around $4 for a long time.

Litecoin cost rate in dollars (online Litecoin rate):

4. DigitalCash (Dash, Dash, "Dasha")

The Dash cryptocurrency is famous for its revolutionary idea and a special x11 creation algorithm. She has an official website, an official company. It is actively developing and conquering new markets. Its growth has been almost as phenomenal as that of Eth.

Dash has risen in price since the beginning of 2017 from $9 to $200.

Until 2015, it had a different name - Darkcoin

Dash is characterized by high anonymity. Transactions on the network are almost impossible to trace.

Dash cost rate in dollars (online Dash rate):

5. ZeroCash (ZCASH, ZEC, Zcash)

ZCash is developed by Zerocoin Electric Coin Company (Zooko Wilcox - Founder and CEO). The first launch took place on January 20, 2016. ZEC mining began at 5:10 pm London time with release 1.0.0 "Sprout" on October 28, 2016.

At the start of trading, ZEC was worth $2 million. On the same day, the price collapsed to 30,000 thousand dollars, which still seems like a cosmic price.

Transactions in ZCash are untraceable, so there will always be high interest in this currency. It has the important property of absolute anonymity.

A distinctive feature of ZCash is also the complete lack of correlation with other cryptocurrencies. It feels like the coin has a life of its own.

ZCash cost rate in dollars (online ZCash rate):

We will consider other cryptocurrencies in less detail.

6. Bitcoin Cash (Bitcoin Cash)

On August 1, 2017, a fork of Bitcoin appeared - Bitcoin Cash. The entire history of this cryptocurrency until August 1 is the same as the main parent.

On crypto exchanges, her ticker is BCH. Do not confuse with BCC (BitConnect)!.

The creators of Bitcoin Cash have slightly improved the code and now transactions are faster. Also, the power for mining began to be updated more often.

After the appearance of Bitcoin Cash, it immediately took the third place in the world in terms of currency capitalization. Its prospects have not yet been precisely determined, but judging by the active interest and proven technology, we can safely assume that in the future this cryptocurrency will be among the top ones.

7. DogeCoin (DOGE, Dogecoin)

Dogecoin was created in 2014. The encryption algorithm is the same as that of Litecoin - Scrypt. In fact, this is the same Litecoin. However, there can be an infinite number of coins here. They are extremely cheap. The popularity is due to their logo.

It is possible to quickly buy cryptocurrency at the most favorable rate and with the lowest commission on .

Cryptocurrency

With the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies and technology, many are wondering - what are cryptocurrencies, what are its features and how to make money on cryptocurrencies? The forefather of the entire cryptocurrency industry is Bitcoin/Bitcoin and BTC for short. , it was released back in 2009. Since the birth of bitcoin, its rate has grown thousands of times, and at the end of 2017, it reached a peak value of more than 20 thousand USD per 1 BTC. This digital gold is widely used as a means of payment, and of course, it is possible to earn bitcoins in several ways, which I will write about later.

What is cryptocurrency and how does it work?

Cryptocurrency what is it is a digital coin based on cryptographic algorithms and circulating on decentralized platforms built using blockchain technology. This term was first used in Forbes magazine in 2011 in an article on Bitcoin.
Unlike classic electronic money, digital currencies have no analogues in the physical world and are a set of encrypted data stored in the blockchain network. The issue of new coins occurs according to a given algorithm and usually has a limit on the number of issued coins, for example, only 21 million bitcoins will be issued.

To work with cryptocurrencies, you need special software - a wallet program (or,). This program allows the user to work with the blockchain and create transactions or receive transfers to their address. To work with a bitcoin wallet, two keys are required:

  • the public key is the address where any owner can transfer funds;
  • private key - a secret alphanumeric code, with which the user signs his transfers.

The signed transaction is broadcast to the network, and after several confirmations, the funds are credited to the specified address.

Basic principles of working with cryptocurrencies:

  • irreversibility - a completed transaction cannot be reversed;
  • anonymity - the blockchain does not contain information about the owners of funds;
  • decentralization - network performance is ensured by a huge number of nodes controlled by different users;
  • security - the use of cryptographic methods makes the cryptocurrency resistant to hacking.

Popular types of cryptocurrencies

All cryptocurrencies that appeared after bitcoin are called - altcoins. There are several thousand digital coins in total, but not all have gained general popularity, we will describe the top coins below.

Top 7 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization:

There are many other promising cryptocurrencies, but the success of the project will depend on the implementation of the plans of the developers.

More about Bitcoin

Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency and many earning options are somehow connected with it. Therefore, it is recommended to consider its features in more detail. Its name comes from the fusion of two words - coin (coin) And bit (unit of information).

As a cryptocurrency, bitcoin has a number of features of traditional fiat money:

  • a means for making payments;
  • means of accumulation and savings;
  • medium of exchange and investment.

The release of new coins occurs according to a given algorithm, and the total issue is limited. Due to this, bitcoin is not subject to inflationary processes, and the use of cryptographic protection methods makes it impossible to issue counterfeits.

The bitcoin rate is formed on cryptocurrency exchanges and depends on supply and demand.

Additional advantages of bitcoin over fiat currencies:

  • open source code allows any user to start mining new coins;
  • anonymity of transactions - information about the owner of the wallet is not distributed in the blockchain network;
  • the absence of a single controlling and issuing center protects the cryptocurrency from unfair manipulations by interested parties.

You can buy bitcoin on exchanges, exchangers or directly from the owners. Many online stores have begun to accept cryptocurrency as payment, and there is also a network of ATMs where you can exchange digital for fiat money.

How can you earn on cryptocurrency? Main Ways to Earn Bitcoin

In the world, the popularity of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology is growing, which gives many ways to earn bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies. There are many such methods, they can be divided into those requiring financial investments for the purchase of equipment or the purchase of digital coins and ways to earn cryptocurrency without investments. The first option includes:

  1. Cryptocurrency trading. Exchange bitcoin or other coins among themselves or for real money, at a favorable rate. The principle of earning is simple - if the exchange rate goes down, buy, and if it goes up, sell. You can trade on . Also, the exchange of digital coins can be carried out on online exchange services.
  2. Invest in cryptocurrencies in Trust Management. You can independently engage in exchange trading, thanks to the world's first social broker eToro(). multi robot, sites make it possible to earn from 15% to 50% per month!
  3. Bitcoin mining. Solving complex cryptographic problems with the help of special equipment - mining farm. Finding a certain result allows you to confirm blocks of transactions in the network, for which a reward in the form of new coins is charged. This method requires the cost of purchasing equipment. Users who want to mine without investments and have a powerful PC can try to mine altcoins by joining a pool with other users using the service Minergate.
  4. cloud mining. This service is provided by special services that make it possible to rent a certain amount of computing power and make a profit. There are also mining pools. for example ICO - the initial placement of coins to attract investment.

    There are several ways to make money on such programs:

    • purchase coins in the early stages of placement with an additional bonus and sell it after the rate grows;
    • - free distribution of a certain amount of cryptocurrency to attract attention and popularize new coins;
    • Bounty is a program to promote new coins on social networks and on popular portals, developers pay active users or their subscribers who contribute to the popularization of their currency.

    Conclusion

    Cryptocurrency is the digital money of the future. Having understood their types, features and learned how to use them, you can choose for yourself an acceptable way to earn a crypt. This type of income can bring additional funds or become the main source of income.

    mr. Freeman about Cryptocurrency