The decentralized tokens and coins of cryptocurrency has taken the world of country governed currencies by storm. The number of cryptocurrencies has grown exponentially since the launch of Bitcoin more than a decade ago. Although Bitcoin continues to lead, other cryptocurrencies are here to stay and might just be the future world currency leader. Here are the top 10 cryptocurrencies of 2021:
10. Monero (XMR)
It is a secure and private currency. It was launched in April 2014 and gained interest among the cryptocurrency community. The development of cryptocurrency is donation-based and community-driven. It allows for complete privacy by using a special technique called ring signatures. It has a market value of $2.8 billion as of January 2021.
9. Stellar
Stellar Lumens is 9th on our list of top 10 cryptocurrencies of 2021. It is an open blockchain designed to give enterprise solutions by connecting financial institutions for large transactions. Huge transactions that usually take days to complete can now be done instantaneously. It was founded by Jed McCaleb and has a value of $6.1 billion.
8. Binance Coin
The Binance coin is a utility cryptocurrency that works as a payment method for paying fees associated with trading on Binance Exchange. Those who use this currency can exchange it for a discount. It is one of the most widely used exchanges and as of January 2021, Binance has a value of $6.8 billion in market capitalization.
7. Chainlink
Chainlink can decentralize the network, which closes the chasm between smart contracts and data outside of it. The smart contract is used to release flood warnings to cities and to execute fines. It was developed by Sergey Nazarov and as of January 2021, it has a market value of $8.6 billion.
6. Cardano
It wants to become the financial operating system of the world by forming decentralized financial products. It also wants to provide for voter fraud, chain interoperability, and legal contract tracing. It was formed through intense experimentations and peer-reviewed research. As of January 2021, it has a market value of $9.8 billion.
5. Polkadot
It is a unique proof-of-stake cryptocurrency aimed at delivering interoperability between blockchains. It was created by Gavin Wood, a member of the Ethereum project and as of January 2021, it has a market capitalization of $11.2 billion.
4. Litecoin
It was launched in 2011 and was the first cryptocurrency to follow in the footsteps of Bitcoin. It was created by Charlie Lee and is an open-source global payment network that anyone cannot monitor. It can be decoded with the help of CPUs. It is like Bitcoin in several ways, but it has a faster block generation rate and offers faster transaction overtime. As of January 2021, the market value was $10.1 billion
3. Tether
This is number 3 on our list of top 10 cryptocurrencies of 2021. It was the first to fix its value against an external currency and because of this, the market value of the currency remained relatively stable. Tether’s price is directly linked with the US$. This allows users to exchange currency quickly. In January 2021, Tether had a market value of $24.4 billion.
2. Ethereum
Ethereum was the first Bitcoin alternative to appear on the market. It has a decentralized platform that enables smart contracts. It can control for fraud or interference from a third party. It was launched in 2015 and is considered the second-largest digital currency in the market cap after Bitcoin. Presently, it captures 19% of the market. As of January 2021, it has a market capacity of $140 billion.
In 2021, Ethereum also plans to change the consensus algorithm, which would allow the network to run itself with far less energy and improve transaction speed. This would help to make the transactions more quickly and efficiently.
1. Bitcoin
Bitcoin has dominated the market since it was launched in 2009. However, it has not always been as smooth sailing as it might seem. In 2017, Bitcoin hit a high of $20,000 before hitting a low of $3,234. Since then, Bitcoin went to more than $40,000 in January 2021 and capped at $1 trillion. This meant Bitcoin had a share of 69% of the cryptocurrency market.
There are lots of investment choices when it comes to cryptocurrency, so choose wisely. It just might pay off for you someday.