Bitcoin may have been the first significant cryptocurrency to enter the market – appearing in 2009 – but it was certainly not the last. A slew of other cryptocurrencies have gained in popularity, primarily through airdrops and the offering of faucet altcoins.
While Bitcoin receives the most attention, there are many alternatives in the crypto market. Cryptos other than Bitcoin are referred to as “altcoins” or alternatives to Bitcoin. But what are the top altcoins to buy? We’ll break down your options here.
Altcoin Definition
Altcoins began to appear in about 2011, with the first generation built on the same blockchain technology as Bitcoin. The first altcoin was Namecoin, launched in April 2011 and based on the Bitcoin code.
Altcoins have revolutionized the cryptocurrency space, with many offering airdrops and faucet altcoins. Users receive specific amounts of coins by accomplishing little tasks. Altcoin arbitrage opportunities were all brought about by this set of bitcoin alternatives.
Around 2009, the Bitcoin white paper described a peer-to-peer, decentralized, electronic, global currency that eliminates print-happy central banks, hazard-ridden financial institutions, and middlemen. After a decade, the cryptocurrency industry has grown to over $2 trillion in value, with over 12 thousand altcoins and projects to pick from.
Given the variety and complexity of the crypto market, researching altcoins to buy can be an arduous task. That’s why we’ve narrowed the field to the top 10 altcoins and provided insight into each one.
Top Altcoins to Buy
Here’s a look at the ten most important cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. If you are a crypto investor, you might consider these some of the top altcoins to buy.
1) Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain platform that has its own coin, Ether (ETH). It also uses its own programming language, Solidity. Ethereum is a decentralized public ledger that uses blockchain technology to verify and record transactions. On these networks, users may publish, build, monetize, and utilize apps on the platform, and pay using the network’s Ether currency. This network’s decentralized apps are known as “dApps.”
Ethereum is the biggest altcoin and is second only to Bitcoin in the crypto market. It has a price of $4200, a market capitalization of $496,230,226,669, and a circulating supply of 118,374,300.75ETH as of November 2021.
Ethereum’s primary innovation was the development of a platform that enabled it to execute smart contracts via the blockchain. Smart contracts are computer programs that conduct the procedures required to carry out an agreement between many parties through the internet. They were created to eliminate the requirement for trusted intermediaries between contractors, hence lowering transaction costs while improving transaction dependability.
Along with smart contracts, Ethereum’s blockchain is capable of hosting additional cryptocurrencies known as “tokens” via the ERC-20 compatibility standard. Indeed, this has been the most prevalent usage of the ETH platform thus far. Over 280,000 ERC-20-compliant tokens have been produced so far. Over 40 of these coins are in the top 100 cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization, including USDT, LINK, and BNB.
The Ethereum network has always been troubled by high transaction fees, sometimes collapsing during periods of high demand. In May 2021, the network’s average transaction charge reached $71.72. However, there are plans to migrate to a proof-of-stake algorithm in order to increase the platform’s scalability and enable the addition of a variety of additional features. The development team has already begun the process of migrating to ETH 2.0.
2) Stellar (XLM)
Stellar is an open-source blockchain payment system. Stellar’s mission is to connect financial institutions via the blockchain and make transactions in emerging economies more affordable. The primary cryptocurrency of Stellar is the Lumen (XLM).
Stellar enables the creation, transmission, and exchange of digital representations of all types of money: dollars, pesos, bitcoin, and pretty much anything else. It is structured so that all of the world’s financial systems may communicate via a single network. Put simply, Stellar is an open network that enables the movement and storage of money.
Stellar validates transactions using a federated byzantine agreement (FBA) method rather than a typical mining network. Since the transmission of lumens is not subject to approval by traditional cryptocurrency miners, the Stellar network enables transactions to occur more quickly than with other blockchain-based systems.
Stellar Lumens’ current market capitalization stands at $8,266,264,691, with a circulating supply of 24.29B XLM, and a total supply of 50,001,802,586.
When it launched in July 2014, one of its primary aims was to increase financial inclusion by reaching out to the world’s unbanked — but its emphasis quickly moved to assisting financial businesses in connecting with one another using blockchain technology. Lumens, the network’s native token, acts as a bridge, making cross-border asset trading more affordable.
While transaction fees have been known to skyrocket on the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains due to congestion, Stellar is comparatively more affordable. Each transaction costs only 0.00001 XLM. With a unit of this cryptocurrency costing only a few cents at the time of writing, this allows consumers to keep more of their money.
3) Cardano (ADA)
Cardano is the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, with a current market cap of $61,598,787,474 and a maximum supply of 45,000,000,000 ADA.
Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform whose mission statement is to empower “changemakers, innovators, and dreamers” to effect good global change. Additionally, the open-source initiative aspires to “redistribute power away from unaccountable systems and toward individuals,” thus contributing to the creation of a more safe, transparent, and equitable society.
Cardano is one of the largest blockchains to successfully implement a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus process, which consumes less energy than Bitcoin’s proof-of-work method. Though Ethereum will upgrade to PoS, this change will occur gradually.
The Cardano project ensures that any technology generated undergoes a peer-review process, which allows for the validation of ambitious ideas. According to the Cardano team, this academic rigor aids in the durability and stability of the blockchain, boosting the likelihood that possible hazards may be recognized in advance.
Cardano was launched in 2017 as a third-generation blockchain (Bitcoin and Ethereum being the first and second generations, respectively) that intends to compete directly with Ethereum and other decentralized application platforms by offering a more scalable, safe, and efficient alternative.
4) Binance Coin (BNB)
Binance Coin (BNB) is the third-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, with a market capitalization of $94,697,693,766 and a total supply of 166,801,148BNB.
Apart from becoming the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance has developed a whole ecosystem of services for its consumers. The Binance network comprises the Binance Chain, Binance Smart Chain, Binance Academy, Trust Wallet, and Research initiatives, all of which leverage the capabilities of blockchain technology to usher in a new era of finance. Binance Coin is critical to the smooth operation of a number of Binance subsidiary initiatives.
Binance is a one-of-a-kind ecosystem composed entirely of decentralized, blockchain-based networks. The firm has risen to prominence as a top cryptocurrency exchange in a number of nations, and its subsidiary companies are generating substantial attention as well.
Binance’s commitment to development is one of its most significant competitive advantages. While Binance began as a cryptocurrency exchange in 2017, the firm has now expanded into a variety of other industries. The company’s website states that its objective is to become the infrastructure supplier for the whole blockchain ecosystem.
5) Litecoin (LTC)
As of November 17, 2021, the price of Litecoin is $228.31 USD, with a 24-hour trading volume of $3,663,182,516 USD and a market capitalization of $15,733,501,469.
Litecoin is an open-source, decentralized global payment network that operates independently of any central authority. Its peer-to-peer electronic cash system enables rapid, near-zero-cost payments to anybody in the globe.
Mathematics protects the network and equips individuals with the ability to manage their own funds. Litecoin has a faster confirmation time for transactions and a more efficient storage system than the leading math-based currency.
Although the cryptocurrency is based on the Bitcoin (BTC) system, it differs in several ways, including the hashing algorithm employed, the hard cap, the time required to complete a block transaction, and a few other characteristics. Litecoin’s block time is only 2.5 minutes and transaction fees are incredibly cheap, making it ideal for micro-transactions and point-of-sale payments.
6) Chainlink (LINK)
Chainlink is a network of smart contracts that are linked to real-world data events and transactions (decentralized oracles). With a market capitalization of $13,535,010,385 and a total supply of 1B, Chainlink has established itself as the blockchain network’s messenger of the real world.
Chainlink is more than an oracle; it is a Decentralized Oracle Network (DON), which enables smart contracts to safely access off-chain data. The team released their vision of Chainlink 2.0 over the previous two months, describing the future of DONs.
7) Aave (AAVE)
Aave is a decentralized financial protocol that enables individuals to lend and borrow crypto assets. Lenders receive interest on digital assets they deposit in liquidity pools. Aave enables users to lend and borrow bitcoin using a collateral pool of 20 different assets.
The system utilizes a native AAVE token, which is currently trading at $278.94 and has a Market Cap Dominance of 0.14 percent. Since the borrowing and lending network began in January 2020, the (DeFi) protocol has garnered over $25 billion in bitcoin pledges. Additionally, Aave tokens have seen an incredible run since their 2017 initial coin offering (ICO), going from an initial price of $1.76 (adjusted for last year’s 100-to-1 swap) to about $300 as of this writing. They are presently the 50th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, with a value of almost $3.6 billion.
8) Solana (SOL)
Solana is the world’s quickest blockchain and the fastest growing cryptocurrency ecosystem, with over 400 projects spanning DeFi, NFTs, and Web3.
The system has a native Sol token, which is currently trading at $214.8 with a circulating supply of 303,470,277 SOL coins. Its live market capitalization of $65,413,584,485 USD is the fifth highest in the crypto market.
Solana is a highly functional open source project that leverages the permissionless feature of blockchain technology to create decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions. The Solana protocol is intended to simplify the development of decentralized applications (DApps). It intends to increase scalability by combining a proof-of-history (PoH) consensus with the blockchain’s underlying proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus.
9) UniSwap (UNI)
UNI is now ranked #16 on the market, with a market capitalization of $13,540,045,409 USD. There are 627,823,667 UNI coins in circulation with a maximum supply of 1,000,000,000 UNI coins.
Uniswap is a decentralized trading system that is well-known for automating the trading of decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens. Uniswap (UNI) is an Ethereum token that drives Uniswap, an automated liquidity provider built to simplify the trading of Ethereum (ERC-20) tokens.
On Uniswap, there is no order book or central facilitator. Rather than that, tokens are swapped via liquidity pools specified by smart contracts.
10) Ripple (XRP)
The current crypto market ranking of Ripple is #7, with a live market cap of $50,806,239,502 USD. There are 47,158,974,920 XRP coins in circulation and a maximum supply of 100,000,000,000 XRP coins.
Ripple developed XRP as a faster, less expensive, and more scalable alternative to other digital assets and established monetary payment networks such as SWIFT.
The worldwide XRP Community, of which Ripple is an active part, maintains RippleNet’s ledger. The XRP Ledger processes transactions about every 3-5 seconds, or whenever independent validator nodes reach consensus on the order and validity of XRP transactions. This is in contrast to proof-of-work mining on the order and validity of Bitcoin transactions (BTC). Anyone may become a Ripple validator, and the list of validators presently includes Ripple, colleges, and financial organizations.
Final Take
Financial institutions have begun to diversify their cryptocurrency holdings. For instance, Silicon Valley venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz owns 14 digital currencies at the moment. Among these are Bitcoin and Ethereum. While the crypto market can be volatile and risky, it may pay to take a look at some altcoins, and invest responsibly. As always, it’s crucial to do your own research.
Featured Image: Megapixl
