Cryptocurrency Research
- Bitcoin (BTC);
Description:
Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency and its own digital payment system
Pros:
• Most widely used cryptocurrency
• The oldest and most well known
• No centralized governing body
Cons:
• Slow transaction time
• High transaction fees
• Not segwit-ready
Similar: Litecoin
Category: Currency
Where to buy: Coinbase, everywhere
Notes:
Bitcoin may be headed for some problems soon with BIP148 and a possible coin split looming. Users are attempting to force the miners to accept segwit and get Bitcoin moving forward. http://www.uasf.co/ http://segwit.co/
- Ethereum (ETH);
Description:
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference.
Pros:
• Programmable money
• Smart contracts
• Ability to issue your own tokens
• Huge community - Ethereum Enterprise Alliance consists of companies like Microsoft, Intel, and more
• Fastest growing developer community
• Super sexy marketing
Cons:
• Higher inflation than bitcoin
• Larger block size and network complexity
Similar: Waves, Anthshare
Category: Platform
Where to buy: Coinbase
Notes:
Currently based on a Proof of Work (PoW) system and is ASIC proof. GPU miners may become upset when they switch to Proof of Stake (PoS) instead. If Bitcoin is digital gold, Ethereum is digital oil. The creators of Ethereum are from Russia and there is a wide international appeal. Many people are using the platform to launch their own tokens and raise money through ICO's.
- Ripple (XRP);
Description:
Ripple is a real-time gross settlement system (RTGS), currency exchange and remittance network operated by Ripple. XRP will be supplied to banks to be used as liquidity in cross-border transactions
Pros:
• Near instant transaction time
• Free from DoS attacks
• Settlement infrastructure used by banks
• Huge corporate backing and a large team working on it (200+ Ripple staff)
Cons:
• Founders of Ripple control ~60% of XRP
• Network is mostly controlled by Ripple
• Haters online claim it's not a real ""crypto"" cause it's backed by the banks
Similar: Stellar
Category: Payment Network
Where to buy: Gatehub, Bittrex, Poloniex
Notes:
This is the coin that has been choosen by the banks. It's purpose is cross-border settlement. If you want to cut ways with the current financial system this may not be your coin. Ripple is also developing Interledger to connect multiple blockchains: https://interledger.org/
- Litecoin (LTC);
Description:
Litecoin is a peer-to-peer Internet currency that enables instant, near-zero cost payments to anyone in the world.
Pros:
• Faster transaction time than bitcoin
• Can handle more transactions than bitcoin
• Segwit-ready
• More coins in circulation than bitcoin
Cons:
Weak marketing
Similar: Bitcoin
Type: Currency
Notes:
Litecoin is based on Bitcoin but is being developed at a faster pace, many Bitcoin developers are working on it cause it allows them to test their ideas without altering Bitcoin. Founder of coinbase quit to work on Litecoin full time, this could have a powerful effect. Expect people to move to LTC if BTC experiences any major turbulence. If BTC is digital gold, LTC is digital silver.
- NEM (XEM);
Description:
NEM is the first private/public blockchain combination. It's one of the most popular Japanese based blockchains
Pros:
• Unique proof-of-importance (POI) algorithm
• Variety of usecases - can send payments and messages securely globally and is recognized by some Japanese banks
• Incredibly scalable - 3000 transactions/sec/
• Low transaction fee - 0.01% fee
Cons:
• No private transactions • No mining available
• Unclear roadmap
• Lack of enterprise features
• No substantial development updates recently
Similar: Stellar, Dash, Ripple
Type: Payment Network, Platform
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
Description:
The original Ethereum blockchain. Allows the creation of smart contracts and custom tokens the same as Ethereum and it's much cheaper.
Pros:
• Continuation of the original Ethereum blockchain - the classic version preserving untampered history
Cons:
• Community of developers vehemently against Ethereum
• Supports a theif who stole millions
Similar: Ethereum
Type: Platform
Notes:
Maintains the original Ethereum blockchain. It's created much controversy as it goes against the wishes of the core Ethereum team. They mostly copy updates from Ethereum.
- Dash (DASH);
Description:
Dash (formerly known as Darkcoin and XCoin) is an open source peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that offers instant transactions (InstantSend), private transactions (PrivateSend) and token fungibility.
Pros:
• Instantaneous transaction time about 1.2 seconds
• Private transaction possible with privatesend
• Low transaction fee
Cons:
• Core team is secretive about their roadmaps
• Decentralized governance is immature - few masternode owners make the decision
Similar: Stellar, NEM, Ripple
Type: Payment Network, Currency
Notes:
Dash is short for "digital cash". They have a self-governance voting system in place for users to participate. It's faster and cheaper than Bitcoin.
- Stratis (STRAT)
Description:
Stratis offers full service capabilities for the development, deployment and management of blockchain applications and solutions utilizing C# on the .Net framework.
Pros:
• Block chain as a service. (Private & public blockchains for corps)
• Segwit-ready.
• Master nodes provide extra services like making the network transactions more private, enabling instant transactions, etc.
• Smart contracts using C#
Cons:
• No actual corporate customers as of June 18th 2017
• Smart contracts available only on sidechains
Similar: Ethereum, Lisk, Antshares
Type: Platform
Notes:
Stratis could be very promising. It allows the creation of private blockchains, tokens and smart contracts like Ethereum. It uses C# as it's programing language which is an industry standard that many programmers would already know how to use. Their goal is to sell their services to businesses looking to run their own blockchains.
- Monero (XMR);
Description:
Monero (XMR) is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that is not based on Bitcoin's code.
Pros:
• Unttraceable payments & Unlinkable transactions
• Second most used cryptocurrency in the dark web
• Cryptonote-based
Cons:
• Untraceability makes it challenging to go mainstream
• No mobile wallet yet
Similar: Bytecoin, Zcash
Platform: Currency
Notes:
Arguably the most secure and private of the top cryptocurrencies. Monero uses a unique ledger system that automatically scrambles addresses and transactions to maintain complete anonymity. This is a currency that will become very popular on the darknet as Bitcoin is not as anonymous as previously advertised.
- Zcash (ZEC)
Description:
Zcash is the first open, permissionless cryptocurrency that can fully protect the privacy of transactions using zero- knowledge cryptography.
Pros:
• Unttraceable payments & Unlinkable transactions
• Fungable Cryptocurrency with no past transactions linked to current coins
• Encrypted transaction
Cons:
• 20% of block reward goes to the developers
Similar: Bytecoin, Monero
Type: Currency
Notes:
This is one of the top GPU minable coins other than Ethereum. It's price is similar to Ethereum's as well.
- Bytecoin (BCN)
Description:
Bytecoin allows safe and secure transactions around the globe and offers the convenience of instant fee-free money transactions.
Pros:
• Free instant international payments.
• Unntraceable payment
• Cryptonote-based
Cons:
• 80%+ were premined prior to public release
Similar: Zcash, Monero
Type: Payment Network
Notes:
Seems like a solid crypto although there is nothing that really makes it unique in my opinion. It's secure and fast but so are many of the other choices.
- Waves (WAVES);
Description:
Crypto-platform for asset/custom token issuance, transfer and trading on blockchain
Pros:
• Allows for trading on its decentralized exchange
• Straightforward custom token creation process
• Fast transactions and future- proof scaling
• Friendly community
Cons:
• Many fake coins created as a result of easy creation process
• Very little mainstream adoption or succesful ICO's yet
Similar: Ethereum, BitShares, Lykke
Type: Platform, Decentralized Exchange
Notes:
This is another Russian based cryptocurrency. What sets them apart is the built in currency exchange system and the easy ability to create new tokens. They allow smart contracts and the ability to "stake" your coins and collect interest on your account
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