Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, and Litecoin are the top 5 cryptocurrencies by market cap as of January 2018. Here's a look at what each is and why you should watch them in 2018.
Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency, and is still the largest by market cap. Bitcoin is a digital asset and a payment system invented by Satoshi Nakamoto. Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public dispersed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin is unique in that there are a finite number of them: 21 million.
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of fraud or third party interference. Ethereum was invented by Vitalik Buterin and launched in July 2015.
Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency and a payment system. It is a fork of Bitcoin, meaning that it shares its history up until the fork, but then continues on its own path. Bitcoin Cash was created in August 2017 as a result of a hard fork from the Bitcoin blockchain.
Ripple is a real-time gross settlement system, currency exchange and remittance network created by Ripple Labs Inc. Ripple was released in 2012 and currently has a market cap of $8.5 billion.
Litecoin is a decentralized open source digital currency that enables instant payments to anyone in the world. Litecoin was created in October 2011 by Charlie Lee.
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