3 Popular Cryptocurrencies, Except Bitcoin | CryptoGazette
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When it comes to cryptocurrency, the first thing that comes to mind is bitcoin. But in addition to bitcoins, there are about a thousand other types of digital money. How do they work, how much do they cost?
Ethereum (ETH, ether) – Smart Contracts currency
It is unknown why the creator of “Ether” – a Canadian programmer of Russian origin, Vitaly Buterin, called him so. Probably because, unlike the same bitcoin, the amount of Ether is unlimited. And perhaps since Ethereum is the first cryptocurrency that uses the technology of Smart contracts, means it can “take the form” of any object.
How do these “smart contracts” work? For example, you made a bet with a friend that Russia will win the upcoming football match between Russia and South Korea. Your friend wholeheartedly supports the South Korean team. You prescribe the terms of your bet at Ethereum casinos.
There are many differences between bitcoin and Ether. For example, there can be no more than 21 million bitcoins, while the amount of “ether” is unlimited. Blocks for storing information in the Ethereum system appear every 10-15 seconds, unlike bitcoin, which takes 10 minutes to create a new block.
When bitcoin occupies 40 percent of the cryptocurrency market, Ethereum – 18 percent, thus taking an honorable second place in the list of popular cryptocurrencies. The value of all released Ethereum reaches 26 billion dollars.
Ripple is the fastest among cryptocurrencies
Most new cryptocurrencies are emerging due to small changes in the bitcoin code. Like, for example, Ethereum. But in the case of Ripple, the code is written from scratch, under the order of venture funds (an investment fund focused on working with innovative companies and projects, investing in securities or shares of high-risk companies in anticipation of extremely high profits. – Ed.)
Ripple technology is already used by Bank of America, HSBC. Unlike bitcoin and Ether, Ripple cryptocurrency cannot be mined. This is a centralized system where all digital money already exists. The money belongs to one company – Ripple Lab. There are currently more than 38 billion cryptocurrency units.
And if bitcoin and ether systems require empty mathematical calculations to “slow down” the creation of new blocks, Ripple Lab claims cryptocurrency to be useful calculations – processing scientific data from different universities. Ripple accounts for 5.7 percent of the total cryptocurrency market, which is $ 7 billion. One cryptocurrency Ripple costs less than a dollar – 18 cents.
Litecoin is digital money for the fast transactions
Occupies 2 percent of the total value of the cryptocurrency market, which is $ 2.7 billion. Litecoin appeared in 2011, thanks to former Google engineer Charles Lee. Litecoin, like Ethereum, is a hard-fork from bitcoin.
One of the few differences between Litecoin is the speed of transaction processing – it is faster than bitcoin. If bitcoin blocks are created every 10 minutes, in Litecoin it happens faster – every 2.5 minutes. That is why Litecoin can process more transactions than in the bitcoin system. The number of cryptocurrencies is limited and cannot exceed 84 million units. At the moment, you can buy one Litecoin for $ 51.
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