Ripple is a low-cost investment compared to Bitcoin or Ether due to it’s current price—but that has skyrocketed and then plummeted in the past. That being said, it is still one of the top ten cryptocurrencies.
Litecoin
Litecoin is often thought of as a close sibling of Bitcoin. Bitcoin and Litecoin work in the same way, but there a few key features that make them different:
Founder Charlie Lee—The founder of Litecoin is well known, unlike the anonymous creator of Bitcoin.
Speed of transactions—Lee, an engineer, designed the Litecoin system to operate about four times faster than that of Bitcoin. This means that Litecoin can confirm the legitimacy of transactions much quicker.
Number of coins—Bitcoin has a limit of 21 million coins once all are found, but Litecoin will have 84 million.
Litecoin’s current price is $244.97.
Why invest in Litecoin (or not)?
Next to Bitcoin, Litecoin is the top cryptocurrency as of now. So, if Bitcoin is just a little too expensive for you to invest in, try Litecoin.
It’s nearly identical to Bitcoin, but transactions are faster—which is one of its biggest draws.
However, there is some discussion as to whether this speed makes Litecoin less secure.
Cardano
Cardano is cryptocurrency that “developed from a scientific philosophy, and [is]the only one to be designed and built by a global team of leading academics and engineers.”
So, what does that mean?
Essentially, what the creators of Cardano appear to be doing is trying to combine the best aspects of a handful of cryptocurrencies. They do have a team of scientists and academics working on this process.
The creator of Cardano, Charles Hoskinson, says that it “is a technological platform that will be capable of running financial applications currently used every day by individuals, organizations and governments all around the world.”
So, Cardano is intended to be a more sustainable cryptocurrency that everyone can use.
Cardano currently sits at a low price of $0.39.
Why should you invest in Cardano (or not)?
The creators of Cardano are the most transparent about why they want to create their own cryptocurrency—so if you’re not into the secretive aspect of cryptocurrencies, Cardano may be the way to go.
That being said, it is still in development and has held at a fairly low and steady price—although it did rise pretty quickly after it was first developed.
Monero
Monero is, supposedly, one of the only cryptocurrencies that’s truly untraceable. It functions much like Bitcoin—through the blockchain. But, unlike Bitcoin which isn’t entirely anonymous, Monero does not share your online address with the public ledger, so it says.
This makes it almost entirely a black market currency. It’s currently valued at $318.77.
Monero may be an interesting cryptocurrency but it is far from a stable one. Recently, Chinese researchers found that hackers have been using internet-connected devices as tools for mining Monero.
Why you should invest in Monero (or not)?
Due to the current security concerns with Monero, we highly recommend that you avoid investing in it.
That being said, it’s an important cryptocurrency to know about. Monero demonstrate what can go wrong when you attempt to have an entirely anonymous cryptocurrency. It begs the question: can cryptocurrencies survive without the backing of banks and corporations?
Summary
There are plenty of cryptocurrencies on the market besides Bitcoin. While Bitcoin is still king, there are a number of alternatives on the rise that could eventually challenge for the cryptocurrency throne.
This article was republished with permission from Money Under 30.