Popular and expensive: a guide to cryptocurrencies

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

The mid-market rate is about $ 2,600

Market capitalization (value of all existing bitcoins) - $ 41.8 billion

This is where the cryptocurrency boom basically started. The bitcoin network (bit is a unit of information, coin is a coin) was launched in January 2009 when Satoshi Nakamoto (a pseudonym for one or more programmers) published the client code for a new decentralized payment system.

The maximum number of coins in the Bitcoin system is 21 million. More than 16.4 million bitcoins have been mined so far. According to forecasts, the issue of new coins will be completed by 2140.

Until August 2010, Bitcoin was practically worthless. Then its price began to rise: from 0, 06 to almost 3,000 dollars. Today it is the most expensive and hardest-to-mine cryptocurrency.

In May 2010, the first exchange for goods took place: two pizzas were sold for 10 thousand units of this cryptocurrency.

At the end of June 2017, one of the Moscow restaurants became the first Russian institution to accept payment in bitcoins.

2. Ethereum (ETH)

The mid-market rate is about $ 300

Market capitalization - over $ 28.6 billion

Ethereum (or ether) was proposed by the founder of Bitcoin Magazine, Russian-Canadian Vitalik Buterin at the end of 2013.

It is an open software platform based, like Bitcoin, on blockchain technology (the chain containing all transactions). With its help, developers receive tools for creating a variety of decentralized applications without intermediaries. Examples can be seen here.

They are based on the so-called smart contracts: applications work in strict accordance with the originally laid down rules and algorithms.

This cryptocurrency is one of the most popular among miners today.

3. Ripple (XRP)

The mid-market rate is $ 0, 278

Market capitalization - about $ 10.5 billion

Ripple is an open source cryptocurrency and distributed payment system. It was launched in 2012 to provide instant, secure and virtually free (with a meager commission that is destroyed) financial transactions of any size.

At its core, XRP is similar to Bitcoin: this cryptocurrency is based on mathematical formulas, it is decentralized, and each wallet in the system contains the history of all transactions.

But there are also differences. Ripple does not use traditional blockchain, as is the case with Bitcoin. It is impossible to mine this currency: all coins have already been created. They can be bought from exchangers or exchanges.

XRP is recognized by a number of major banks. Some venture capital funds have invested in this cryptocurrency.

4. Litecoin (LTC)

The mid-market rate is about $ 40

Market capitalization - over $ 2 billion

Litecoin is a cryptocurrency created by former Google employee Charlie Lee in October 2011 as an "evolved" bitcoin and based on its open source code.

The maximum amount of Litecoin that can be mined is 84 million (there are now over 51.7 million units). The mining algorithm for this cryptocurrency is similar to Bitcoin. However, the blocks for which the reward is paid are formed four times faster in Litecoin.

5. Ethereum Classic (ETC)

The mid-market rate is about $ 18

Market capitalization - about $ 1.8 billion

Ethereum Classic is the little brother of Ethereum. This cryptocurrency has all the same capabilities, including smart contract functions. It was created in the summer of 2016 as a result of a hard fork (a hard change in the rules in the operating protocol) of the Ethereum network.

The reason for this was a hacker attack on The DAO, a decentralized venture capital fund created for projects related to cryptocurrency. In 28 days, through crowdfunding, The DAO raised a lot of Ether - $ 168 million. But a vulnerability was discovered in the smart contract. The hacker who found it managed to withdraw about 3.6 million ether (at that time, about $ 50 million).

To recover the stolen goods, it was decided to hard fork the Ethereum blockchain, resulting in a new chain of transaction blocks.

6. NEM (XEM)

The mid-market rate is $ 0.17

Market cap - $ 1.55 billion

NEM (New Economy Movement) was developed in Japan on its own open source and supported by the operator of the largest Japanese cryptocurrency exchange ZAIF. NEM is a cryptocurrency and technology platform.

A special feature of NEM is the use of the POI (Proof of Importance) algorithm. The definition of a user who will generate the next block depends not only on his share (as is the case with other cryptocurrencies), but also on the activity - the number of transactions made. In this way, developers discourage hoarding and encourage the use of NEM as a currency.

The process of mining - creating blocks - is called harvesting (harvesting). The developers have set the minimum wallet size for collectors - 10,000 XEM.

The number of XEM coins is limited at 9 billion. The developers do not plan to carry out additional emission.

7. Dash (DASH)

The mid-market rate is about $ 180

Market capitalization - over $ 1.3 billion

At the time of launch (January 2014), this cryptocurrency was called Xcoin, and a little later - Darkcoin.

Dash is a cryptocurrency and open source decentralized international payment system.

Its feature is the ability to perform anonymous transactions, which is provided by a mechanism called DarkSend. Dash also has decentralized governance. The decision on any changes in the operation of the network is made by all its participants: they can put any question to a vote for a small fee.

In June 2018, the developers intend to launch Dash Evolution, a decentralized platform for cryptocurrency payments with minimal fees for sellers and zero for customers.

8. IOTA (MIOTA)

The mid-market rate is $ 0.38

Market capitalization - over $ 1 billion

This is a new project different from other cryptocurrencies: the creation of an exchange network for the Internet of Things (Internet of Things - a computing network of physical objects with embedded technologies). IOTA appeared on the exchanges a few weeks ago.

The basis of the cryptocurrency is not the traditional blockchain (in this case, there are no blocks as such), but the Tangle technology, which allows you to make transactions without payments.

The peculiarity of the cryptocurrency is that the user cannot carry out a transaction without checking the previous two. Thus, it helps to increase the security of the network.

In this scheme, the stake is placed on carrying out micro- and even nanotransactions without any commissions (which, as you know, can be more than the transfer itself). The incentive in this case is the very use of the network: the more often the user does it, the more checks take place and, accordingly, the higher its efficiency.

It is stated that IBM and Qualcomm Inc. are actively exploring and testing IOTA-based solutions.

9. BitShares (BTS)

The mid-market rate is $ 0.27

Market cap - $ 708 million

BitShares is an electronic crypto trading platform, a decentralized cryptocurrency market based on blockchain technology. BTS is the built-in payment tool of this platform.

The network is based on a proof of stake, not a transaction, as is the case with Bitcoin. For the processes taking place on BitShares, the algorithm for launching decentralized autonomous companies (DAC - Decentralized Autonomous Companies) is responsible.

The peculiarity of the platform is the absence of the usual risks for such trading platforms: theft, blocking of funds on the account, closing the site, and so on.

10. Monero (XMR)

The mid-market rate is $ 47.7

Market cap - $ 701.5 million

It is an open source cryptocurrency that features anonymous monetary transactions. Monero works on the basis of the CryptoNote algorithm, which uses a blockchain-like transaction database.

Promising cryptocurrencies

The cryptocurrencies listed below are among the most expensive on the market.

Zcash (ZEC)

The mid-market rate is $ 342

Market capitalization - 532 thousand dollars

The peculiarity of this cryptocurrency is the confidentiality and selective transparency of transactions. Payment information is published on the public blockchain. However, Zcash uses a zero knowledge proof protocol: the sender, recipient, and transaction amount remain hidden.

The developers believe that this is an advanced blockchain.

Byteball (GBYTE)

The mid-market rate is $ 816

Market cap - $ 208.4 million

Byteball is called the next generation cryptocurrency. It does not have the usual blockchain, it works on the basis of a DAG (each new transaction refers to the previous "parent" transfers, forming a kind of "tree"). There is no mining in Byteball: transactions are confirmed by trusted users.

The developer, Anton Churyumov, used an unusual way of distributing the cryptocurrency: he gave it away for free to all bitcoin holders who confirmed their wallet on the Byteball network.

Gnosis (GNO)

The mid-market rate is $ 217

Market cap - $ 240.5 million

Gnosis is a decentralized platform built on top of Ethereum to create prediction markets, simulate upcoming events.

The main idea is to increase value due to user activity: the more projects on the platform, the more benefit.

How they tried to sell me expensive cosmetic procedures and what came of it

Free procedures to eliminate non-existent problems: it was possible not to spend a lot of money, but the hand was still reaching for the wallet and the loan agreement

“Why is it so expensive to treat teeth? Do I need to floss? " 10 questions to the dentist and answers to them

A qualified expert answers. What's happening? Lifehacker has a “” section, within which we launched a thematic day: we will invite a special guest who will answer your questions. This time you asked about dentistry. We chose the most interesting ones, and our invited guest, dentist and surgeon Maxim Vinokurov, answered them.