Cryptocurrencies are digital assets created to work as a medium of exchange. These currencies use cryptography for security purposes and control the creation of additional units. A central authority, banks, governments, and individuals have no control over cryptocurrency. To know more about cryptocurrencies in detail, read this article.
Other than Bitcoin, there are thousands of cryptocurrencies, but only a few have been able to take their place in the market against giants like Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, the growing popularity of these currencies is visible owing to the features that differentiate them from other existing ones.
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Zilliqa
Zilliqa, a new cryptocurrency based on the idea of sharding, has been a hit since its launch in late 2017. Zilliqa is one of the most innovative protocols currently available. Sharding is a concept that boosts network capacity as it expands in size. The network itself gets more efficient with each new node that joins. It provides a significant performance and scalability advantage over competing systems. According to Coindesk: “The Singapore-based startup claims it is developing software that can process thousands of transactions per second without compromising security or decentralization – something that bitcoin and Ethereum simply cannot do at scale.”
Zilliqa is going to be competitive with existing cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin. This is true to its lesser market value relative to these titans, roughly $632 million vs $140 billion for Bitcoin and $23 billion for Ethereum (both circa May 2018).
Solana (SOL)
Solana is a scalable blockchain network founded by Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017. This project was created to provide a better, more secure, and decentralized alternative to Ethereum. Solana targets high transaction volume dApps. It requires a network that is quick, simple, and inexpensive.
Before we delve into more details, it is very prudent to do your research and ask some questions like how to buy SOL?, what is SOL? and why should I buy SOL? about which a Crypto investor must know. For example, getting to know how to buy Solana?, you can use Binance as the best cryptocurrency exchange to be the answer to your question.
Moving forward, Solana is highly secure because it uses a proof-of-history consensus mechanism with an immutable clock. The consensus mechanism helps ensure the integrity of its blockchain by recording recent events in the past through time stamps to validate any action on the network.
Due to this unique architecture, all transactions are completed within 400 milliseconds, making it one of the fastest networks in the industry. Unlike other high-performing cryptos like Zilliqa (ZIL) and EOS, [Name] does not utilize sharding technology or delegated proof of stake (DPoS) as part of its consensus mechanism, which makes it both secure and decentralized at the same time.
SOL facilitates the transfer of value across its public ledger and enables developers to build dApps on top of its protocol layer to access its smart contract feature. Developing complicated apps, it can use the JavaScript programming language and the Rust programming language.
Cardano (ADA)
Cardano (ADA) has earned a reputation for being one of the most promising blockchain projects. It is no surprise that Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder and former CEO of Ethereum, is backing it. The ADA community is bullish on one of the cryptocurrencies to make an impression on the market. Thanks to the assistance of an industry heavyweight like Hoskinson.
The initiative began in September 2017 to build tools and platforms to assist businesses using blockchain technology. The purpose was to provide organizations with decentralized solutions without leaving their existing infrastructure behind. Cardano is also among the first mainstream cryptocurrencies to implement peer-reviewed security precautions such as multi-signature addresses for making withdrawals and transactions more secure than those around them.
Polkadot (DOT)
Polkadot (DOT) is a cryptocurrency. It was created in 2016 as Polkadot’s native coin and utilizes staking, governance, and para-chain auctions.
As said above, Polkadot serves as the native token of Polkadot. But unlike other prominent cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Polkadot has two tokens. They are known as DOT and KSM. DOT powers the network and its governance mechanism. You can freeze or lock your DOT and get voting rights for proposing new features or changes to the network’s protocol via a referendum system called on-chain governance. The council consists of multiple validators chosen among members who have put up more than 0.2 percent of the entire stake in the network as security deposits and implement the outcomes of these polls (via bonding). Additionally, it provides you with rewards when you run a validator node or participate in para chain auctions (which we will see later).
Kusama (KSM) is another project by Web3 Foundation that runs on Parity Technology. Polkadot is an experimental platform for early-stage development projects where developers can try out their new DApps and tech innovations before implementing them on the Polkadot mainnet. As a result, the Kusama and para chain booths at Web3Summit 2020 are early-stage projects seeking to bring their ideas to life on this experimental platform.
Cosmos (ATOM)
Cosmos uses a hub-and-spoke model that allows the connected chains to scale efficiently and provide security while retaining their autonomy.
The Cosmos SDK makes it easy for developers to build custom blockchains from scratch—a capability that sets it apart from competing projects. The SDK is modular and provides pluggable components such as governance and staking systems. It makes it easier for developers to customize every aspect of their blockchain, enabling them to create what they want while maintaining interoperability with all other blockchains within the Cosmos ecosystem.
Binance Coin (BNB)
The cryptocurrency industry is brimming with new ideas, and several new coins are giving tough competition to the giants like Bitcoin and Ethereum. If you are interested in getting into the game, you want to keep a few things in mind.
First, some background info on Binance Coin: Binance Coin (BNB) is a native digital currency running on the Ethereum smart contract platform. It also pays Binance exchange transaction fees. Then, when you buy or sell any of the hundreds of cryptocurrencies available for trade on the exchange, the charge is withdrawn from your account automatically. Later, these transaction fees are for distribution back to holders of BNB in proportion to their holdings at the time of purchase. If you have more BNB in your wallet than anyone else, you receive a portion! New cryptocurrency launches crash through their ICOs and goes away once they have made it big. The new coin is not an isolated event. Once all investors have bought in, it is more likely a slow-moving tide as we start seeing coins add features. It makes progress towards their real goals as we move closer and closer to mainstream adoption.
Ethereum Classic (ETH)
Ethereum Classic is the new kid on the block, initially created as an offshoot of Ethereum. But things took a turn when Ethereum forked into two different tokens: Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. The fork occurred after an attack on Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) in 2016. DAO is a smart contract that runs on a decentralized network of computers, where no central authority takes control. There was a hack in the system due to which millions of Ether (ETH) were stolen by hackers.
This led to a significant drop in price, where Ether’s value went down to $11 from $20 overnight! However, Vitalik Buterin, along with many notable ETH developers and community members decided to create a hard fork to avoid further losses in ETH’s value and get back what DAO had lost through hacking incidents. This gave birth to two distinct versions of Ethereum – ETH, and ETC (Ethereum Classic).
One can store ETC tokens in any wallet that supports ERC-20 token standards because these wallets are compatible with both versions (ETC and ETH). The most popular wallets supporting these standards include MyEtherWallet, Trezor Wallet, Ledger Nano S Wallet, etc.
Conclusion
In this article, we have gone through the details of cryptocurrencies and the competition between them on the market. While it may seem like a quick way to make easy money, it is essential to remember that these types of investments are not foolproof and come with risks not present in traditional investments. Before diving into cryptocurrency markets, do your due diligence: understand what you are investing in and why you think the value will go up or down. It is vital to keep up with any changes in cryptocurrency regulations, as recent developments have changed certain coins.
We have already established how other Cryptocurrencies are gaining popularity in value and giving tough competition to giants like Bitcoin and Ethereum. To summarize, these potential Cryptos include Zilliqa, Solano, Cardano, Polkadot, Cosmos, Binance Coin, and more. Each one provides a unique value proposition.
