Ten of the largest and most well-
known cryptocurrencies - and
the key facts you need to know
about them.
Cryptocurrencies are typically ranked by their
market capitalization, and with good reason: the value of a cryptocurrency is a
direct reflection of investor appetite. But behind the numbers, there are more
complex stories about each cryptocurrency.
1. Bitcoin BTC
Bitcoin is the original blockchain-based
cryptocurrency. Created in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakomoto, bitcoin
has since attracted millions of investors, becoming the largest cryptocurrency
by market cap.
Bitcoin is inherently scarce: only 21 million Bitcoin will ever be minted. The
crypto’s proof-of-work blockchain has become a template for other
cryptocurrencies in building decentralized consensus mechanisms.
2. Ethereum ETH
Ethereum was created in 2014 by Vitalik Buterin, a
Russian-Canadian programmer, and Gavin Wood, an English computer scientist who
later contributed to other cryptocurrency projects. The Ether currency is built
on top of the Ethereum blockchain, which operates smart contracts.
Unlike Bitcoin, which investors primarily view as a store of value, Ether’s
value derives from its enablement of smart contracts in decentralized
applications. Most “DeFi” (decentralized finance) projects are built on
Ethereum. Ether’s supply is unconstrained, meaning the total number of Ether
minted is still undecided, but will be determined by Ethereum’s community
members. The network is scheduled to transition from a proof-of-work mechanism
to a proof-of-stake mechanism in the near future.
3. Stellar XLM
Stellar is an open source blockchain whose native
currency is Lumen. The network was founded in 2014 by Jed McCaleb, a
cryptocurrency evangelist who previously co-founded Ripple Labs and the
infamous Mt. Gox Exchange.
Stellar’s goal is to enable inexpensive transactions in underdeveloped markets.
The blockchain eschewed a standard mining network for transaction validations,
relying instead on what’s known as a “federated byzantine agreement” algorithm.
4. Binance Coin BNB
Binance coin is the brainchild of Changpeng Zhao,
CEO and Founder of Binance, a leading global exchange for buying and selling
cryptocurrency. The BNB token was created with the aim of facilitating
transactions on the Binance network, allowing users to pay their trading fees
and access other products and services, such as Binance’s decentralized
exchange.
Users of BNB enjoy lower trading fees on Binance than those paying in other
cryptocurrencies. Since its creation, BNB’s popularity has grown beyond its
utility on the Binance exchange, attracting speculators and day traders. BNB
uses a proof-of-stake consensus model.
5. Cardano ADA
Cardano was founded in 2015 by Charles Hoskinson, a
computer scientist and cofounder of Ethereum, who left the project over
disagreements with its other founders. Cardano’s cryptocurrency, ADA, is
secured by a proof-of-stake protocol named Ouroboros, which runs both
permissioned and permissionless blockchains.
The Cardano Foundation, a Switzerland based not-for-profit group, supervises the
development of the project. The group has carried out extensive research and
experimentation, writing over 90 papers on blockchain technology. Much of this
academic work underlies Cardano’s technology.
6. Dogecoin DOGE
Dogecoin began in 2013 as a joke. The token’s
mascot appropriates the doge internet meme, and was intended as an ironic take
on the growth of so-called “altcoins” (cryptos that aren’t Bitcoin).
Dogecoin has a large, unconstrained supply, which means the coin could inflate
infinitely. The cryptocurrency attracted millions of new investors in 2021,
when Tesla CEO Elon Musk, NBA owner Mark Cuban, and other celebrities began
tweeting about the erstwhile little-known cryptocurrency.
7. XRP XRP
XRP is the native currency of the Ripple
blockchain. It was designed to serve as a currency of exchange within a
remittance network used by financial institutions. The supply of XRP coins is
finite: only 100 billion tokens will ever be minted. The RippleNet payments
network is used by leading global banks and payment providers, such as Bank of
America and American Express.
In 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued XRP’s parent company and
two of its executives, founder and executive chairman Chris Larsen and CEO Brad
Garlinghouse. The SEC alleged that XRP token sales were unregistered securities
offerings.
8. Litecoin LTC
Litecoin was created in 2011 by Charlie Lee, a
former Coinbase and Google engineer. It was designed to be a faster version of
Bitcoin: new blocks are created every 2.5 minutes, which is four times faster
than Bitcoin’s 10-minute block intervals. Litecoin’s faster transaction
throughput makes it a more nimble unit of currency.
Litecoin’s supply is also four times larger than Bitcoin’s: a maximum of 84
million Litecoin tokens will be mined. Like Bitcoin, Litecoin relies on a
proof-of-work consensus mechanism, although it uses a different hashing
algorithm that makes mining easier for individual investors.
9. Bitcoin Cash BCH
Bitcoin Cash is a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain.
Launched in 2017, the Bitcoin alternative features larger block sizes, in order
to facilitate more transactions and improve scalability. Bitcoin Cash uses the
same proof-of-work consensus mechanism as Bitcoin, and it also has capped its
supply at 21 million tokens.
Supporters of Bitcoin Cash tend to believe its currency should be used as a medium
of exchange, whereas Bitcoin supporters view their favored crypto’s use as a
store of value. In 2018, Bitcoin Cash was also subject to a hard fork, after a
dispute over block size; Bitcoin SV was the result.
10. Chainlink LINK
Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that
links smart contracts (like those on Ethereum-run blockchains), with off-chain
informational sources like data providers and APIs.
The Chainlink token, LINK, incentivizes smart contract providers and investors
to use this data. Chainlink does not feature its own blockchain; instead, its
protocol can run on many blockchains simultaneously.
However, Each has its own technological properties, appeal to buyers, and
unique backstories.
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