You?ve probably heard about Bitcoins. Bitcoins are digital currency, also called “cryptocurrency”. You can use cryptocurrency to pay online, or to trade. Besides Bitcoins, there are several other kinds of cryptocurrency. In this article we described the most popular ones!
Bitcoin
The first cryptocurrency on our list is obviously the most well-known one: the Bitcoin (BTC). Bitcoin was created in 2009, making it the first cryptocurrency ever. The Bitcoin gained a lot of media-coverage due to its very quick rise in value. In 5 years, the value increased by about 10000%! That’s why a lot of people got into Bitcoin trading over the past years. Although Bitcoin gets the most media-coverage, there is some critique on the coin. Compared to other cryptocurrency, the transaction costs of Bitcoins are pretty high. The transfer time can also be quite long. Nevertheless, the Bitcoin will probably only get more popular in the future, as more and more webshops accept it as a payment option.
Ethereum / Ether
The second most-popular cryptocurrency is called “Ethereum” (ETH). Technically, Ethereum isn’t a real cryptocurrency but a “blockchain technology”. However, there is a cryptocurrency based on Ethereum, called “Ether”. This coin isn’t used to pay in shops like Bitcoin is, so instead of cryptocurrency it’s often called a “token”. An advantage of Ether is that it’s way quicker than Bitcoin. It also has way lower transaction costs, and it’s very safe. Despite the fact that Ether isn’t used to pay, the blockchain possibilities are way more flexible than with Bitcoin. That’s why Ether is expected to grow even bigger in the future as well.
Litecoin
The next one on our list is Litecoin (LTC). Litecoin is also known as the “little brother” of Bitcoin. However; this doesn’t mean that it has less capability! Litecoin is very well developed. It is very safe, and easy to buy. Compared to Bitcoin, Litecoin is very affordable. This makes it the perfect substitute for Bitcoin! Litecoin is also capable of processing transactions 4 times bigger than Bitcoin and it has lower transaction costs. There is a maximum amount of 84 miljoen Litecoins that can be mined. When this amount is reached in the future, the price of Litecoin is expected to rise very high.
