Some say that the cryptocurrencies are the future of economics. Others disagree. Whatever your stand is, there is no doubt that these virtual currencies have become extremely popular in the past 8 years, being valued at about US$170 billion.  It all started with Bitcoin, the most famous of all cryptocurrencies, and then many others were launched thereafter. For those of us who are still clueless of the various cryptocurrencies available in the market today, let us discuss the various cryptocurrencies available in the Online Cryptocurrency Exchange available today.

1.      Bitcoin-Traded as BTC, it is the original cryptocurrency started by Mr. Satoshi Nakamoto. It is currently the market leader with an established reputation online and a huge community base powering this virtual currency.  In fact, some retailers like Overstock.com accept Bitcoin as payment while Amazon allows people to buy gift cards with this Cryptocurrency Exchange. Being the first cryptocurrency to be launched has meant that it has gained immense popularity amongst those who use cryptocurrencies. Currently, it boasts of a 57% market share with a market value of US$96 billion.

2.      Litecoin- Launched in 2012, Litecoin is a spinoff of Bitcoin, and uses most of Bitcoin’s code base. It supports much faster payments and more transaction volumes than Bitcoin, making it capable of launching payments in less than a second. It has an ‘easy to use’ algorithm that lets people mine these coins from the comfort of their homes. The creator of Litecoin envisioned  this cryptocurrency as ‘the silver to Bitcoin’s gold’ . Though Litecoin is valued lesser than Bitcoin, it is much more accessible than its bigger peer.

3.      Ethereum- This is a cryptocurrency system designed to help companies and coders to deploy applications on the distributed blockchain. Once deployed, there is an underlying token currency called ‘Ether’ that acts as a ‘fuel’ to power these applications. Many times, people refer to Ethereum as a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ that helps to power other applications like ticket sales, online gaming betting and more. Ethereum has a feature called smart contracts that aid exchanges transparently and safely.  Ethereum’s technology automatically enforces contracts, ensuring all the transactions are legal and safe. It is currently valued at $28 billion

4.      Monero- This is a cryptocurrency which was developed to beat Bitcoin against its weakest pillars-anonymity, security and decentralisation.  This is a currency that is completely untraceable-no hacker can track you or your purchases.

Monero uses a ring signature which combines the user’s signature with that of others, making it almost impossible for hackers to determine which one is true.

5.      Dogecoin-Initially created as a funny joke, this cryptocurrency named after a meme became serious business after its user base grew and thousands of people started joining its communities. Dogecoin(DOGE) is worth a massive 100 billion, each individual Dogecoin is worth fractions of a cent.  This is a cheap currency but it does have a massive following, especially on forums like Reddit.