A cryptocurrency is a virtual currency that uses strong cryptography and ensures the secure financial transactions. The decentralized control of each cryptocurrency works through distributed ledger technology that serves as a public financial transaction database. Top 10 Cryptocurrencies by Market Capitalization are:
1. BITCOIN- Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a form of electronic cash. It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user-to-user on the peer-to-peer Bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries. It was developed by Satoshi Nakamoto and was released as an open source. Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process called mining. Bitcoin has been criticized for its use in illegal transactions, its high electricity consumption, price volatility, thefts from exchanges, and the possibility that bitcoin is an economic bubble. Currently, Market capitalization of bitcoin is $64,140,847,078 (at the time of writing).
2. RIPPLE (XRP) – Ripple is a real-time gross settlement system, currency exchange and remittance network created by Ripple Labs Inc. Ripple purports to enable “secure, instantly and nearly free global financial transactions of any size with no chargebacks.” Ripple relies on a commonly shared ledger, which is a distributed database storing information about all Ripple accounts. Currently, Market capitalization of Ripple is $13,553,207,415 (at the time of writing).
3. ETHEREUM- Ether is a cryptocurrency whose blockchain is generated by the Ethereum platform. Ether can be transferred between accounts and used to compensate participant mining nodes for computations performed. Ethereum was proposed in late 2013 by Vitalik Buterin, a cryptocurrency researcher and programmer. The system went live on 30 July 2015, with 72 million coins “premined”. This accounts for about 70 percent of the total circulating supply in 2018. Currently, Market capitalization of Ether is $13,239,604,566 (at the time of writing).
4. BITCOIN CASH- Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency and a payment network. In relation to bitcoin, it is characterized variously as a spin-off, a strand, a product of a hard fork, an offshoot, a clone, a second version, or an altcoin. The naming of Bitcoin Cash is contentious; it is sometimes referred to as Bcash. Currently, Market capitalization of Bitcoin Cash is $2,373,018,355 (at the time of writing).
5. EOS.IO- EOS.IO is a blockchain protocol powered by the native cryptocurrency EOS. The protocol emulates most of the attributes of a real computer including hardware (CPU(s) & GPU(s) for processing, local/RAM memory, hard-disk storage) with the computing resources distributed equally among EOS cryptocurrency holders. Currently, Market capitalization of EOS.IO is $2,202,994,582 (at the time of writing).
6. STELLAR- Stellar is an open-source, decentralized protocol for digital currency to fiat currency transfers which allows cross-border transactions between any pair of currencies. The Stellar protocol is supported by a nonprofit, the Stellar Development Foundation. Currently, the Market capitalization of Stellar is $2,042,776,266 (at the time of writing).
7. TETHER- Tether is a controversial cryptocurrency with tokens issued by Tether Limited, which claims that each token issued is backed by one United States dollar though they may not necessarily be redeemed through the Tether platform. Tether is called a stablecoin because it is designed to always be worth $1.00. Currently, the Market capitalization is $1,968,157,051 (at the time of writing).
8. LITECOIN- Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and open-source software project released under the MIT/X11 license. Creation and transfer of coins are based on an open source cryptographic protocol and is not managed by any central authority. Litecoin was an early bitcoin spinoff or altcoin, starting in October 2011. Currently, the Market capitalization is $1,937,516,315.
9. TRON- Tron will work in the same way that other content networks work: creators produce content and consumers purchase it. Other applications can be built and leverage the same resources, and the value of TRX hinges in part on the execution of code within the Tron network. Currently, the market capitalization of TRON is $1,576,802,584 (at the time of writing).
10. BITCOIN SV- Bitcoin SV (Bitcoin Satoshi Vision), the declared goal of the project is to realize the alleged vision of Craig Wright who claims himself to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin. However, these claims are not reliable due to the lack of a proof of knowledge of the private keys controlling the first bitcoins. Bitcoin SV is considered a useless currency by many crypto enthusiasts. Currently, the Market capitalization of Bitcoin SV is $1,471,817,930 (at the time of writing).
