Cryptocurrencies are Giving Stocks a Bit of Competition
It has been theorised that if Bitcoin were to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, then it would rank seventh when it comes to overall market capitalisation.
When taken together as a whole, the top ten cryptocurrencies would amount to more than $1.2 trillion in value. Bitcoin is the oldest and most popular cryptocurrency at the moment, but other notable digital currencies are Ethereum, Cardano, Dogecoin, and Ripple XRP.
Market capitalisation for Bitcoin refers to the theoretical value of all Bitcoins in circulation, and currently, that amount surpasses the stock valuation of some of the largest companies out there. Bitcoin’s current market capitalisation is even higher than Disney and Mastercard’s stocks put together. However, Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency that is giving stocks competition.
The other most notable cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Cardano, and Ripple have all experienced a surge in popularity ever since they were established. They are usually referred to as “altcoins”, a term used to refer to any other cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin. And right now, these altcoins have all reached a market capitalisation high enough to be valued at billions of dollars. If these cryptocurrencies were to be on the traditional stock exchanges, they would be considered unicorn companies in their own right. When put together, the top 10 currencies of the world would amount to $2.1 trillion in value.
Cryptocurrencies will inevitably have a large part to play in the future of finance, and if you’ve already got your financial priorities ironed out, then maybe investing in it is for you. Visit Bitcoin Superstar to start cryptocurrency trading and diversify your portfolio.
Other specific cryptocurrencies may possibly be traded in larger volumes depending on the day, but according to the overall market capitalisation, here are the cryptocurrencies that continue to remain in the top 10:
Bitcoin
Being the first established cryptocurrency, it has had over a decade to amass a following, and it has also had time to grow large enough that select use cases for it have emerged, such as its viability to be used as a medium of exchange for online transactions. Bitcoin is still the most dominant cryptocurrency among investment portfolios for investors all across the spectrum. It is also the cryptocurrency that has the most media coverage and often makes the headlines, helping boost the reputation of other altcoins.
Ethereum
Aside from being a prominent cryptocurrency, Ethereum also doubles as a platform for the creation of other crypto applications. The network makes use of smart contracts, which has shown to have the potential to innovate our current methods of governing finance. Other cryptocurrencies like Tether and Binance Coin are actually based on the technology provided by Ethereum, making it able to retain its status as the second-largest cryptocurrency in the market.
Cardano
Cardano has been labelled as an environmentally friendly cryptocurrency since it is structured to operate in a way that avoids the energy-intensive process of mining coins, which is primarily seen with Bitcoin mining. It is also the first and largest cryptocurrency to centre its operations around a “proof of stake” protocol. Using such a model allows those who have holdings in Cardano to take a vote on which direction they want the cryptocurrency. Cardano has also been used as a model for several real-world projects, from tracking fresh agricultural produce to making educational credentials tamper-proof.
Dogecoin
This cryptocurrency started out with a cute Shiba Inu dog pop culture reference, but with all the attention that it received right after Elon Musk publicly announced his support for it, it quickly rose to popularity. Dogecoin was primarily used to tip people on forums, and occasionally it has also been a way to send in donations. It is one of the few cryptocurrencies that does not have a hard limit on how many coins it can produce, allowing it to have an infinite amount of coins.
Solana
Upon its creation, Solana was primarily intended to be used in decentralised finance solutions. The idea was to use the blockchain as a platform that the applications can run on. At the moment, there are at least 304 decentralised apps built on Solana. Part of its appeal among application developers is the fact that it has the ability to integrate tokens from other networks. It is also worth noting that instead of ‘proof of work’ or ‘proof of stake’ protocols, Solana uses a ‘proof of history’ protocol, which involves having the computers on the network process transactions and agree on the order of events.
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