As the world becomes more connected, people are looking for ways to make money from home. Fortunately, there are plenty of viable options with the right direction and focus. One such opportunity is through the booming digital currency and blockchain platforms like […]
Make Money Online With Steem
In 2019, many people are looking towards the possibilities of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a way to make money online. While this is a very real opportunity, it’s also important to have a safety net. One option is to look into alternative investments like staking in a DeFi (Decentralized Finance) portfolio or investing in a startup.
Is Bitcoin (BTC) The Best Crypto To Invest In?
Since its inception in 2009, Bitcoin has captivated the world with its steady climb from less than a dollar to nearly $20,000 per coin. The cryptocurrency continues to break new ground as interest in, and investment in, the first ever decentralized digital currency continue to rise.
Bitcoin has many attractive features. It is extremely immutable, meaning that it cannot be altered once it’s been created. Bitcoin’s decentralized nature also means that there is no single point of failure. If a third party (i.e. a bank, government agency, or some other centralized organization) attempts to interfere with the system, they have the ability to take down the entire network.
That being said, there are many other cryptos that offer similar, even superior, investment opportunities. Let’s take a look at some of the alternatives.
The Top Five Cryptos To Invest In In 2019
While the rise of Bitcoin over the last decade has been remarkable, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other cryptocurrencies with exciting stories behind them. The following five coins offer excellent investment opportunities, and have the potential to rise in value over the coming months and years.
Each of these cryptos are undergoing something of a resurgence in interest in light of Bitcoin’s incredible performance over the last year and the general bear market that many believe we’re heading into. While that may be true for the majority of cryptocurrencies, these five coins offer unique propositions and tangible benefits to interested investors. Let’s take a quick look at each of them.
Litecoin (LTC)
With a market cap of nearly $5 billion, Litecoin is the second largest cryptocurrency (after Bitcoin itself). However, unlike Bitcoin, Litecoin was not originally designed as a cryptocurrency but as a way to increase the performance and speed of the original bitcoin protocol. Litecoin was created by Charlie Lee, who also happens to be the former head of Google’s cryptocurrency department.
As a result of its humble beginnings, Litecoin is often seen as a ‘silver’ version of Bitcoin. That being said, while Litecoin has the same underlying technology as Bitcoin, it is a completely different animal. Since it was designed with specific use cases in mind (i.e. fast, affordable international payments), it does not offer the same level of flexibility and security as Bitcoin. That being said, Litecoin is definitely a cryptocurrency that you should know […]
Ethereum (ETC)
Ethereum is the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and the second largest blockchain platform. The cryptocurrency was originally devised as a ‘layer’ on top of Bitcoin but evolved into a standalone currency. Like Litecoin, Ethereum was also designed with the needs of global traders and financial institutions in mind.
Ethereum is a decentralized network with a capitol “E.” Much like Bitcoin, Ethereum has no centralized authority and powers of validation and execution are distributed throughout the network. However, whereas Bitcoin facilitates a peer-to-peer network, Ethereum is more of a ‘permissioned’ network, meaning that only authorized participants can use the currency. As a result, all participants in the ethereum network must obey the rules and guidelines set out by the system. This makes it a more restrictive environment than Bitcoin. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a coin that is both relatively simple and stable, Ethereum is a great investment opportunity.
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple is the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and the firm that maintains the RippleNet global payments network. Ripple is traded on a number of cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, HitBTC, and Kucoin. Ripple was originally designed to enable institutions to send money around the world instantly. In practice, Ripple has created an efficient, low-cost global payments network that facilitates a variety of financial transactions, including international payments and remittances. Ripple has the added benefit of providing a tamper-proof record of all transactions, and it does so without the need for a trusted third party. For those interested in international payments, Ripple offers a number of […]
Cardano (ADA)
Cardano is the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and the third largest blockchain platform. Like Ethereum, Cardano was also originally designed as a ‘layer’ on top of Bitcoin but has since evolved into a stand-alone cryptocurrency. Cardano is currently undergoing an explosion in popularity and is one of the few cryptocurrencies that can be used to purchase goods and services on Amazon.com. Naturally, with the rise in popularity, comes the opportunity for investors to cash in. Cardano is a great investment option due to its strong community and the ever-expanding list of use cases and applications for the […]
Bitcoin SV (BSV)
Finally, let’s not forget about Bitcoin SV, the cryptocurrency that is the culmination of everything that was wrong with Bitcoin and the SegWit2x hard fork. This ‘new’ cryptocurrency isn’t actually new at all; it was created specifically to replace Bitcoin after the infamous and disastrous SegWit2x hard fork.
What made Bitcoin SV so problematic was that it was created with virtually no consideration to or involvement from the community. The result is a coin that is completely uncurated, and almost entirely geared towards […]
The Top Six Cryptos To Avoid In 2019
The cryptocurrencies mentioned so far all have amazing investment potential and have benefited from the ongoing cryptocurrency boom. However, that doesn’t mean that all cryptocurrencies are created equal. There are a number of lesser known but no less promising cryptocurrencies that you should avoid investing in.
These are the six cryptocurrencies that you should avoid in 2019.
Each of these six cryptocurrencies are designed for darknet markets and other illicit purposes, and they are also highly volatile. Consequently, if you’re looking for a relatively safe and secure investment opportunity, you might want to steer clear of these cryptos.
In particular, let’s take a look at Monero. Monero is one of the most popular and well-known cryptocurrencies. It is also one of the few cryptocurrencies that offer complete anonymity to users. Naturally, a lot of people are attracted to Monero because of its complete privacy features. However, just because something is private, it doesn’t mean that it’s secure. In fact, one of the main ways that law enforcement and government agencies are getting access to the darknet is through malware and other types of […]
What Is Bitcoin Mining?
If you’re curious about cryptocurrency mining, you might want to take a quick gander at the following video, which provides a decent overview of the subject.
Basically, mining is how cryptocurrencies are created. Only a limited number of coins are ‘mineable,’ and they are distributed as rewards to those who contribute to the network through data center infrastructure and the securing of transactions. In order to create a single cryptocurrency, many smaller mining units come together to form a pool. This pool is then rewarded with newly created coins for contributing to the network. In the case of Bitcoin, the reward is 12.5 BTC every […]
Mining is a tricky business, and it requires a lot of investment. Therefore, in the interest of keeping things simple, many individuals and institutions choose to use specialized mining hardware, called ASICs, which were originally designed for the mining industry.
The Rise In Cryptocurrency Investment
Since the late 2017 boom, interest and investment in cryptocurrencies has soared. According to HitBTC, more than $16 billion has been invested in cryptocurrencies in the last two years. That’s a lot of interest in a short amount of time. And it’s not just a U.S. phenomenon; according to Coinmarketcap, around $15 billion has been invested globally in cryptocurrencies since the beginning of 2019.