Top 10 Popular Cryptos in 2018

Popular Cryptos are on everyone’s lips right now, and the Crypto-economy has taken society by storm.

The end of 2017 was marked with the glorious rise of Cryptos, making them almost the best thing since sliced bread. To the dismay of many, a huge correction followed in the period from January to April 2018, when Cryptos hit a very low point, but the good news is – every cloud has a silver lining – that the market has picked up again!

Are you on the hunt for cryptocurrency in 2018? Or are you still new to the Crypto-world and don’t know where to start? Obviously, everybody has heard of Bitcoin, the leader of the Crypto pack, but what about some of the other popular and seriously trending Cryptos? In this article, we’ll have a look at the Top 10 popular  Cryptos to buy and sell in 2018!

1. Bitcoin

Bitcoin (or BTC, its ticker symbol) clearly needs no introduction. It was the first Crypto in the history of blockchain technology, created in 2008 by mysterious developer, Satoshi Nakamoto.

If you’re a beginner, the mere availability of locations at which you can buy or sell Bitcoin online makes it one of the more accessible Cryptos – it’s almost always pinned to the top of most digital Crypto exchanges and is already accepted as an actual payment method by such juggernauts as Microsoft, Bloomberg, and several others.

2. Ethereum

Ethereum and its native token, Ether (ETH), is currently the second most valued Crypto, after Bitcoin. It was created by Vitalik Buterin in 2015.

A newer, arguably much more advanced Crypto, Ether boasts a much higher transaction speed when compared to Bitcoin, but its advantages don’t end there. If you’ve been thinking about launching your own Initial Coin Offering (ICO), the Ethereum blockchain is likely one you should consider as it allows the development of decentralized blockchain applications and the execution of smart contracts. Right now, almost half of the top 100 popular Cryptos are based on Ethereum’s network.

3. Ripple

Ripple (XRP) was created back in 2012 with the main aim of making international transfers faster and cheaper, positioning itself as a ‘global settlement network’. The initiative is, thus far, working pretty well, Ripple’s network is much quicker at processing payments and continues to line up multiple partnerships with global firms, such as UBS, RBC, UniCredit, and Santander.

What really makes Ripple stand out in the sea of Cryptos is its strict focus on international payments – a very clear use case. What’s more, the fact that it’s also being actively used in the ‘real’ world, lends a major boost to its credibility.

4. Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is the result of the first Bitcoin hard fork which occurred on 1st August, 2017. This fork happened due to disagreements regarding changes in Bitcoin’s code, specifically increasing the block size. Those who were in favor of this change, forked the cryptocurrency into a brand new Crypto – dubbed Bitcoin Cash.

Is BCH better than BTC? Technologically yes – especially in terms of transaction speed. But right now – BTC remains the juggernaut, if crypto market prices are anything to go by.

5. EOS

This Crypto was on the top list even before it actually launched! EOS was founded in 2017 by Dan Larimer through an ICO. Dan’s name should be familiar to those who use Bitshares or Steemit.

Effectively a rival to the already mentioned Ethereum (ETH) – EOS is a cryptocurrency token and blockchain which facilitates the implementation of smart contracts, allowing the development of decentralized blockchain applications. The main pros of EOS include it’s great scalability and use of multiple programming languages, including C+.

6. Stellar

Stellar (XLM) was created in 2015 by Jeb McCaleb, co-Founder of Ripple, so there’s no surprise that, just like Ripple, Stellar is also focussed on making international payments more effective.

However, unlike its closest competitor and all other cryptocurrencies, Stellar is more decentralized as it is a non-profit organization that aims to expand financial services globally to fight poverty and maximize individual potential.

7. Litecoin

Litecoin (LTC) was created back in 2011 by former Bitcoin employee, Charlie Lee. It’s based on the original Bitcoin blockchain and was essentially created with the aim of improving it.

Litecoin is a Crypto in its purest form and provides no platform for any further developments, like smart contracts or apps, yet, it’s managed to stick around for quite some time – seven years, to be exact – that’s why it’s almost always included in most Top 10 Crypto lists.

8. Cardano

As we’ve already seen, Crypto developers tend to be quite keen on personally launching more than one altcoin. So is the case with Charles Hoskinson, a co-founder of Ethereum, who also launched Cardano (ADA) in 2017. That’s right, it means that Cardano, just like Ether (and EOS), was developed as a platform for providing smart contracts and decentralized blockchain apps.

What potential does Cardano have in 2018? Wel, the Crypto token is often considered as one of the most advanced blockchain technologies ever created, often sharing that spot with EOS and NEO.

9. IOTA

IOTA and it’s native token, MIOTA  was created in 2015 and, in a sense, is definitely one of the most unique Cryptos out there. It’s the only one that, funnily enough, doesn’t actually use blockchain technology – instead using a special protocol called Tangle.

Iota proclaims itself to be the “next generation of distributed ledger technology”. It’s essential purpose has been defined by co-Founder, David Sonstebo is to build a “de facto standardized “Ledger of Everything.” Which basically means that MIOTA will allow data exchange between machines which populate the Internet of Things.

10. Tether

Formerly known as ‘RealCoin’, Tether (USDT) is a Crypto originally created as a stable digital alternative to the US dollar. Coins that are used as a substitute for the USD are called stable coins, and Tether is the most popular.

It’s digital asset surrounded in controversy of late, recently having issues with US authorities surrounding allegations of a potential price-manipulation scheme, following which several subpoenas have been issued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Popular Cryptos: Final Words of Wisdom

As you can see, there’s plenty of fish in the Crypto-sea. To date, there are about 2,000 popular Cryptos known to traders and investors.

Before buying into a Crypto, you need to consider two important things:

1. Choose a Crypto that has been in existence for over a year, as many altcoins never last more than just a few months.
2. Decide which strategy you want to follow and why you think you want to buy into a Cryptocurrency. Our recent blog post — the Top Ten Mistakes in Crypto — is a real gem that will definitely help you prevent slips, so be sure to check it out!

Thanks for reading!

The CoinMetro Team