Following up last time’s Introduction to Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies, we proudly share our Nomadic Guide to Cryptocurrencies. This lists many of the major and rising blockchain-based projects, that are, or happen to have, inherent cryptocurrencies.

It’s a simple article of reference, with links and some historical relevance. As with everything in the crypto world, perform your own due diligence before buying any crypto. This is only one person’s perspective and suggestions.

Guide to Cryptocurrencies – Mainstays

When I began following crypto there was well under a thousand currencies – now there are nearly 6000. CoinMarketCap is a useful website for browsing through charts and history of all recorded crypto.

Bitcoin (BTC) – The granddaddy that kicked it all off, and to which every other crypto is compared. Sure, it’s useful to have a solid amount in your collection. It’s a strong cryptocurrency and nothing else. Bitcoin’s value is designed to regularly increase, through “halving” (where new supply of mining is cut in half), and its finite supply. But consider the ethical questions that lurk under Bitcoin’s surface: The vast amount of wasted energy to mine Bitcoin, and the increasing suspect global finance organisations loading up and manipulating its value. Trading Bitcoin is becoming like investing in fossil fuels. Consider trading BTC for ETH. More info on Bitcoin here…

Ethereum (ETH) – #2 to Bitcoin and, because of its practical applications, is projected by many to become MORE valuable than Bitcoin one day. Unlike Bitcoin – which is simply a cryptocurrency – Ethereum is a platform atop which other blockchain platforms and applications are built. More users are turning to these apps, that are (very) slowing replacing traditional web apps. Consider this – ETH is roughly 1/40 of BTC’s price right now, but could eventually exceed BTC’s value, possibly within a few years. We’ll share additional reasons to load up on Ethereum soon. More info on Ethereum here…

Ripple (XRP) – Ripple is one of the biggest and most established cryptocurrencies, notably from its early adoption as a platform for transferring funds between major banks. It’s not a real blockchain, and its ties to banks are both a positive and negative depending on your perspective about the banking industry. More about Ripple here…

DASH (DASH) – Despite rapidly dropping down the ranks, DASH Cash is one of the more established cryptocurrencies. It was originally a fork of Bitcoin that headed in new directions, such as being a convenient, fairly low cost international money transfer network. More about DASH here…

The Second Tier of Cryptocurrencies

This is a mere handful of hundreds of established and valuable coins.

Tether (USDT) – Highly suspect and controversial project, contrasted by being a highly valuable resource in the crypto world. Basically USDT “tethers” itself to the value of the US Dollar. This means there is a handy digital asset that you can monitor the USD against BTC, and trade in and out of. THIS IS NOT AN INVESTMENT COIN! Tether’s founders are in serious trouble for market manipulation and are heavily under investigation. They created a dodgy fake bank on a Wix site to help their cause. Beware. If Tether falls, Bitcoin could crash with it.

Bitcoin Cash, Coin, SV, etc – Offshoots and official forks of Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash gained notoriety years ago when Cash split from Bitcoin, meaning any BTC you had magically created Cash out of thin air – for nothing. Yes, crypto is largely modern, digital economic scamming.

Binance Coin (BNB) – One of the major risers from one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges. Binance is a useful platform to join – you can sign up here. Their BNB coin is useful to reduce overall fees.

Crypto.com Coin (CRO) – Similar to Binance BNB, CRO is the in-house digital asset for Crypto.com (formerly Monaco). They are an accredited crypto VISA card. Their coin is a high, consistent riser into the crypto stratosphere, and a useful, easy app. Note that they sometimes promise more than they can actually get away with (see: original credit cashback promises, MCO offering, etc). Sign up here for a good bonus – use code duq6omcaet

EOS (EOS) – A blockchain development platform with over $2B in market value, and a venture capital division. Learn more about EOS here.

Dogecoin (DOGE) – This was a joke project that copy/pasted Bitcoin’s code in the early days, and attained cult status. Meanwhile Dogecoin maintains a market cap of around $400m – demonstrating the absurdity of cryptocurrency. More info on Dogecoin here…

Litecoin (LTC) – Litecoin is another “open source P2P currency” that has been around since crypto’s first mainstream breakthrough. There is little else particularly innovative or exciting about it. More info on Litecoin here…

Guide to Cryptocurrencies – Intriguing Cryptos and Blockchain Projects

As a basic guideline, if a well-backed project is wholly useful to the future of a better humanity, it suggests enormous value. Being the latest, flashest coin has little to no staying power. When you research a project, evaluate its history, team, morals and projected timeline. Do experts consider the project legit? What are the potential pitfalls? Any project that can answer all of these questions with little hesitation, are worth tracking.

HOLO (HOT) – Holochain is my favourite long-running project. It’s a revolutionary post-blockchain platform superior to Ethereum in numerous ways. It’s leaner and faster because, instead of global consensus like other blockchains, it is P2P. It doesn’t even require the Internet to transact. It’s a great time to invest in Holo, while they remain in Alpha mode – the price will spike at the forthcoming Beta. Furthermore, their Holo.Host P2P hosting solution has the potential to disrupt Dropbox, Google Docs and iCloud – while paying everybody for contributing storage space. More info on Holochain here…

IOTA is a long-time project geared around distributed ledgers among Internet of Things devices. For instance, harnessing the computing power of smart fridges and washing machines. IOTA is based on Ethereum, that will greatly improve efficiency and coin value upon the forthcoming rollout of ETH 2.0. More information on IOTA here…

DeFi (Decentralised Finance) is a rising, lucrative crypto trend to follow. It’s about financial applications building upon blockchains. Many are built on Ethereum, which further supports loading up on ETH more than BTC.

Power Ledger is about decentralising power control and investing in while improving low-cost renewable power access. One can buy and sell excess power. More about Power Ledger here..

Monero (XMR) is a private digital currency. As proof-of-work, it involves wasteful mining, that might not be an efficient process moving forward. More on Monero here..

Cardano (ADA) is another proof-of-stake blockchain and consistent top 10 cryptocurrency. More info on Cardano here…

Some of these projects (and coins) will fall when more efficient methods (like Ethereum 2.0 and Holochain) further emerge. Part of the risk and opportunity of crypto is determining which projects have legs for the future. If it’s just another overhyped coin that is mined and serves no other purpose – beware.

Next time…

We hope you enjoyed this week’s Nomadic Guide to Cryptocurrencies, and have learned something new about crypto projects. If you haven’t yet signed up for various sites and services, remember to check our Beginner’s Guide to Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency.

In coming episodes we’ll touch on more advanced things like price volatility, understanding The Bounce, and how to securely store your cryptocurrency. We’ll also be explaining why it’s a great time to load up on Ethereum and Holochain.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please send them our way!

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