Crypto Trading: Top 5 Cryptocurrencies to Invest in for 2018

Cryptocurrencies have risen exponentially in the past few months due to which they have become a popular investment option. Bitcoin, regarded as the top cryptocurrency, has attracted a larger number of traders and investors due to its historic rise in value. It has become a given that investing in the top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can be a very profitable long term investment. There are a variety of cryptocurrencies that can be found these days, which can cause some confusion amongst people. If you want to invest in this vehicle, you can go for the top 5 cryptocurrencies that will reign in the market in 2018:

1) Bitcoin (BTC)

Obviously, since it is the most recognized cryptocurrency, it is no surprise that it is on top of the list of best cryptocurrencies to invest in. It has become a digital currency used all over the world and is based on a peer to peer technology system where all transactions are recorded in publicly distributed ledgers that are called blockchain. These days, people are also trading Bitcoins for goods and services with vendors who are willing to accept cryptocurrency payments. Debit or credit cards can be used for making instant purchases of Bitcoin. As far as storing is concerned, Bitcoin wallets are used to ensure they are safe and secure.

Bitcoin Pros

One of the best benefits of Bitcoin is that it can be used anonymously, but this has also become a cause for concern due to legal reasons. Therefore, there are some governments that have imposed a ban on the use and trade of Bitcoins. However, it has been stated by various industry insiders that Bitcoin here to stay. It was launched in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto and had been the only virtual currency available in the market at that time. Currently, it is the most expensive cryptocurrency of them all as it has crossed the $15,000 mark and is accepted in a large number of countries, making it a good investment option.

2) Ethereum (ETH)

In the hierarchy of best cryptocurrency to invest in, Ethereum is considered second to Bitcoin because it has also exhibited impressive growth rates in the last year or so. Thus, it has proven itself to be a real rival for Bitcoin and a major game changer. There is no denying that Ethereum is one of the most promising cryptocurrencies that was introduced in 2015 by 19-year-old Vitalik Buterin. In simple terms, it is a decentralized software platform that allows Distributed Applications (DApps) and smart contracts to be developed and run without any fraud, downtime, third party interference or control.

Ethereum Pros

The use of blockchains is the biggest difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin. For the latter, the blockchain records contracts, which means it shows how digital funds have been moved from one place to another. In contrast, Ethereum has expanded this idea because its blockchain makes use of a more complex scripting language and complex applications can be made with its smart contracts that have a wide range of potential uses. These features have brought Ethereum into the spotlight and corporations such as Samsung, Cisco, Mastercard, Microsoft, BP, Intel, Toyota and some other market giants.

3) Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

One of the most popular hardforks that have sprouted from Bitcoin is Bitcoin Cash. According to market capitalization, this is the third largest cryptocurrency in the market. It began when all investors got the same amount of Bitcoin Cash as BTC i.e. transactions are finished when a ‘block’ is added to the blockchain. Generally, there are approximately 2,000 transactions in a 1MB Bitcoin block and the processing time is 10 minutes. In comparison, Visa can handle 2,000 transactions in one second, which means that scaling has been hampering Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Cash Pros

Therefore, Bitcoin Cash acts as a solution to the scalability issue found in Bitcoin. The block size is increased to 8MB. The market capitalization of Bitcoin Cash is $11,361,359,620 and the cost of 1 unit is $673, which is twice that of its launch price. Hence, all those people who weren’t able to invest in Bitcoin when its price was below $1,000, they now have the opportunity of investing Bitcoin cash, which is the ‘future Bitcoin’. It may have had a humble beginning, but in November its price rose to $1800, which is six times its original listing price.

4) Ripple (XRP)

It is the fourth largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization and is regarded as a transaction protocol for global payments. Right now, an open source internet protocol, native currency and consensus ledger called XRP has been used for developing Ripple. You can find almost 100 billion XRP and Ripple has been implemented in the systems of various companies like Santander, UniCredit and even some important banks like Bank of England, Bank of America and Bank of Japan.

Ripple Pros

Its per unit cost is only around $1.40 making it very easy to buy in large amounts and its market capitalization is about $1098,369,794.11 (on January 18, 2018). Ripple can offer a very high return for those who are looking for a long-term investment option.

5) LiteCoin (LTC)

This cryptocurrency was created in 2011 by an ex-Google employee named Charlie Lee. He introduced it as an alternative to Bitcoin and his aim was to reduce the time needed for confirming new transactions and modifying the way of mining Bitcoin to allow more and more people to participate. In addition, this cryptocurrency is also designed to produce more coins. Bitcoin has a coin limit of 21 million whereas Litecoin’s limit is 84 million coins. Bitcoin has about 16.7 million circulating units whereas Litecoin’s circulation is 54 million.

Litecoin Pros

The breakthrough for this cryptocurrency came in May 2017 when ‘Coin Base’, the most popular cryptocurrency exchange began using Litecoin along with Bitcoin and Ethereum. Since then, Litecoin has also come in the notice of investors. Moreover, this cryptocurrency is also making use of the ‘segregated witness’ technology, which can fix problems that haven’t been solved by Bitcoin as yet. This solution adds more capacity and also cuts down the transaction fee. Amongst websites that have begun to accept payments in virtual currency, Litecoin is the second most cryptocurrency accepted.

What are your thoughts about these top cryptocurrencies for 2018? Is your own experience with them positive, negative, mixed? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.