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It’s not a typical currency in terms of Great Britain’s Pound Sterling or the United States Dollar, it’s not got a physical form, and nor does it act as an official currency of any state around the world. It’s based on data online, and you have to mine data in order to find these coins. Despite it being nothing more than a bit of digital code though, it can be extremely valuable. But what are the best ones to look out for and invest in? Well, let’s take a look.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin, probably the biggest and most well-known cryptocurrency of the lot. The one that really kicked off the whole cryptocurrency frenzy. The one that even those who have no idea about the subject, have still likely heard of. But why?
First introduced in 2009, Bitcoin was nothing more than an idea. Its value was so low, it was worth less than nothing, but that changed in 2010, but the reasons why differ depending on who you ask. Overnight, Bitcoin saw its value rise from $0.0008 to $0.08 for a single Bitcoin. Ok, so it isn’t worth a lot yet, but it’s a massive increase of 9,900% and a major boost for its value.
It wasn’t until 2017 though where Bitcoin made big headlines when its value hit an all-time high of around $20,000 for 1 Bitcoin. That’s some increase from the original $0.0008 back in its early days. Over the years, Bitcoin’s valuation has fluctuated all over the place but now holds a steady average of between $7,000 and $9,000, with it jumping up and falling down now and again.
For those who invested early, they made a lot of money. For those who invested late and at the peak value for the cryptocurrency, they lost a lot, and probably are holding on in the hope it rises that high once again. But it remains one of the most popular and widely used cryptocurrencies, and because of how high the value has hit, it remains a favourite for investors to put their money into.
Ethereum
Ethereum is seen as another popular cryptocurrency, launched much later than Bitcoin in 2015. It was set up to rival the main cryptocurrency, and although its value still has a long way to go to catch up to Bitcoin, it has managed to become the second-largest crypto in the market, valued currently at around $598. But Ethereum isn’t an actual currency, it’s a blockchain platform, the actual currency itself is Ether.
One reason to look at investing in it now is that the team behind it is running up to the launch of Ethereum 2.0, which some investors predict will cause the price to shoot up. If that is the case, the value could see a lot of people making a lot of money overnight.
What makes Ethereum even more appealing is how the team who created it is putting lots of work into making software development more secure using their blockchain technology.
And Ethereum 2.0 shows how serious its ambition is to increase its platform’s impact on the industry. But they’ve already got a solid foundation, with their blockchain tech being used by global brands like Amazon, which is stirring up lots of attention in the industry.
Ethereum could easily be the next big crypto “thing”, and are probably in the strongest position to dethrone Bitcoin. So if you’re going to invest, now would be the time to do so.
Upcoming cryptocurrencies
Whilst these two may be the biggest, and the ones with the most investors, there are new currencies coming up all the time.
You’ve got the likes of Zcash (ZEC), Ripple (XEC), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Chainlink (LINK), Synthetix Network Token (SNX), and DxChain Token (DX), all of which people have heavily invested in, and tipped to increase in value over the next year. But as they’re all priced relatively low now, you’re able to get more for your money, but the risks are also higher for lesser-known currencies.
The best thing to do though is to have a look at these yourself, look at their history, what they’re being invested in, and projections, and make your decisions based on your research. If you do your due diligence, you’re less likely to get stung and more likely to see a return on your investments. But as always, be careful, if you don’t have the money to invest, don’t go gambling on money you don’t have.
For more blockchain development news, visit bitcoinassociation.net