The world of cryptocurrency isn’t just about Bitcoin. In fact, there are thousands of so-called “altcoins” out there that can be similarly lucrative, even if choosing between them can be overwhelming. If you’re wondering about the best cryptocurrency to mine or buy, but you don’t have the time to research them all yourself, then check out our quick list of the top 10.
Cryptocurrency FAQ
1. What Is a Cryptocurrency?
2. How Is a Cryptocurrency Better than Other Electronic Payments?
3. How Do Cryptocurrencies Work?
4. Where Can You Buy Bitcoins?
5. What’s the Best Cryptocurrency to Mine?
How We Decided on the Top 10 Best Cryptocurrencies to Buy
We’ve evaluateda number ofcryptocurrencies and came up with the list below. We based our review on several factors, including ease of use, price stability, and unique advantages that a coin might have over others.
What We Reviewed
Cryptocurrency image | CRYPTOCURRENCY name | website |
|---|---|---|
 | Zcash | |
 | Ethereum | |
 | Ripple | |
 | Bitcoin Cash | |
 | Cardano | |
 | Litecoin | |
 | NEM | |
 | Stellar | |
 | NEO | |
 | IOTA |
Zcash
Photo credited by: twitter.com
Features
Zcash is a still inexpensive, still relatively young cryptocurrency whose biggest feature is its anonymity. It can be fully anonymous, hiding both the receiving and sending wallet address, as well as the amount of coins being sent. This could very easily become one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy for those who prefer to be stealthy with their transactions.
Pros
Cons
Price
Currently, you can buy this altcoin for around $125 to $130 USD, but this of course fluctuates even during the course of a single day. Thankfully, it’s not quite as volatile as Bitcoin, though, so the price will likely remain steady for awhile.
Ethereum
Photo credited by: etfdailynews.com
Features
Ethereum is an interesting cryptocurrency in that it offers users processing power from the network to run scripts in exchange for its coin, which is called Ether. It’s currently something of a runner-up to Bitcoin, a bit like silver to Bitcoin’s gold, which makes it a solid addition to your altcoin portfolio. It’s one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy if you want a good chance of long-term value.
Pros
Cons
Price
Right now, the price of Ethereum is around $200 US dollars per Ether.
Ripple
Photo credited by: valuewalk.com
Features
Ripple is a payment protocol and the coins that it uses are called XRP. One of its best features is its acceptance by existing banks and payment infrastructure. It is backed by many organizations, which makes it a potentially great investment. It’s not, however, the best cryptocurrency to mine. In fact, you can’t mine it at all.
Pros
Cons
Price
You can buy this coin for about 50 US cents ($0.50) currently. With all that room to grow and all the infrastructure that backs it, it’s a no-brainer to add it to your portfolio.
Bitcoin Cash
Photo credited by: captainaltcoin.com
Features
Bitcoin Cash is a boldly-named hard fork of Bitcoin that changes the block size. Its advantage over Bitcoin is that it can process more transactions in a single block. Like Bitcoin, it is accepted by many popular payment systems, such as Coinify and Bitpay.
Pros
Cons
Price
As with any altcoin, prices vary, but Bitcoin Cash is around $500 USD per coin right now.
Cardano
Photo credited by: ethereumworldnews.com
Features
Cardano is the name of the network that uses Ada as its cryptocurrency. It is a distributed processing platform, sort of like Ethereum. One of its key features is that it was created by a team of scientists and researches and is run by a non-profit. It attempts to use the breakthroughs made by Bitcoin and Ethereum and take them to the next level. This would be the best cryptocurrency to mine if you want to experiment with something new.
Pros
Cons
Price
Right now, the price of ADA is around $0.07 USD, which makes it a steal. It’s not too much of a risk to get a few coins of this new and promising cryptocurrency.
Litecoin
Photo credited by: techtodaygh.com
Features
For a long time, Litecoin was the most popular alternative to Bitcoin. One of its major features is the fact that it uses a different hashing algorithm from Bitcoin: one that processes blocks four times faster. In theory, this makes for faster transactions, and it propelled Litecoin to the top of the altcoin list. Even now, it remains a popular staple of any cryptocurrency portfolio.
Pros
Cons
Price
At the moment, you can buy Litecoin for about $50 USD.
NEM
Photo credited by: medium.com
Features
NEM is a new cryptocurrency platform that has several key features that differ from Bitcoin. For example, rather than Proof of Work (POW), it uses Proof of Importance (POI) to mint its currency XEM, which means thatit is not mined the same way as Bitcoin. It also features an encrypted messaging system as well as a new reputation system within the blockchain. If you’re really into trying the latest technology, this could be one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy.
Pros
Cons
Price
You can get XEM (NEM’s coin) for about $0.10 USD.
Stellar
Photo credited by: ethereumworldnews.com
Features
Stellar is a little different from most cryptocurrencies in that one of its major features is to be able to make fiat-to-crypto transactions. In this way, it has a few things in common with Ripple, though it is a little newer. This is one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy if you want to give cross-currency coins a try.
Pros
Cons
Price
Stellar (XLM) can be purchased for around $0.27 USD right now.
NEO
Photo credited by: medium.com
Features
NEO is a platform made to run applications on a decentralized network. This is a key feature that it shares with Ethereum. Like Ethereum, it uses coins, but these coins cannot be divided into pieces like most cryptocurrencies can. Still, it offers an interesting approach to its algorithm that allows for fast processing.
Pros
Cons
Price
You can buy NEO coins for roughly $15 USD currently.
IOTA
Photo credited by: youtube.com
Features
IOTA is a cryptocurrency that helps run transactions among the Internet of Things (IoT), which is the network of real-world objects connected through the Internet. One of its most interesting features is that it uses a very simple verification method that doesn’t require mining.
Pros
Cons
Price
You can buy IOTA for about $0.49 USD right now, but this can easily change in the future.
The Verdict
Finding the best cryptocurrencies to buy in your specific case really depends on what you want to use it for. If you’re going to invest and hold, then you may want to try one of the already well-known and well-vetted currencies, such as Ethereum or Litecoin. Those have been around for years and have a proven track record.
If you’re looking to take a risk and try something new, one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy would probably be something like Cardano, a currency that takes risks, but still builds upon the solid foundation of Bitcoin and Ethereum and learns from past mistakes.
Follow
Leave a Reply