What other cryptocurrencies can you invest in other than Bitcoin?

by Jerry S. Jerry Stark is a professional writer and publisher

Everyone remembers that in December 2017 Bitcoin reached its peak and it was worth $29,000. 2018 was not a good year for Bitcoin, because it fell to around $6,000. Now it seems that its value is raising again, but considering its fluctuations it is understandable that people do not want to invest in this cryptocurrency. The fluctuations of the Bitcoin are a hot topic, and the persons who are willing to risk, consider it an investment that will bring them great income, but the ones who want to keep their money safe, prefer to search for alternatives. And, there are numerous alternatives when it comes to the cryptocurrency market. It is true that Bitcoin dominated the market in the past, but new cryptocurrencies are ushering it, and they build for themselves a reputation. So, do you want to invest in cryptocurrencies? Here are the main types you can choose from.

Ethereum

Ethereum is the main competitor of Bitcoin, because it is the second-largest digital currency on the market. The main difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum is that companies prefer to use Ethereum if they have to choose between these two. Bitcoin is not able to transcend currency only applications. But in 2017 there was formed an organisation called the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, that has as a purpose to show that Ethereum’s blockchain can be used in multiple purposes, and on various markets.

Businesses prefer Ethereum because its blockchain includes smart contract protocols that offer the user the possibility to negotiate or verify the enforcement of a certain contract. It is considered a reliable cryptocurrency, and the chances to face bankruptcy when investing in it are lower than if you would invest in Bitcoin.

Ripple

Ripple is used by the persons who want to benefit from a simple and quick international transaction. The payments with ripple are instant, and affordable. It is used by banks and financial institutions to make overseas payments because the process is completed instantly. This cryptocurrency was created with the purpose to be used by different types of financial institutions.

Because the transitions are made quick, American Express and Banco Santander decided to form a partnership with it. The partnership states that the non-card payments made through the American Express’s FX International Payment network to a U.K. Santander account will be routed by using the Ripple’s blockchain. The XRP can be used when companies and individuals want to establish cross-border partnerships. This means that if a company that uses euro makes a payment to a Japanese company, the Ripple blockchain offer them the possibility to convert the euro into XRP, and then the XRP into yen, without having to use an intermediary.

Litecoin

Litecoin forked from Bitcoin in 2011, and this is why some people refer to it as Bitcoin-Lite. Investors consider it a puzzling cryptocurrency, because it offers the users more benefits than if they would use Bitcoin. It is considered that in the future it will become a peer-to-peer payment facilitator, similar to Bitcoin. But the difference is that its developer wants to see it evolving, and this is why at the present moment it has a better and faster block-processing rate than Bitcoin.

In addition, it has a better decentralized proof-of-work algorithm than Bitcoin and it is implemented by Segregated Witness, so its blockchain is upgraded. The upgrade offers Litecoin the possibility to reduce the transaction settlement fees and times, and to improve the blockchain capacity. There are no cases of dishonesty when Litecoin is bought because it uses scrypt to prevent any issue. The transactions made with Litecoin are faster than the ones with Bitcoin because it has a block generation rate.

IOTA

IOTA is considered the fourth cryptocurrency on the market. It was released by a German non-profit organisation, called the IOTA Foundation. The developers of the cryptocurrency decided to release a two-month virtual currency market as a demo, to see how it functions. The Data Marketplace launched by the IOTA foundation offers businesses the possibility to sell data in order to incentivize data sharing, and avoid the situations when data is deleted.

The transactions made on the market created by the IOTA Foundation do not require the payment of a tax, and this is one of the main reasons, why people prefer to use it as an alternative to Bitcoin. The fact that this marketplace can be used without having to pay a fee solves one of the main issues companies are dealing with. At the moment IOTA is in a partnership with Accenture and Deutsche Telekom, and it intends to collaborate with other great names in the future.

Stellar

Stellar is considered one of the cryptocurrencies that have potential to become the largest cryptocurrency on the market at a certain point. In the past investors referred to it under the name of Stellar Lumens, but now they prefer the shorter name. This cryptocurrency has numerous aspects common with Ethereum, it includes contract protocols and it is at its major selling point.

But Stellar is not used only by financial organisations as Ethereum is used, this digital currency is also used by corporations. IBM is one of the companies that use Stellar, and because of this, other numerous banks from the South Pacific also use it, because the payments to IBM are made with the help of this cryptocurrency. If this partnership will prove to be a successful one, they want to expand their blockchain to other regions. Another company that uses Stellar is KlickEx.

NEM

NEM is not as well-known as the other cryptocurrencies from this article, but it gained great popularity over the last months. It is considered one of the most reliable cryptocurrencies, because of its blockchain. NEM is not used only by companies and corporations, but also by individuals. The transfers and payments made with its help are both enterprise and retail. The foundation that supports this cryptocurrency is based in Singapore, and because of this, they managed to close a collaboration with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation. The government owns this organisation and it deals with security, digital infrastructure and technology-related laws in Malaysia. This partnership helps NEM expand its influence not only in Asia, but around the world.