Blockchain Cryptocurrencies are one of the most useful applications of blockchain technology. There are lots of blockchain cryptocurrencies that we can go through and review their benefits and usages.
Nowadays, cryptocurrencies are getting more and more attention from investors, regulators, and governments. Cryptocurrencies are a new form of digital money that is shifting the paradigm and challenging the traditional financial system.
There are many definitions of cryptocurrencies are available inline, we can use the following definition of cryptocurrencies:
First of all, let’s dive into the technical aspects of blockchain.
A good starting point is to discuss the role of blockchain in the bitcoin trade: how and why bitcoin differs from existing money and digital currencies. One of the characterizing issues in this regard is the double-spending problem.
What blockchain and bitcoin provide is a new solution to this issue. Decentralized management with a hard-to-rollback mechanism mitigates the problem. It distributes transaction information to a large number of nodes of participating computers. The data is time stamped and irreversible.
An altcoin is a cryptocurrency, or virtual currency, alternative to bitcoin. We must pay attention that each altcoin operates according to its own rules.
They are cryptocurrencies that use a technology called blockchain that allows secure peer-to-peer transactions. By using a private key, you can send a payment from your digital wallet to another user’s wallet.
A few examples of altcoins include:
Ethereum is a blockchain platform with its own cryptocurrency, that is called ether (ETH), and its own programming language, that is called solidity. Value exchange is the main use case of the Ethereum blockchain nowadays, often via the blockchain’s native token, ether. While bitcoin was created with the goal of disrupting online banking and day-to-day transactions, Ethereum’s core developers aim to use the same technology to replace internet third parties, those that store data, transfer mortgages, and keep track of complex financial instruments.
As of may 2021, Ethereum was the second-largest virtual currency on the market, behind only bitcoin. Unlike bitcoin, there is no limit to the number of ETHs that can be created. Ethereum is currently undergoing a long-awaited upgrade known as Ethereum 2.0.
We must pay attention that Ripple is both a platform and also a cryptocurrency. The Ripple platform is an open-source protocol which is designed to allow fast and cheap transactions.
RippleNet is a network of institutional payment-providers such as banks and money services businesses that use solutions developed by Ripple to provide a frictionless experience to send money globally.
XRP is a token used for representing the transfer of value across the Ripple network. The main purpose of XRP is to be a mediator for others, both cryptocurrencies and fiat exchanges.
The Ripple network does not run with a proof-of-work (PoW) system like bitcoin or a proof-of-stake (PoS) system like Nxt. transactions rely on a consensus protocol in order to validate account balances and transactions on the system. The consensus works to improve the integrity of the system by preventing double-spending.
Dash cryptocurrency is a digital currency that can be used to send or receive payments and it is built on top of the blockchain technology and it offers better privacy and higher transaction speeds than bitcoin. We must pay attention that dash was forked from Litecoin, and Litecoin was forked from bitcoin.
By the way, let’s know what a fork is. A fork is when changes are made to a blockchain which causes the blockchain to split into two. On this occasion, Litecoin created dash. Litecoin was also a fork of bitcoin. So, all of their technology is similar, but each has its own unique features.
Dash can be used to make transactions in a more private and speedy manner because of these three features: Masternodes, PrivateSend, and InstantSend
Litecoin is a fork of bitcoin. Like bitcoin, Litecoin is based on an open-source global payment network that is not controlled by any central authority. Litecoin shares many similarities to bitcoin. By using Litecoin you’re able to rapidly transfer a certain value from one person to another. All transactions are logged into the blockchain. This payment system is maintained by nodes and miners. Every node in the network owns a copy of the entire transaction data, so we can speak of a decentralized network. There are four ways that we can acquire Litecoin: purchase them through a broker or an exchange, accept Litecoin as a payment for your goods or services, receive part of your salary in Litecoin, start mining Litecoin, and finally Buying Litecoin.
NEM is a dual-layer blockchain similar to Ethereum but written in java, computer programming language. What makes NEM so powerful is the smart asset system. Nodes on the NEM blockchain process API calls, which makes it easy to develop for, whether the dApp accesses NEM’s API directly, through a server, or in the background.
NEM built a blockchain-based cloud platform with a NEM Infrastructure Server (NIS) made of secure, decentralized processing nodes on one side and a client side, like NEM community Client (NCC), which acts as a gateway.
NEM using a domain/subdomain naming system similar to the current internet, making it well-poised for seamless integration and easy adaption across all platforms.
This blockchain cryptocurrency is capable of handling everything – financial assets, contracts, documents, and a variety of digitized assets.
Monero is an open-source, privacy-oriented cryptocurrency that was launched in 2014. Investors can mine Monero using their own CPUs, which means they don’t need to pay for special hardware.
Monero’s blockchain is configured to be opaque. It makes transaction details, like the identity of senders and recipients, and the amount of every transaction, anonymous by disguising the addresses used by participants.
We must know that Monero will improve privacy. Let’s know how Monero improves privacy. To generate a ring signature, the Monero platform uses a combination of a sender’s account keys and clubs it with public keys on the blockchain. This makes it unique as well as private. There are also some challenges in Monero. The non-traceability and privacy features allow them to be used for disreputable and at questionable marketplaces including drugs and gambling. This is one of the reasons why markets that were popular on the dark web showed increased use of Monero before they were shut down.