After an advent of Bitcoin, many other cryptocurrencies surfaced. The currencies inspired by Bitcoin are collectively called altcoins and have tried to present themselves as modified or improved versions of Bitcoin. Here are the well-known six cryptocurrencies, picked from over 700 such cryptocurrencies currently in use globally.
i. Litecoin (LTC)
Launched in the year 2011, referred as initial cryptocurrencies following bitcoin and was often referred to as ‘silver to Bitcoin’s gold.’ It was created by Charlie Lee. Although Litecoin is like Bitcoin in many ways, it has a faster block generation rate and hence offers a faster transaction confirmation.
ii. Ethereum (ETH)
Launched in 2015. Created by Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum (ETH) has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, second after Bitcoin among all cryptocurrencies.
iii)Dash
Dash ( known as Darkcoin) is a more secretive version of Bitcoin. Launched in January 2014 and created by Evan Duffield.
iv. Ripple (XRP)
Ripple is a real-time global settlement network that offers instant, certain and low-cost international payments. Released in 2012, Ripple currency has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion.
v Zcash (ZEC)
Zcash, a decentralized and open-source cryptocurrency, which was launched in the October of 2016. Created by Zooko Wilcox.
vi. Monero (XMR)
Monero is a secure, private and untraceable currency. This open source cryptocurrency was launched in April 2014. Monero wasn't built using bitcoin's own code. Instead, it's based on a protocol called CryptoNote. While Monero shares similarities with bitcoin, like mining and a blockchain as core mechanics.