Introduction to Altcoins
Since December 2020, the Bitcoin market dominance had dropped from 69% to 43%, the main reason being a shift towards altcoins that were more attractive price-wise. Although Ether’s dominance is 2nd in global rankings, several other tokens deserve attention, also because all are available for trading at Markets Legion. There are over 10,000 tokens listed on coinmarketcap.com, but some are managing to spark attention since the underlying projects are very promising.
What is Cardano?
Founded in 2017, Cardano is a blockchain based on the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, aiming to “redistribute power from unaccountable structures to the margins to individuals”, wanting to contribute to a society that is fair, transparent, and secure.
Charles Hoskinson is the founder of Cardano and one of the co-founders of Ethereum, a person involved in the crypto space since 2011. What’s important to note about the Cardano blockchain is that it’s particularly being used by companies in the agricultural sector, mainly to track fresh products from the field to the end-user.
With a valuation of $1.6, the ADA token is the 4th largest in the world, thanks to a market capitalization of over $50 billion. Cardano is benefiting from the recent interest in crypto projects that need less electricity to function. Since it uses the PoS mechanism, this project qualifies and the price action developments since November 2020 are proof of that.
What is XRP?
XRP is a digital token used on a digital payments platform called RippleNet, created to facilitate a faster, cheaper, and scalable alternative for existing monetary payment platforms such as SWIFT. Cross-border payments in fiat currencies continue to be an issue and XRP had been established in 2012 to counteract that.
The project was implemented by Jed McCaleb and Chris Larson, even though the idea behind the Ripple platform belongs to Ryan Fugger. This is an innovative solution using a real-time gross settlement system to enable instant transactions globally.
From a price action point of view, XRP witnessed high volatility over the past 6 months, after an SEC lawsuit sparked massive online trading and speculation on the token. Trading at around 92 cents, the cryptocurrency had recovered from the lows, but lost significant ground on global rankings, dropping from 3rd place to the 8th, at the time of writing.
What is Binance Coin?
Launched in 2017 by one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the world, Binance Coin had also been one of the best-performing altcoins during the first few months of 2021. The recent market selloff wiped out more than 50% of the gains, but BNB continues to trade around $316, an impressive mark, as compared to historical valuations.
Binance is a leading brand in the crypto space, offering a broad range of services and features, including the Binance Chain, Academy, Trusted Wallet, and Research projects. The rise of Binance Coin had been directly correlated with the bull run in the broad cryptocurrency market.
As more people are interested to buy crypto, Binance is in a favorable position to attract a large number of customers. BNB can be used on the exchange’s ecosystem, providing various benefits, including tight trading fees.
What is Dogecoin?
Out of all the cryptocurrencies that have risen over the past year, Dogecoin is the most surprising altcoin. In 2013, its founders viewed it as a joke or light-hearted cryptocurrency that could have a greater appeal beyond the Bitcoin audience.
Forked from Litecoin, Dogecoin does not rely on a Proof-of-Work mechanism but uses Script technology. The total supply is uncapped, and it can be mined individually or by joining a mining pool. Multiple tweets from Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk are assumed to be behind the latest speculative frenzy in Dogecoin.
