¿Cuáles son las criptomonedas más negociadas?

El panorama de las criptomonedas es enormemente diverso. Con pocas barreras que superar, casi cualquier persona que lo desee y entienda sobre tecnología blockchain puede crear su propia criptomoneda. Existen más de 1.600 criptomonedas ofrecidas en las principales, medianas y especializadas plataformas de intercambio.

Sobre estas criptomonedas y tokens digitales, es justo decir que el número que tiene real significancia puede ser reducido a una lista de dos dígitos. Este grupo más pequeño puede además ser reducido a su vez hasta las criptomonedas que son operadas lo suficiente como para tener liquidez significativa, o que son usadas con regularidad para pagar por usos de plataformas de blockchain como tokens de utilidad. En esta categoría, podríamos con mucha probabilidad incluir entre 20 a 30 monedas digitales.

Desde el inicio del fenómeno de las criptomonedas, las dos criptos con mayor popularidad han sido el Bitcoin y el Ethereum (Ether). Aunque Ether y Bitcoin siguen siendo los dos principales contendientes en la criptoesfera, hay otras criptomonedas que han logrado situarse a la par. En los últimos años, criptomonedas como Cardano (ADA) y Solana (SOL) han seguido los pasos de Bitcoin y Ether y se han colado entre las diez criptomonedas más valiosas por capitalización de mercado.

Además de Bitcoin y Ethereum, existen otras criptomonedas populares como Axie Infinity (AXS), Filecoin (FIL) y Uniswap (UNIUSD), sin embargo, su valor y popularidad tienden a fluctuar. Además, si los traders desean exponerse a más de un tipo de criptomoneda, también se puede operar con el índice Crypto 10, creado exclusivamente, y compuesto por las criptomonedas más populares en un momento dado.

¿Cuáles son las criptomonedas más populares para los traders?

La inmensa cantidad de criptomonedas disponibles en el mercado aumenta rápidamente, lo que, a su vez, puede dificultar que los inversores y traders se mantengan al día con las criptomonedas más populares que existen. Se convierte en una tarea un poco complicada elegir en qué criptomonedas "merece la pena" operar e invertir. No obstante, una forma de de determinar cuáles son las criptomonedas más negociadas es mirar cuáles son las ofrecidas como CFDs en las principales plataformas de trading como Plus500. A continuación podrá observar las criptomonedas que más interesan a los usuarios de Plus500.

Precios ilustrativos.

A quick online search would suggest that the most popular cryptocurrencies on the market today are:

• Bitcoin
• Ethereum
• Cardano
• Solana
• Litecoin

They are all quite different, so let’s take a quick look at their key qualities.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is considered the original crypto, and its launch in 2009 is what started the whole cryptocurrency movement. Bitcoin - and the blockchain technology on which it operates - was invented by an individual or group of individuals operating under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin was put forward as an alternative to the fiat monetary system. The true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has never been revealed.

In the Bitcoin whitepaper, Nakamoto argued that a fiat monetary system controlled by central banks and a small number of financial institutions led to a centralised wealth and power and made social and financial mobility difficult. Ordinary people’s savings were eroded through inflation, largely as a result of central banks’ money printing.

Bitcoin solved that problem by fixing the number of units ever issued, thereby preventing inflation caused by money printing. Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer blockchain technology meant it didn’t need financial institutions to facilitate transactions and verify ownership.

Bitcoin is still by far the most popular cryptocurrency and its price movement has a strong impact on the rest of the crypto market.

Ethereum (Ether)

Ethereum is historically the second most popular cryptocurrency however it is very different from Bitcoin. Ethereum is actually the name of the blockchain platform and Ether is the name of the cryptocurrency. Ethereum is the blockchain platform for ‘smart contracts’.

They can also be considered as defined ‘rules’ from which many different applications, or Dapps – decentralised applications - can be created from. Ethereum Dapps range from games to Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), which are the cryptocurrency world’s equivalent to crowdfunding or IPOs.

While other smart contract platforms have been launched since Ethereum, each claiming to offer more sophisticated blockchain technology, the original blockchain has retained its position as the most utilised.

While Bitcoin is intended as an alternative to traditional fiat currencies, the purpose of Ether (besides being traded as an asset) is to pay for use of the Ethereum platform. It’s known as a ‘utility’ cryptocurrency.

Cardano

Cardano (ADA) coin is a native digital currency used to run the Cardano blockchain which was launched in 2017 by Charles Hokinson, co-founder of Ethereum. Cardano was launched as a third-generation “proof-of-stake” (PoS) blockchain platform and it is valued at $40.4B (as of March 2022). As this decentralized system uses PoS, Cardano (ADA) owners validate transactions on the Cardano network in exchange for rewards, which is called “staking”. While both the Ethereum and the Cardano platforms use Smart Contracts and other similar technologies, Cardano is considered a more updated version or a replacement for Ethereum.

Solana

This coin is used to operate the Solana blockchain which was developed by former Qualcomm executive, Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017 and is regarded as a permissionless layer-1 blockchain. While keeping costs low, this third-generation blockchain aims to give users the benefit of increased throughput beyond the typical capabilities of other popular blockchains. It uses an advanced version of proof-of-stake (PoS) called proof-of-history (PoH). Moreover, Solana’s architecture supports a range of DeFi platforms and NFTs marketplaces along with smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps). As of March 2022, Solana’s (SOL) market capitalization is valued at $37.4 B.

Litecoin

Litecoin emerged in 2011, and is considered a potential fiat alternative and a prominent rival for Bitcoin. Its creators,former Google engineer, Charles “Charlie” Lee”, hoped that Litecoin will eventually be used to pay for everyday goods and services. Litecoin has positioned itself as a more practical and technologically superior alternative to Bitcoin,. as Litecoin's transactions can be confirmed by the P2P network significantly quicker than Bitcoin transactions.

In theory, this could make Litecoin more attractive for merchants, but with ‘real-life’ cryptocurrency transactions still hugely limited, Bitcoin’s more established ‘brand’ keeps it well out in front as the fiat alternative cryptocurrency of choice. Nevertheless, Litecoin’s staggering market capitalization of 9.279B (as of March 2022), shows its popularity.

*Instrument offering is subject to operator.