Il panorama delle criptovalute è estremamente vario. Con poche barriere da superare, praticamente chiunque capisca la tecnologia blockchain può lanciare la propria criptovaluta se lo ritiene opportuno. Attualmente ci sono più di 1600 criptovalute quotate nei mercati specializzati maggiori, di medie dimensioni e specializzati.
Di quelle criptovalute e token digitali, è giusto dire che il numero che ha un significato reale può essere ridotto a una doppia cifra. Il gruppo più piccolo può essere ridimensionato alle criptovalute che sono scambiate abbastanza da avere liquidità reale o sono regolarmente utilizzate per pagare per l'uso di una piattaforma blockchain con token di utilità. In questa categoria, possiamo probabilmente includere da 20 a 30 diverse valute digitali.
Dall'inizio del fenomeno della criptovaluta, le due criptovalute più popolari sono state Bitcoin e Ethereum (Ether). Mentre Ether e Bitcoin rimangono i due contendenti principali nella sfera delle criptovalute, ci sono altre criptovalute che sono riuscite a raggiungere lo stesso livello. Negli anni recenti, criptovalute come Cardano (ADA) e Solana (SOL) hanno seguito le impronte di Bitcoin e Ether e sono riuscite ad arrivare fra le dieci criptovalute più preziose per capitalizzazione di mercato.
Oltre a Bitcoin ed Ethereum, ci sono molte altre criptovalute popolari come Axie Infinity (AXS), Filecoin (FIL) e Uniswap (UNIUSD) ma il loro valore e la loro popolarità tendono ad avere alti e bassi. Inoltre, se i trader vogliono ricevere esposizione a più di un tipo di criptovaluta, può essere negoziato anche l'indice unico Crypto 10, formato dalle criptovalute più popolari in un momento particolare.
L'immenso numero di criptovalute disponibili sul mercato cresce rapidamente. Questo a sua volta può rendere più difficile per gli investitori e i trader rimanere aggiornati delle criptovalute più popolari in circolazione. Diventa un po' una seccatura scegliere di quali criptovalute ‘vale la pena’ fare trading e in quali investire. Ciò nonostante, un modo per accertare quali sono le criptovalute più negoziate è quello di esaminare quelle offerte come CFD sulle piattaforme di trading tradizionali come Plus500. Di seguito sono elencate le criptovalute alle quali i trader di Plus500 sono più interessati.
Prezzi indicativi.
A quick online search would suggest that the most popular cryptocurrencies on the market today are:
They are all quite different, so let’s take a quick look at their key qualities.
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 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 (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.
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 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.
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