5 Cryptocurrencies Every Entrepreneur Should be Aware of
Gone are the days of coin and paper. In the 21st century, the age of technology, money is no longer limited to bills, coins, and credit cards. Some money is international, not owned by any government of any country, and is truly controlled by the people. What makes it truly international is the fact that it wholly exists on the internet. This new kind of money, my friends, is called cryptocurrency.
Bitcoins were the headlines a few years ago, making everyone sit back and take notice of the digital currency. But, in today’s day and age, there are many other cryptocurrencies that have made their way into the market. As an entrepreneur, you may want to familiarize yourself with some of the most popular ones:
- Ethereum: Just like the Bitcoin, Ethereum is also a distributed blockchain network, but it differs from Bitcoin in terms of purpose and capability. While the Bitcoin blockchain is used to track ownership of digital currency (bitcoins), the Ethereum blockchain focuses on running the programming code of any decentralized application. Ethereum is a platform used to build decentralized apps. “Smart Contracts” can be made on Ethereum, which make it possible to exchange almost anything of value. Ethereum has a market share of 27 per cent and has been traded publicly since 2016.
- Litecoin: Litecoin is another popular counterpart of Bitcoin, but is worth a little less, with about 84 million Litecoins in existence as of 2016. Litecoins are much easier to mine and have proven to move quickly from one person to another. It is perhaps the least intimidating cryptocurrency for those who are new to exchanging money online and for those who need to move smaller amounts of money fast.
- Ripple: While all other cryptocurrencies avoid banks, Ripple allows banks to make faster, cheaper, on-demand global payments of any size. While traditional cross-country transactions need the banks to go through several intermediaries, Ripple offers a quicker and more direct solution. Ripple simplifies transactions for regular customers, while allowing banks to offer newer and improved payment options.
- Dash: Dash was created for shopping and can even be compared to PayPal. The transaction is so much faster than USD, and you can immediately check your payment charges. Like any other cryptocurrency, you can buy Dash using government-regulated currency and keep it in a designated Dash wallet until you’re ready to spend it at a compatible merchant.
- Monera: The last one on the list is Monera, which is best for people who are really concerned about privacy. Transactions are selectively transparent, and you can select who can or cannot see to whom these transactions are made. You are you own bank!