Attackers attempted to deploy hidden Monero miners on unsuspecting users' systems, as the cryptocurrency is easier to create via the mining process than Bitcoin.Įstimated market capitalization: $4.6 billion USD Using a public distributed ledger, Monero gained a degree of unwanted notoriety in 20 as being the cryptocurrency of choice for cryptomining attacks. The goal with the move to PoS is to provide better transaction speed, while reducing the resource required to execute and validate transactions.Ĭreated by: Vitalik Buterin and Gavin WoodĮstimated market capitalization: $396 billion USDĪverage price: $3,400 USD per Ether LitecoinĪs an early altcoin or Bitcoin alternative, Litecoin initially rose to prominence thanks to its use of the Scrypt hashing algorithm, which was seen by advocates as being easier to manage than the SHA-256 encryption used by Bitcoin.Įstimated market capitalization: $12 billion USD The change from PoW to PoS occurred in an event known as "The Merge." Activities on the legacy Ethereum Mainnet blockchain, which used PoW, were merged with the newer Beacon chain, which uses PoS. In September 2022, Ethereum changed the way that it executes and validates transactions, moving from a proof of work (PoW) model for a consensus algorithm to a proof of stake (PoS) approach.
The cryptocurrency created by Ethereum is called Ether. It introduced a number of capabilities that were not present in Bitcoin, using an open source, distributed blockchain and smart contracts via Ethereum's Solidity programming language. It was a near worthless currency until Tesla CEO Elon Musk and investor Mark Cuban began popularizing it in 2021.Ĭreated by: Jackson Palmer and Billy MarkusĮstimated market capitalization: $32 billion USDĪverage price: $0.25 USD per coin EthereumĮthereum emerged in recent years to be a primary cryptocurrency competitor to Bitcoin. It was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, whose real name has never been revealed.Įstimated market capitalization: $883 billion USDĪverage price: $47,000 USD per bitcoin Dogecoinĭogecoin, often referred to simply as Doge, was created as a parody based on the Doge internet meme.
It operates using blockchain, which allows Bitcoin to digitally exchange anonymous, heavily encrypted hash codes across a peer-to-peer network. The following is a breakdown of popular cryptocurrencies: Bitcoinīitcoin is a general-purpose cryptocurrency and is a main pioneer in the industry. These include the internet-popular Dogecoin and Ethereum. While Bitcoin is arguably the best known, many other cryptocurrencies have emerged over the years. There are many different types of cryptocurrency, much in the same way that there are many different fiat currencies issued by global governments. What are the different types of cryptocurrency? In the case of the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin, the distributed ledger is what is known as a blockchain, which is a digital system that keeps track of cryptographic hash blocks. Cryptocurrency assets are often stored in a digital wallet that keeps track of the cryptocurrency.Ī decentralized, distributed ledger monitors all cryptocurrency transactions around the world. It is not a physical unit, like a coin or a dollar bill, but rather a mathematical computation. Cryptocurrency is created by solving a piece of a cryptographic hashing algorithm in a long chain. It is typically not directly managed by a single authority but rather works in a distributed consensus approach.Ĭryptocurrency gains its name from the combination of "cryptography" and "currency." At the heart of all cryptocurrencies is a cryptographic algorithm with complicated encryption. In contrast, cryptocurrency is not issued by any government authority.
The U.S dollar, for example, is a fiat currency. Most modern currency is often referred to as "fiat" currency, which is regulated and produced by a government entity. Cryptocurrency is a digital form of currency that uses cryptography to secure the processes involved in generating units, conducting transactions and verifying the exchange of currency ownership.
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