THE BEST TOP THREE CYPTOCURRENCIES IN 2022:
To help you find the answer to - “How many types of cryptocurrencies are there,” lets dive into the ultimate list of the different types of cryptocurrency to choose from in 2022: *
1. Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin was the pioneer of a new, innovative alternative for money, which is known as a digital currency. It was initially released in 2009 and was founded by Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin is based on a distributed ledger known as blockchain technology. About 18.5 million Bitcoin tokens are currently in circulation, against a present market cap limit of 21 million.
Pros
- The biggest community of developers and investors
- Easy for newbies
- Supported by top exchanges and wallets
- Adopted in many mainstream companies including Microsoft, Overstock.com, Bloomberg, Expedia.com, and others
2. Ethereum (Ether)
Created in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin Bloomberg, Ethereum is much more than just being a digital currency, making it, the second-best currency for people to invest in. It is a blockchain technology-based platform for developing decentralized apps and smart contracts. Smart contracts are the agreements coded on the blockchain that execute themselves when certain pre-set conditions are fulfilled. What sets Ethereum apart from the other types of cryptocurrency is that you can start building directly on the Ethereum network blockchain.
Pros
- Building smart contracts which are often considered the next big thing in the cryptocurrency universe
- Launching Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) for other blockchain projects
- High transaction speed (few seconds)
Cons
- Scalability issues
- Uses obsolete mechanism (Proof-of-Work) to verify the transactions
- Network congestion
- Demands a lot of electricity
- Supports one coding language — Solidity
3 Litecoin (LTC)
Charlie Lee, a former Google employee, created Litecoin in 2011 to improve on the existing Bitcoin technology- shorter transaction time, lower fees, and more concentrated miners. Similar to Bitcoin, Litecoin is just a digital currency that doesn't provide a platform for smart contracts. Litecoin has stood the test of time for its efficiency and is now among the most popular types of cryptocurrency.
Pros
- Transactions take around 2.5 minutes
- Average Litecoin transaction fees $0.179
Cons
- Apart from transaction speed, it is facing tough competition from coins that offer privacy, smart contracts, and international payments, etc.
- Mining is expensive and requires specialized powerful hardware