What are the most popular digital currencies?

 What are the most popular digital currencies?

Digital currencies are a type of currency that is used for trading and investment where digital files are used as money. These files are created using cryptography. Digital currencies adopt a decentralized control system, meaning that they are not subject to any party. 

1 _ The famous and widely traded digital currencies

1_ Bitcoin:

  Bitcoin (₿) is an open source cryptocurrency.  It was invented in the year 2008 by an anonymous person who called himself Nakamoto Satoshi, and the currency began to be used in the year 2009.

Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital currency, without a central bank, that can be sent from one person to another via the Bitcoin network directly without the need for a third-party intermediary (such as banks), network transfers are verified using encryption and recorded in a ledger A distributor called a block chain. Bitcoin is created as a reward for a process known as mining. It can be exchanged for other currencies, products and services. Research produced by the University of Cambridge estimates that in 2017, there are 2.9 to 5.8 million users using a cryptocurrency wallet, most of whom use Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is criticized for the ability to use it for illegal transactions, for the high amount of electricity used for mining to produce new amount of Bitcoin, for exchange rate fluctuations, and for hacking Bitcoin exchanges.  Some economists described it as a speculative bubble.

2_ Ethereum coin:

It is an open source digital currency that extends on the block chain that performs the function of the smart contract that facilitates the conclusion of an online contract that simulates traditional contracts in reality while providing an element of security and trust. 

Ethereum could accelerate the decentralization of the global economy, and it has the potential to affect many other industries.  Ethereum is backed by a diverse group of 500 wealthy companies that met in 2016 to discuss and join forces on developing the Ethereum technology network.  The Ether trading currency can be volatile, and it can act as a financial asset for traders.

3_ litcoin:

Litecoin (LTC or Ł) is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies at the moment, and is based on the idea of ​​a peer-to-peer as an open source software project under the MIT/X11 license.  The formation and transfer of the currency is carried out on the basis of the open source cryptographic protocol, and is not controlled by any central authority.  When it was created in 2011, this coin was inspired by the popular (Bitcoin) currency and is almost identical to it in many technical details.

Litecoin was released on October 7, 2011 by its developer, Charlie Lee, a former Google employee.  The Litecoin network was launched on October 13, 2011. It is distinguished from Bitcoin primarily by a single block creation time of just 2.5 minutes, as well as a fourfold increase in the maximum total number of coins available using the scrypt hash algorithm.  instead of SHA-256) and a slightly modified GUI.

New Litecoins are created through a complex mathematical process known as mining, and the maximum number of Litecoins that can ever be mined is 84,000,000 in total (compared to 21,000,000 Bitcoin).  Hence the famous saying in the cryptocurrency world: “If we consider Bitcoin as gold, then Litecoin is silver.”

The total market capitalization of Litecoin globally crossed the $1 billion mark in November 2013, and by the end of November 2017, it had reached $4,600,081,743 ($85.19 per unit (Litecoin).By mid-December 2017, the market cap was This coin jumped to an all-time high of $20 billion or $372 per unit, before dropping in value against the dollar like other cryptocurrencies.

4_ Dogecoin currency:

Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency invented by software engineers Jackson Palmer and Billy Marcus in 2013. Dogecoin is distinguished by its use of the ShibaInu dog face logo.  It debuted on December 6, 2013. It quickly had its own online community, with a market capitalization of nearly US$70 billion on April 16, 2021.

One of the most important differences between this currency and other electronic currencies such as Bitcoin is the speed of its production in the early stages.  Like other digital currencies, it is traded entirely online without a physical presence.  We will mention some advantages and disadvantages of this currency.

A_ Features:

_ Speed ​​and cost: Dogecoin transactions are characterized by speed and low fees.

Community: One of the most important features of Dogecoin is that it has an active community with over 100,000 members on Reddit.

Charity: The Dogecoin community has contributed to many charitable causes such as raising $25,000 for the Jamaican team to be able to participate in the 2014 Olympics, and has also collaborated with an association to deliver clean water to thousands of people in Kenya.

Mining: Dogecoin is minable, powered by Proof of Work algorithm.

b. Disadvantages:

Unlimited coin cap making the value of one token extremely low.

The mining operation is not very profitable due to the value of the coin and its performance in the market.

_ The way to put up the coin and upload the image of memes may seem to many that it is a satirical project and not a real project.

Availability of supply, low price, and consequently low investment demand for the currency.

_ Slow updates and development on the currency project.

5_ Tether USDT:

 It is a digital currency that converts recognized currencies such as the dollar or the euro into a digital currency that follows a well-known protocol, which is the “Omni Layer” in the trading platform, and its first appearance dates back to 2014 and is headquartered in Hong Kong.

 Each currency is backed by one US dollar, which means that the US dollar reserves are in an equal amount with the currencies, and its purpose is to combine digital currencies and fixed currencies such as the dollar.

6- Dash coin:

Dash is an open source cryptocurrency that offers the same advantages as other digital currencies such as Bitcoin in addition to other advanced features such as: decentralized management, instant transactions, and private transactions.

2_ Benefits of investing in digital currencies:

Ease of use: Buying and selling digital currencies is very easy and does not require you to go to a financial institution and sign papers, all you have to do is open an account in an electronic wallet and then start trading. 

Your currencies are yours alone: ​​cryptocurrencies provide you with a high level of independence, when you put your money in the bank, at any moment you can enter your bank account and find that your money has been frozen due to political circumstances, or the bank was hacked or the bank went bankrupt.  As for digital currencies, they are yours as long as you keep the (Private key).

Cryptocurrencies help protect money from inflation: When you use cryptocurrencies, you not only protect your money from inflation, you invest it as well. 

Transactions are very fast: the traditional money transfer process takes between 4 to 5 working days. Transactions in cryptocurrency are done quickly, it takes less than 4 seconds to a maximum of 10 minutes to complete the transaction. 10 years ago, people were buying one bitcoin with ease, 10 years later, 0.001 bitcoin became a professional investor, 10 years from now, 0.001 will become more difficult to obtain.