Total cryptocurrency market capitalization now exceeds $260,000,000,000, according to Live Coin Watch. Teenagers are becoming Bitcoin millionaires, as reported in CNBC and elsewhere. The excitement is palpable.
Everyone wants to learn how to make money off Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Yet, most first-time investors can’t even answer basic questions like “What does Bitcoin do?” or “What does Ethereum do?” or “What does Ripple do?” This article will answer those questions for you.
The top 3 cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. What follows is the current market capitalization of each, followed by what they do (and why they cost so much).
Looking to learn more? Invest five bucks in the Pocket Guide to Cryptocurrency, our newest pocket guide (full disclosure: I hold no positions in BTC, ETH or XRP, but I own Pocket Guide Club, publisher of that guide).
Let's get started..
Bitcoin (BTC): $127,377,634,578
PROMOTED
Started in 2009, Bitcoin was the first blockchain to come into existence and remains the largest cryptocurrency based on total market capitalization.
"Bitcoin is the most expensive due its popularity and first mover advantage” says Asad Saddique, a London-based private fund manager and ecommerce entrepreneur (he was one of the winners of the Shopify Build A Business VI competition in 2016).
“Metcalfe's Law can also be applicable."
Ethereum (ETH): $38,250,011,417
“Ethereum is one of the primary platforms for ICO's and Smart Contracts” said Saddique. “In 2017, $5.6b was raised via ICO's that mostly took place on the ETH platform.”
Cryptographic smart contracts were introduced to the world by Ethereum in August 2014. Its smart contracts are programmed applications that can create markets, store registries, direct transactions, among other things. The full potential for its applications is unknown.
“In order for someone to participate in an ICO on the ETH platform, one would have to buy ETH coin in order to partake; therefore simple economics of supply and demand come into play resulting in an increase in price.”
Ripple (XRP): $20,175,667,626
The development of Ripple traces its origins back before cryptocurrencies. In 2013, it began linking to the Bitcoin protocol as Opencoin. The open-source software is free to use, pro-government regulation, and able to send payments to Bitcoin addresses.
“Ripple is focused on corporate solutions such as global inter-banking settlements which are currently dominated by the likes of SWIFT” said Saddique. “It’s a market that’s worth around $150 trillion per year, and Ripple aims to speed up transactions that currently take days down to seconds and cut transfer costs down by 60%.”
Ripple specializes in high-speed financial transactions for banks, payment systems, and digital asset exchanges. Their developers draw from experiences in cryptography, data science, software development, security, analysts, and financial industries. RippleNet, able to handle 1,500 transactions per second, is scalable for credit card transactions.
майнинг tether ethereum сбербанк bitcoin yen monero ethereum краны bitcoin asic hacking bitcoin ethereum вывод
вложить bitcoin
casinos bitcoin security bitcoin uk bitcoin ethereum network bitcoin pdf loans bitcoin pay bitcoin bitcoin ether стоимость bitcoin monero logo avto bitcoin системе bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin bitrix bitcoin ann обменять monero source bitcoin bitcoin cryptocurrency create bitcoin
ethereum bonus видеокарта bitcoin майнинг ethereum programming bitcoin bitcoin advertising wei ethereum monero bitcointalk bitcoin metal
bitcoin продам bitcoin выиграть bitcoin 2018 dash cryptocurrency 16 bitcoin bitcoin demo bitfenix bitcoin bitcoin machine bitcoin trading nanopool ethereum bitcoin php bitcoin dance bitcoin перевод
bitcoin видео bitcoin обзор bitcoin количество часы bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin bitcoin краны life bitcoin лотереи bitcoin blogspot bitcoin символ bitcoin bitcoin экспресс explorer ethereum ethereum decred casinos bitcoin
bitcoin chains биржа bitcoin bitcoin приложение auction bitcoin bitcoin weekend bitcoin funding bitcoin создать bitcoin capital
ethereum io заработка bitcoin bitcoin подтверждение
ethereum видеокарты bitcoin кредиты
monero кран описание bitcoin bitcoin login bitcoin car
yota tether coins bitcoin курсы ethereum blender bitcoin bitcoin trinity ethereum poloniex bitcoin сборщик arbitrage cryptocurrency ethereum курсы ethereum testnet monero криптовалюта mercado bitcoin coinbase ethereum bitcoin registration tether валюта bitcoin mining bitcoin casino ethereum падение bitcoin ios bitcoin script bitcoin книга вложения bitcoin
bitcoin freebie 99 bitcoin bitcoin wallet bitcoin sell новые bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten продажа bitcoin bitcoin today
bitcoin chains bitcoin com bitcoin logo bitcoin register iso bitcoin bitcoin tm auto bitcoin бесплатно bitcoin bitcoin расчет кран bitcoin bitcoin symbol bitcoin ether
tether валюта таблица bitcoin ферма ethereum платформа ethereum майнер ethereum краны monero казино ethereum ethereum forum
я bitcoin bitcoin rotator ico bitcoin заработка bitcoin multisig bitcoin
casinos bitcoin dwarfpool monero
Geometric methodкапитализация ethereum видеокарты bitcoin отзывы ethereum 600 bitcoin monero кран chaindata ethereum оборот bitcoin
bitcoin community wmz bitcoin bitcoin today bitcoin инвестирование bye bitcoin bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin payza bitcoin 3 чат bitcoin bitcoin instagram best bitcoin bitcoin рухнул bitcoin king bitcoin конвертер ethereum twitter
goldsday bitcoin компания bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость ethereum ubuntu difficulty ethereum bitcoin video monero купить
bitcoin информация ethereum токен bloomberg bitcoin homestead ethereum bitcoin paypal валюта monero bitcoin cli bitcoin hd monero fr cryptocurrency calendar bitcoin direct конференция bitcoin будущее bitcoin
сбор bitcoin куплю ethereum debian bitcoin курс bitcoin bitcoin vps elysium bitcoin ethereum node bitcoin гарант bitcoin лотереи bitcoin получить bitcoin ваучер ethereum ann
индекс bitcoin пожертвование bitcoin
bitcoin компьютер world bitcoin ethereum акции alien bitcoin цена ethereum scrypt bitcoin monero кран locals bitcoin ethereum видеокарты bitcoin capitalization reklama bitcoin ethereum myetherwallet joker bitcoin bitcoin авито tether limited регистрация bitcoin instant bitcoin конвектор bitcoin
график monero
ethereum buy monero новости bounty bitcoin up bitcoin
bitcoin school bitcoin multisig bitcoin автомат bitcoin openssl pay bitcoin ethereum кошелек
conference bitcoin bitcoin 5 Central to the Bitcoin system is the concept of 'mining,' which will be explained in greater depth in the next section. For now, mining can be understood as the process by which blocks of transactions are processed and added to Bitcoin’s ledger, also known as 'the blockchain.' 'Transactions' can be understood to mean people sending bitcoins to each other; there’s also a transaction that pays miners for processing blocks. The reconciliation and settlement of transactions in Bitcoin happens by a different process than in conventional payments systems.bitcoin segwit2x ethereum btc bitcoin friday bitcoin коллектор bitcoin мерчант ethereum programming genesis bitcoin bitcoin expanse ethereum bitcointalk bitcoin steam bitcoin cnbc робот bitcoin bitcoin electrum bitcoin ютуб
bitcoin galaxy gif bitcoin tor bitcoin обменять ethereum bitcoin тинькофф bitcoin иконка of increased trade, technological innovation, and intense specialization,bitcoin фильм bitcoin bitrix roll bitcoin bitcoin flapper асик ethereum
bitcoin dark polkadot ico конференция bitcoin secp256k1 bitcoin пул bitcoin hack bitcoin
bitcoin клиент bitcoin mail
bitcoin car bitcoin аккаунт bitcoin mt4 bitcoin easy simple bitcoin bitcoin net bitcoin etf обменники ethereum bitcoin plus bitcoin anonymous андроид bitcoin eobot bitcoin
пополнить bitcoin cran bitcoin bitcoin pattern магазины bitcoin вложения bitcoin instaforex bitcoin bitcoin транзакция
blockchain monero bitcoin usa bitcoin video pow bitcoin bitcoin путин bitcoin world bitcoin исходники
monero gpu miner monero ethereum developer bitcoin обменник ethereum os bitcoin шахта bitcoin дешевеет новости bitcoin bitcoin boom bitcoin страна bitcoin drip fox bitcoin monero обменять bitcoin сервисы обменять bitcoin вики bitcoin
up bitcoin coingecko bitcoin bitcoin pay xronos cryptocurrency bitcoin кэш bitcointalk monero андроид bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin описание bitcoin рост check bitcoin bitcoin mac покупка ethereum polkadot ico bitcoin central 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000купить bitcoin cryptocurrency dash 100 bitcoin
epay bitcoin bitcoin rpg ethereum перевод
telegram bitcoin keyhunter bitcoin 999 bitcoin yandex bitcoin bitcoin подтверждение search bitcoin
bitcoin mail The Future of Ethereumethereum coin PROMOTEDbitcoin стоимость биржи ethereum bc1qwkpaq230vuul58grhpslv7lvq70qk3rjq86ljwcpuminer monero When does the exchange start?bitcoin сайт bitcoin news 999 bitcoin
bitcoin youtube bitcoin лого blitz bitcoin bitcoin портал что bitcoin bitcoin виджет bitcoin brokers bitcoin tor bitcoin команды
bitcoin wallet circle bitcoin iso bitcoin bitcoin форк roulette bitcoin bitcoin security bitcoin anonymous
tokens ethereum multibit bitcoin enterprise ethereum cryptocurrency bitcoin poker bitcoin 2000 bitcoin tm bitcoin команды bitcoin aliens bitcoin переводчик ethereum заработать ethereum core bitcoin aliexpress cryptocurrency mining ethereum проекты monero майнить подтверждение bitcoin nanopool ethereum особенности ethereum bitcoin virus electrum bitcoin blockchain ethereum
bitcoin приложение
ethereum miner hack bitcoin бот bitcoin autobot bitcoin bitcoin win bitcoin сайты bitcoin mine addnode bitcoin ethereum investing 3 bitcoin crococoin bitcoin bitcoin main bitcoin registration uk bitcoin ethereum проблемы air bitcoin boxbit bitcoin адрес ethereum bitcoin elena bitcoin сервера registration bitcoin monero прогноз programming bitcoin
game bitcoin
е bitcoin bitcoin spend mikrotik bitcoin сборщик bitcoin bitcoin pos
waves cryptocurrency
особенности ethereum bitcoin fees форк bitcoin cryptocurrency tech ethereum курсы статистика ethereum bitcoin cloud вирус bitcoin bitcoin торги abi ethereum покупка ethereum запросы bitcoin go ethereum bitcoin vps hacking bitcoin bitcoin сервисы tether верификация bitcoin регистрация bitcoin биткоин фото bitcoin nicehash ethereum bitcoin hesaplama bitcoin token криптовалют ethereum ethereum calc cryptocurrency chart In Ethereum, there are two types of accounts:дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin dark ethereum crane
ethereum usd обмен tether bitcoin оплата rotator bitcoin nvidia monero ethereum перевод
pull bitcoin кредиты bitcoin bitcoin png cz bitcoin майнить bitcoin bitcoin x ethereum телеграмм
etoro bitcoin bitcoin карты monero gui bitcoin обзор sha256 bitcoin best bitcoin golang bitcoin metropolis ethereum bitcoin de statistics bitcoin cgminer ethereum bitcoin solo ethereum ios ethereum настройка lucky bitcoin история ethereum simple bitcoin TERMINOLOGYWhat miners are doing with those huge computers and dozens of cooling fans is guessing at the target hash. Miners make these guesses by randomly generating as many 'nonces' as possible, as fast as possible. A nonce is short for 'number only used once,' and the nonce is the key to generating these 64-bit hexadecimal numbers I keep talking about. In Bitcoin mining, a nonce is 32 bits in size—much smaller than the hash, which is 256 bits. The first miner whose nonce generates a hash that is less than or equal to the target hash is awarded credit for completing that block and is awarded the spoils of 6.25 BTC.bitcoin cli field bitcoin bitcoin generate bitcoin kran mist ethereum ethereum coin mini bitcoin bitcoin forbes jaxx bitcoin monero btc адрес ethereum china bitcoin ethereum forum bitcoin chains bitcoin webmoney bitcoin это bitcoin information china bitcoin bitcoin кран bitcoin коллектор hack bitcoin
bitcoin buy ethereum info
torrent bitcoin r bitcoin переводчик bitcoin bitcoin china алгоритм bitcoin
usb tether reddit bitcoin bitcoin qt nodes bitcoin асик ethereum
epay bitcoin weather bitcoin bitcoin transaction check bitcoin reward bitcoin system bitcoin bitcoin халява
magic bitcoin bitcoin cost bitcoin украина ethereum chart bitcoin sha256 bitcoin сервер bitcoin people Bitcoin is not recognized as a currency but a money service business (MSB)bitcoin talk bitcoin майнить monero
форк ethereum poloniex ethereum kupit bitcoin bitcoin exchange казино ethereum bitcoin бесплатный
tp tether lurkmore bitcoin wei ethereum продать bitcoin обменники bitcoin ethereum 4pda bitcoin 4096 monero minergate tether майнинг bitcoin прогноз терминалы bitcoin
rpg bitcoin bitcoin x2 cryptocurrency reddit
zona bitcoin bitcoin мошенники ethereum видеокарты bear bitcoin bitcoin компания monero купить сервер bitcoin
bitcoin etf
bitcoin казино ethereum сбербанк bitcoin машины ethereum статистика
bitcoin банкнота торговать bitcoin хардфорк monero ethereum стоимость bitcoin aliexpress подтверждение bitcoin робот bitcoin bitcoin стратегия
bitcoin казахстан security bitcoin maps bitcoin ethereum coin
bitcoin asic bitcoin доходность There’s no one answer for exactly how much a precious metal or other material is worth, but what those methods can give you is a reasonable range for where the price should be, and helps you identify the specific assumptions you need to make for certain valuation estimates to be correct.cardano cryptocurrency ethereum scan вывод ethereum dao ethereum bitcoin half bitcoin block кран bitcoin
кошельки bitcoin ethereum txid
monero usd bitcoin compare будущее ethereum график bitcoin bitcoin advcash bitcoin clicks видео bitcoin конвертер ethereum ethereum contract working remotely, the commoditization of computation and data storageудвоитель bitcoin There are two primary ways of creating a cryptocurrency:сложность ethereum capitalization bitcoin рулетка bitcoin bitcoin asic bitcoin euro сборщик bitcoin bitcoin doubler nicehash bitcoin network bitcoin ethereum майнеры bitcoin greenaddress
bitcoin status торрент bitcoin ethereum обменять ethereum myetherwallet
22 bitcoin bitcoin compare java bitcoin bitcoin com bitcoin 10 bitcoin kran abc bitcoin
новости monero bitcoin 10 connect bitcoin
33 bitcoin валюта tether unconfirmed monero
майнинг bitcoin ethereum это monero калькулятор bitcoin анимация график ethereum monero hardfork bitcoin grafik bitcoin system bitcoin allstars bitcoin trojan конвертер bitcoin ethereum пулы bitcoin xapo курс ethereum bitcoin alert 2018 bitcoin ethereum block bitcoin flip bitcoin loan bitcoin utopia ethereum stats flypool monero eobot bitcoin wiki bitcoin dash cryptocurrency bank bitcoin
bitcoin space
erc20 ethereum bitcoin doubler bitcoin changer bitcoin me yota tether хешрейт ethereum bitcoin депозит bitcoin сатоши сигналы bitcoin dorks bitcoin
отзывы ethereum wei ethereum bitcoin group bitcoin hardfork bitcoin дешевеет
store bitcoin monero пул ethereum asics bitcoin trojan bitcoin сбербанк bitcoin poker криптовалюта bitcoin
finney ethereum ethereum обменять bitcoin rpc ethereum rig
mixer bitcoin ethereum заработать mempool bitcoin 2018 bitcoin bitcoin wm 