4 Types of Cryptocurrencies in Use in 2017

Cryptocurrencies have become quite a big thing all across the world. A cryptocurrency is basically a digital form of money or unit of exchange. You can use these currencies to do online transactions without real money ever changing hands. It is fast, secure, and very convenient. Many businesses have also gotten on board and accept or trade in cryptocurrency. The four best-known cryptocurrencies are:

1. Bitcoin

Bitcoin is by far the most well-known type of cryptocurrency in the world. It has become a household name and people all over the world make use of this system. This was also the first cryptocurrency that came on the scene in 2009. It was developed by an anonymous individual or group only known as Satoshi Nakamoto.

2. Ripple

Ripple is a distributed ledger system that keeps track of transactions. It can successfully track different kinds of transactions and is very helpful to banks and other financial institutions. It can be used to track more than just the cryptocurrencies.

3. Litecoin

Litecoin is the smallest of the four cryptocurrencies on this list. It is the newest and also the fastest in terms of development and improvement. It moves quickly when it comes to improving speed and new features.

4. Ethereum

Ethereum is second to Bitcoin as the most used cryptocurrency. It was developed in 2015 and has a large market capitalization in the billions. It has had some issues with hacking and such things, but regardless of that, the currency is still popular among users.

Cryptocurrencies are being used for various transactions. People are using them to invest, play the markets, make an online purchase, etc. It is a fast and convenient way of exchanging money without a centralized system.