1. Bitcoin (BTC)
Market Cap: $458 billion
By market capitalization, Bitcoin is the biggest and most well-known cryptocurrency. Satoshi Nakamoto invented it in 2009. It is a digital money that is decentralised and whose ownership may be transferred. The maximum quantity of this coin, which is mineable, is 21,000,000.
2. Ethereum (ETH)
Market Cap: $216 billion
Ethereum, and its “Ether” token, come in second place to Bitcoin. With the use of decentralised applications, sometimes known as “DeFi,” the Ethereum network aims to displace established financial institutions like banks and brokerages. The fuel needed to power transactions on the Ethereum network is ether.
3. Tether (USDT)
Market Cap: $66 billion
Because it is a centralised cryptocurrency, the third-largest coin at the time of writing is considerably different from Ether and BTC. The biggest stablecoin that makes an effort to peg its price to the US Dollar is Tether. Tether is frequently referred to as USD or USDT. The company that controls the Bitfinex exchange, iFinex, is the owner of this stablecoin.
4. USD Coin (USDC)
Market Cap: $54 billion
The USD Coin, sometimes known as USDC, is the second-largest stablecoin. USDC is controlled and backed by cash and US T-bills, much as USDT. Curiously, you can see the underlying assets here, which are made up of 80% short-term T-bills and about 20% cash. Check out the CMSA course on short-term products to find out more information.
5. Binance Coin (BNB)
Market Cap: $52 billion
The Binance blockchain is now used by BNB, which formerly used the Ethereum blockchain. BNB was developed in 2017 and is still used widely today. On Binance, it is most frequently utilised for transaction fees and payments. BNB is centralised like many other currencies.
6. Ripple (XRP)
Market Cap: $18 billion
XRP is a decentralised cryptocurrency that prioritises speed and cuts expenses by utilising the Ripple protocol. An older cryptocurrency, it was originally made available in 2012. It is claimed that sending digital payments using XRP is quick and safe.
7. Cardano (ADA)
Market Cap: $18 billion
Cardano is a decentralised, open-source, public blockchain, in contrast to the preceding few currencies. Although being around since 2017, Cardano’s development really started in 2015 with assistance from an Ethereum cofounder.
8. Binance USD (BUSD)
Market Cap: $18 billion
The second coin from the Binance cryptocurrency market is called Binance USD. It is an Ethereum-based centralised stablecoin.
9. Solana (SOL)
Market Cap: $15 billion
A Blockchain platform called Solana, which launched in 2020, also features a native cryptocurrency of the same name. Smart contracts and non-fungible coins both use Solana (NFTs). With many of the similar capabilities, Ethereum is thought to be its main opponent.
10. Polkadot (DOT)
Market Cap: $10 billion
A cryptocurrency called Polkadot, sometimes known as DOT, was introduced in 2020. It may be used to safely connect blockchains together and was established by another co-founder of Ethereum.