ALTCOINS to watch
Below are some of the promising cryptocurrencies available in the market
Fibre
Fibre is a currency that uses the unique NIST5 mining algorithm. The Fibre network is unique because it allows anonymous transactions through the tor network if the user chooses a Fibredark wallet, standard Fibre wallets perform normal transactions without the use of tor proxies. The Fibre team is one of nine working together on the recently released Blocknet project. The Fibre wallet is a very elegant one that deserves a look from any fan of nice looking GUI wallets.
Shadowcash
While there has certainly been no shortage this month of highly privatized, anonymous altcoins, I decided to add Shadowcash to the list because of their devotion to the project and the cryptocurrency community as a whole. The Shadowcash team has made a conscious effort to add to their coin, and their wallet, as well as communicate with their supporters. It is because of this and their wallet remaining a powerful yet easy to use tool that I decided they would make a good addition to this list.
Viacoin
I felt like Viacoin should make this list because of their efforts in promoting open source programmers to be able to experiment freely with blockchain software. By allowing anyone to build applications over the blockchain easily, Viacoin supports individuals as well as businesses to transact more independently without needing support from third parties like banks and stock brokers. This is a huge plus in the decentralized cryptocurrency world, which has earned Viacoin its spot on this list.
Greenbacks
I decided to add Greenbacks to this list because of their effort to integrate cryptocurrencies with traditional money amongst average consumers. Along with several other projects, the Greenbacks team is working on a startup company called Greenbacks, Inc. This company will be developing payment systems that allow for payments using Bitcoin, Greenbacks, and traditional currencies as well, all with one plastic card that uses QR codes instead of magnetic strips.
Counterparty
Counterparty is another powerful blockchain-based project helping to decentralize the world. Offering a full range of financial tools to everyone for next to nothing, Counterparty is reducing dependency on the banks and other massive financial institutions currently controlling most of the economy. Counterparty uses Bitcoin’s already incredibly secure blockchain to provide people with the ability to write financial contracts onto the blockchain, escrow, and create their own unique altcoin for their business without the need for a third party. Another great project for financial independence, so I made sure to put it on this list.
Maidsafecoin
Maidsafecoin is the cryptocurrency that will be used to support the Maidsafe project for a completely decentralized internet. The coin will use a unique proof of resources algorithm that will pay individuals to help host this new decentralized network. Once this decentralized internet is a reality, it will make any kind of censorship or regulation very difficult, a big win for privacy and freedom of speech advocates. Certainly it will take a bit more time for this project to be fully up and running, however it is probably the biggest development in computer software technology since Bitcoin itself.
Blackcoin
Blackcoin gets a spot on the list for its effort in promoting proof of stake. Proof of stake is an excellent alternative to proof of work. Not to say that proof of work is bad, but if every Bitcoin sidechain in the future, as well as every altcoin, used proof of work, the energy consumed from mining would be astronomical. Proof of stake helps the cryptocurrency community immensely by providing a much more energy conservative minting and confirming option over proof-of-work mining.
Darkcoin
Darkcoin is recognized for being the first coin to offer anonymous transaction through a mixing protocol to cloud the details of each transaction. There have been many newer coins to pick up on this concept and offer the private transaction capability of Darkcoin. However, Darkcoin remains one of the highest valued, and most used of these anonymous coins. For several months, there have been posts and articles about Darkcoin’s wide acceptance throughout the black market darknet or deep web sites. And while the use for the coin may not always be tasteful, the fact that it is being used means it does have a use, and thus, the value.
Monero
Monero is a cryptocurrency that uses a different code base than that of Bitcoin, called CryptoNote. The CryptoNote technology is, according to the Monero site, capable of a higher level of anonymity than any altcoin using the Bitcoin code base. Monero was launched in April of 2014, and to this day retains a USD value on Poloniex. It shows a slightly stable chart for the past three or four months, although it has dropped significantly since its release.While there were certainly quite a few other coins worth mentioning from this year, these are without a doubt some of the best coins from 2014. It has been a good year for new and innovative cryptocurrencies. However, it is coming to an end. Soon it will be time to see what the year 2015 has in store for us. Meanwhile, you can check all the alcoins available on CEX.IO.
Litecoin
If Bitcoin is considered Internet’s gold, Litecoin is often compared to its silver. This cryptocurrency has also seen a lot of growth, with a current value of $5 (2013 high avg: $43.99). Just as its name suggests, Litecoin was designed as a lighter version of Bitcoin, duplicating a lot of its features, but having a shorter block rate, which means faster transactions.It also uses a different proof-of-work system than Bitcoin, scrypt rather than SHA2. Scrypt supposedly prevents miners from using specialized chips to boost their mining efficiency, and thus makes the playing field more equal for everyone. Many people who didn’t join the bitcoin mining craze early on started mining litecoins as an alternative, the latter providing a mining system more accessible for everyone.
Peercoin
Another popular alternative cryptocurrency, Peercoin is currently valued at $0.8 (2013 high avg $6.24). Its major differentiating feature is that Peercoin has no hard cap on the amount of currency that can be mined. This means that it will eventually attain a 1% inflation rate, which could possibly boost its longevity.Right now Peercoin uses the same proof-of-work mining system other digital currencies use, but the plan is to eventually transition it to a proof-of-stake setup. While the former model makes the mining power dependent on one’s processing power, the latter calculates your mining efficiency based on the size of your holdings and the age of your coins, or the amount of time they’ve remained static. This model reduces energy waste and the possibility of anyone with extremely high processing power taking over the system.
Namecoin
Namecoin’s current value is $1.15 (2013 high avg $9.60). This cryptocurrency also follows Bitcoin’s model, but stands out thanks to some added functionality. Besides its role as currency, Namecoin also manages information access and acts as a peer-to-peer form of ICANN. It costs 0.01 namecoins to register a domain and have it recorded on the blockchain. So while keeping its functionality as a currency, Namecoin serves as a Domain Name System, which allows it to reduce downtime and prevent Internet censorship.
Ripple
Unlike the majority of other altcoins, Ripple doesn’t really resemble Bitcoin or follow its model. Instead, it was designed to complement virtual currencies as well as fiat ones. The downside of it being so unique is that learning how it works involves time for people new to this currency.Similarly to HTTP or TCP/IP, Ripple is an Internet protocol, although it was designed for sending and receiving payments. It acts similar to email that you can use to send money, no matter what financial institution or provider you are using. Ripple consists of a payment network, distributed exchange and virtual currency, ripples, which at the moment cost $0.004 (2013 high avg $0.058).
Feathercoin
Feathercoin is one of the most recent altcoins, released in 2013 and costing $0.02 right now (2013 avg: $0.68). It produces 16 times more coins per block than Bitcoin and has the same level of security as Litecoin.FastcoinAt $0.000296 (2013 high avg: $0.053) , Fastcoin is still a lot cheaper than other altcoins, but it has its potential. True to its name, Fastcoin claims to be the fastest one on the market of cryptocurrencies. It is a clone of Litecoin, also using scrypt and all the advantages that come with it. The block rate is only 12 seconds, as compared to Litecoin’s 2.5 minutes and Bitcoin’s 10 minutes.
Fibre is a currency that uses the unique NIST5 mining algorithm. The Fibre network is unique because it allows anonymous transactions through the tor network if the user chooses a Fibredark wallet, standard Fibre wallets perform normal transactions without the use of tor proxies. The Fibre team is one of nine working together on the recently released Blocknet project. The Fibre wallet is a very elegant one that deserves a look from any fan of nice looking GUI wallets.
Shadowcash
Viacoin
I felt like Viacoin should make this list because of their efforts in promoting open source programmers to be able to experiment freely with blockchain software. By allowing anyone to build applications over the blockchain easily, Viacoin supports individuals as well as businesses to transact more independently without needing support from third parties like banks and stock brokers. This is a huge plus in the decentralized cryptocurrency world, which has earned Viacoin its spot on this list.
Greenbacks
I decided to add Greenbacks to this list because of their effort to integrate cryptocurrencies with traditional money amongst average consumers. Along with several other projects, the Greenbacks team is working on a startup company called Greenbacks, Inc. This company will be developing payment systems that allow for payments using Bitcoin, Greenbacks, and traditional currencies as well, all with one plastic card that uses QR codes instead of magnetic strips.
Counterparty
Counterparty is another powerful blockchain-based project helping to decentralize the world. Offering a full range of financial tools to everyone for next to nothing, Counterparty is reducing dependency on the banks and other massive financial institutions currently controlling most of the economy. Counterparty uses Bitcoin’s already incredibly secure blockchain to provide people with the ability to write financial contracts onto the blockchain, escrow, and create their own unique altcoin for their business without the need for a third party. Another great project for financial independence, so I made sure to put it on this list.
Maidsafecoin
Maidsafecoin is the cryptocurrency that will be used to support the Maidsafe project for a completely decentralized internet. The coin will use a unique proof of resources algorithm that will pay individuals to help host this new decentralized network. Once this decentralized internet is a reality, it will make any kind of censorship or regulation very difficult, a big win for privacy and freedom of speech advocates. Certainly it will take a bit more time for this project to be fully up and running, however it is probably the biggest development in computer software technology since Bitcoin itself.
Blackcoin
Blackcoin gets a spot on the list for its effort in promoting proof of stake. Proof of stake is an excellent alternative to proof of work. Not to say that proof of work is bad, but if every Bitcoin sidechain in the future, as well as every altcoin, used proof of work, the energy consumed from mining would be astronomical. Proof of stake helps the cryptocurrency community immensely by providing a much more energy conservative minting and confirming option over proof-of-work mining.
Darkcoin
Darkcoin is recognized for being the first coin to offer anonymous transaction through a mixing protocol to cloud the details of each transaction. There have been many newer coins to pick up on this concept and offer the private transaction capability of Darkcoin. However, Darkcoin remains one of the highest valued, and most used of these anonymous coins. For several months, there have been posts and articles about Darkcoin’s wide acceptance throughout the black market darknet or deep web sites. And while the use for the coin may not always be tasteful, the fact that it is being used means it does have a use, and thus, the value.
Monero
Monero is a cryptocurrency that uses a different code base than that of Bitcoin, called CryptoNote. The CryptoNote technology is, according to the Monero site, capable of a higher level of anonymity than any altcoin using the Bitcoin code base. Monero was launched in April of 2014, and to this day retains a USD value on Poloniex. It shows a slightly stable chart for the past three or four months, although it has dropped significantly since its release.While there were certainly quite a few other coins worth mentioning from this year, these are without a doubt some of the best coins from 2014. It has been a good year for new and innovative cryptocurrencies. However, it is coming to an end. Soon it will be time to see what the year 2015 has in store for us. Meanwhile, you can check all the alcoins available on CEX.IO.
Litecoin
If Bitcoin is considered Internet’s gold, Litecoin is often compared to its silver. This cryptocurrency has also seen a lot of growth, with a current value of $5 (2013 high avg: $43.99). Just as its name suggests, Litecoin was designed as a lighter version of Bitcoin, duplicating a lot of its features, but having a shorter block rate, which means faster transactions.It also uses a different proof-of-work system than Bitcoin, scrypt rather than SHA2. Scrypt supposedly prevents miners from using specialized chips to boost their mining efficiency, and thus makes the playing field more equal for everyone. Many people who didn’t join the bitcoin mining craze early on started mining litecoins as an alternative, the latter providing a mining system more accessible for everyone.
Peercoin
Another popular alternative cryptocurrency, Peercoin is currently valued at $0.8 (2013 high avg $6.24). Its major differentiating feature is that Peercoin has no hard cap on the amount of currency that can be mined. This means that it will eventually attain a 1% inflation rate, which could possibly boost its longevity.Right now Peercoin uses the same proof-of-work mining system other digital currencies use, but the plan is to eventually transition it to a proof-of-stake setup. While the former model makes the mining power dependent on one’s processing power, the latter calculates your mining efficiency based on the size of your holdings and the age of your coins, or the amount of time they’ve remained static. This model reduces energy waste and the possibility of anyone with extremely high processing power taking over the system.
Namecoin
Namecoin’s current value is $1.15 (2013 high avg $9.60). This cryptocurrency also follows Bitcoin’s model, but stands out thanks to some added functionality. Besides its role as currency, Namecoin also manages information access and acts as a peer-to-peer form of ICANN. It costs 0.01 namecoins to register a domain and have it recorded on the blockchain. So while keeping its functionality as a currency, Namecoin serves as a Domain Name System, which allows it to reduce downtime and prevent Internet censorship.
Ripple
Unlike the majority of other altcoins, Ripple doesn’t really resemble Bitcoin or follow its model. Instead, it was designed to complement virtual currencies as well as fiat ones. The downside of it being so unique is that learning how it works involves time for people new to this currency.Similarly to HTTP or TCP/IP, Ripple is an Internet protocol, although it was designed for sending and receiving payments. It acts similar to email that you can use to send money, no matter what financial institution or provider you are using. Ripple consists of a payment network, distributed exchange and virtual currency, ripples, which at the moment cost $0.004 (2013 high avg $0.058).
Feathercoin
Feathercoin is one of the most recent altcoins, released in 2013 and costing $0.02 right now (2013 avg: $0.68). It produces 16 times more coins per block than Bitcoin and has the same level of security as Litecoin.FastcoinAt $0.000296 (2013 high avg: $0.053) , Fastcoin is still a lot cheaper than other altcoins, but it has its potential. True to its name, Fastcoin claims to be the fastest one on the market of cryptocurrencies. It is a clone of Litecoin, also using scrypt and all the advantages that come with it. The block rate is only 12 seconds, as compared to Litecoin’s 2.5 minutes and Bitcoin’s 10 minutes.
The list is never ending as there are more and more crypto currencies born day by day ,some of them are just ponzi scheme while some of them are promising , stay update to watch the strangest Altcoins in the market .
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