1. Ripple (XRP)
The ripple started 2017 at $ 0.00652, before increasing to 36,000% to close the year at $ 2.03. It rose to a record high of $ 3.28 on Jan. 4, before moving back to near the $ 0.77 level at the time of this writing. At current prices, ripple's market capitalization is nearly $ 31 billion, making it the third-largest crypto-currency on the market.
Launched in 2012, ripple is a real-time gross settlement, exchange and remittance system. Also called Ripple or Ripple Transaction Protocol, it aims to enable secure, instant, and almost free global financial transactions of any size without any reversal. Essentially, it takes the idea of banking operations, and in particular SWIFT transactions, and provides a very In recent months ripple has registered several additional new financial institutions in its blockchain network, increasing its clientele to more than 100, including money transfer giant MoneyGram, as well as major financial institutions such as Banco Santander ( NYSE: SAN) from Spain, Unicredit (MI: CRDI) from Italy, UBS (NYSE: UBS) from Switzerland and Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) from the UK. Additional financial institutions are expected to join the growing global ripple network this year as it allows banks to settle transnational payments faster and cheaper than currently using conventional global payment networks. In terms of time and transaction fees, the network of the ripple can accommodate up to 1,500 transactions per second, while the cost of an average ripple transaction is currently a fraction of a cent. Ripple investors expect that, in the future, blockchain technology will become the new standard for financial institutions wishing to transfer funds around the world. This makes it worth considering the ripple now.
2. Cardan (ADA)
The cardan is a technology platform that runs the cryptomeda ADA. Launched by blockchain development company Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) and led by Charles Hoskinson, former co-founder of ethereum and BitShares, the platform is capable of executing financial applications, smart contracts and decentralized applications. At the time of writing this article the price of the cardano and US $ 0.34482. Today, it is the fifth largest crypto currency in circulation, with a market capitalization of about $ 9 billion. Shown as the "ethereum of Japan" because 95% of participants in the ADA's initial currency offer (ICO) were Japanese, cardan prices rose to a peak of $ 1.37879 on Jan. 4, the highest in a historical of three years.
The cardano intends to become an advanced platform for smart contracts - its developers have invented a new Proof of Stake (POS) method called Ouroboros - offering more robust features than ethereum, while also working quickly, efficiently and economic, while providing the same kind of "value reserve" we see in bitcoin. Cryptomoedas enthusiasts hailed it as an improved bitcoin and etheruem version on a coin, making it a very intriguing option for the future.
Stellar is an open source currency exchange protocol. It was founded in early 2014 as a ripple branch because Jed McCaleb, the cofounder, had philosophical differences with the rest of Ripple's board. While ripple focuses on providing solutions for banks, stellar seeks to help facilitate payments between individuals. Currently, it is the seventh largest crypto currency in circulation, with a market capitalization of nearly $ 7 billion. It was trading at $ 0.366679 at the time of writing, retreating from a record high of $ 0.91990 from Jan. 3. It had a gain of approximately 14,400% in 2017.
Notably, stellar and IBM (NYSE: IBM) partnered in October 2017 to increase the speed of global payments. IBM also agreed to use the stellar network to develop a cross-border payment system with some major banks. On the technology front, stellar transactions are confirmed between 2 and 5 seconds, for a tiny fraction of a penny, much faster and cheaper than bitcoin, and allows users to do fast exchange of government-guaranteed currencies, such as converting dollar into euro. Stripe online payment company said in late January that it could add support for the stellar in the future, while eliminating the use of bitcoin due to slower transactions and higher rates. In addition, stellar has all the potential to become the next major ICO platform. David Gobaud, co-founder and CEO of Mobius Network, announced last month that his company raised $ 39 million through an initial currency offering that was performed in the stellar network. The sale of the token was very successful, reaching its hard cap after two hours, said Gobaud. While many ICOs have taken place in ethereum, it has chosen the stellar because of the scalability challenges of ethereum. The stellar series of positive news developments seems to continue into 2018, making it a worthwhile investment at current levels.
4. NEM (XEM)
The NEM price at the time of writing was $ 0.54488. It has a market capitalization of around US $ 4.9 billion, making it the 11th largest crypto currency in circulation. It lost about 70% in early 2018, after an unbelievable 29.800% increase in 2017.
NEM (XEM) is a crypto-currency and P2P blockchain platform launched on March 31, 2015. Built on a business focus, NEM's blockchain is designed to provide a simplified method of keeping a record of transactions safe. NEM can be used for almost any application thanks to its 'Smart Asset System'. In fact, this system gives users the ability to implement a custom blockchain for their own specific smart contract. NEM has provided a list of possible use cases for its Smart Asset System. Some uses include: voting, crowdfunding, stock ownership, secure record keeping, point loyalty programs, mobile payments, and custody services. Many of these are large global industries in themselves, which highlights how huge the potential customer base of NEM is. Because NEM locking software is so adaptable, the potential uses are almost endless. NEM software is currently used in a commercial blockchain called Mijin, which is being tested by financial institutions and private companies in Japan and internationally. Developers say they will reduce bank institutional costs by 90 percent, while making the banking sector safer. On the technical front, NEM transactions take about 6 seconds to appear and about 20 seconds to confirm, while fees are only 0.01%. By comparison, bitcoin transactions can sometimes take up to an hour or more to confirm, with rates around $ 25 on average. NEM Chairman Lon Wong said, "It can be exciting to see rapid price gains due to marketing and speculation, but the long-term winners will be those with consumer and business adoption." Looking at the various business functions that the NEM can carry out, it is obvious that there is a large potential customer base, signaling a bright future for the digital currency.
5. TRON (TRX)
TRON is a decentralized open source cryptomoeda that was founded by the TRON Foundation in March 2017. It aims to be a decentralized entertainment content sharing platform designed to enable content creators to cut off middlemen such as the Apple Store (NASDAQ: AAPL ) or Google Play (NASDAQ: GOOGL) for creators to receive funds instantly, directly from consumers. Its price at the time of writing was $ 0.03646, giving it a market capitalization of around $ 2.3 billion and becoming the 15th largest crypto-currency in circulation. It accumulated a high of 7,800% in 2017 and reached a record high of US $ 0.29891 on January 5.
TRON was founded by Fundation CEO Justin Sun, who appeared on the latest Forbes "30 Under 30 Asia" list (a list of 30 people under 30 to join Asia). He founded Peiwo, an application that aspires to become the Snapchat of China, and is considered the protege of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) founder Jack Ma. At the age of 26, Sun was chosen by Ma to study at Jack University Ma Hupan for entrepreneurs, which has a lower acceptance rate than Princeton. Sun's close relationship with Ma and the fact that several Alibaba developers joined TRON sparked speculation that a partnership between the Cryptomaniac and the Chinese giant online shopping is in progress. In addition, last month, TRON announced that it has partnered with Baofeng, better known as China's Netflix, which has more than 200 million users.