The volatile nature of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, however, means that it’s likely we’ll experience more highs and lows in the months and years to come.
A fast way to sort through the long list of altcoins on the market today is by researching only the tokens that you deem worthy. In order to assess whether a cryptocurrency warrants further investigation, the primary question to ask is “what problem does it solve?”.
Using this method, we’ll take a look at the top 70 altcoins as listed by marketcap and briefly summarize the issues that they are attempting to provide a solution to.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is the largest and most successful cryptocurrency in the world, and aims to solve a large-scale problem- the world economy is to interconnected, and, over the long term, is unstable. Functioning as a long-term investment mechanism that is completely separate from fiat based systems, Bitcoin is a disconnected USD hedge that is becoming increasingly more effective in providing a solution to its target problem.
Ethereum
Ethereum attempts to redress three important issues over the short, medium, and long term. The short term goal of Ethereum is to create a platform through which ICO tokens can be issued and distribute them with smart contract. The medium term goals of Ethereum aim to provide an alternative to unwieldy and inefficient legal contracts. Finally, the long-term applications of Ethereum involve the management and regulation of complex AI systems.
Ripple
Ripple aims to streamline and optimized the convoluted banking system. The current banking system as it exists today is spread across thousands of different disjointed ledger systems around the world. This system forces market makers to park immense amounts or reserve capital in order to facilitate payments, whereas if they were all on the same ledger system they wouldn’t have to. Ripple is focused on connecting all payment systems on the one ledger, providing banks with a secure blockchain system.
Litecoin
Litecoin was originally created to complement Bitcoin with a specialized focus on concentrated mining pools and speeding up transaction timings. Unlike Bitcoin, which functions as a secure form of holding and storing wealth, Litecoin is intended to revolutionize the process of transferring monetary value.
Ethereum Classic
Ethereum classic holds to the adage that “code is law”, stating that Ethereum should not modify the network in order to facilitate the refund of losses to individuals who create faulty code. Ethereum Classic is immutable, and unless explicitly defined within contract codes, does not allow for reversals, undos, or opt-outs.
NEM
NEM focuses on the creation of tools and applications that leverage the functionality of decentralized coins. To the creators of NEM, simply creating a decentralized currency is not enough- it’s also essential to provide third-party developers with simple APIs that are 100% secure.
IOTA
IOTA is a highly innovative distributed ledger technology platform that aims to function as the backbone of the Internet of Things. As a fairly derivative extension of blockchain technology, IOTA has no mining, no blocks, no transaction fees, and no difficulty. Instead, it aims to operate as a settlement layer that facilitates communication between disparate existing systems.
Dash
Dash has worked heavily toward solving some of the most common issues with Bitcoin, such as slow transactions, delivering enhanced financial privacy, and developing a decentralized governance system. Dash also focuses on enhancing the consumer friendliness of digital currency, and aims to create a built-in process that facilitates the development and marketing of consumer friendly goods and services.
Bitshares
The creators of Bitshares have created their solution to optimize asset trading. Currently, assets are traded on inefficient privatized platforms. From the perspective of Bitshares, assets should trade on one single ledger. Platforms such as Ethereum are too slow to handle extensive ICO capital fundraising, so a faster platform, such as Bitshares, is needed.
The Bitshares platform was originally designed to create digital assets that could be used to track assets such as gold and silver, but has grown into a decentralized exchange that offers users the ability to issue new assets on.
Stratis
Stratis aims to make the blockchain more accessible to companies by delivering straightforward, simple integration with Microsoft’s .Net platform and it’s C# language. As a business-focused blockchain tech platform, Stratis has the ability to hook into business software in an elegant and simple manner.
Monero
Bitcoin is definitely a highly innovative way to transfer and hold monetary value, but it does allow anybody with access to your public address to see the funds that it stores. With Monero, however, the funds holders own are not associated with their public address, providing users with complete anonymity.
Zcash
Like Monero, Zcash offers complete transaction anonymity, but also pioneers the use of “zero-knowledge proofs”, which allow for fully encrypted transactions to be confirmed as valid. This unique property enables the creation of entirely new classes of blockchain applications.
Waves
Initial coin offerings, or ICOs, are typically slow when launched on platforms such as Ethereum. Waves allows startups to launch their own ICOs in a matter of minutes on a faster, simpler, decentralized exchange with minimal fuss.
Golem
Golem claims to be building the world’s first global, open sourced decentralized supercomputer, accessible to everybody. By combining unused processing power sourced from everything to personal laptops to entire datacenters, Golem promises to provide users with the ability to make money by “renting” out the computing power of their hardware. While the Golem project is certainly hopeful, it’s still in early alpha stages.
Bytecoin
Bytecoin is another cryptocurrency that aims to completely anonymize the transfer process, but provides the added benefit of customizable anonymity levels with regards to the financial details of a wallet.
Steem
Steem is a unique social networking that aims to provide content creators with reward in the form of cryptocurrency. Steemit, the website that drives steem, provides currency to content creators in the form of the eponymous steem tokens, which can then be traded on the crypto market.
Siacoin
Siacoin aims to address the problems presented by centralized computing and storage systems. These solutions are typically expensive and cumbersome- the Siacoin platform is dedicated to providing an end to end encrypted decentralized cloud.
Iconomi
There are many different altcoins that investors may want to diversify into, but identifying, investing in, and securing so many different assets is time consuming and difficult. Iconomi provides tokens that derive dividends in ETH form Iconomi, which functions as an index fund for digital assets.
BitConnect
BitConnect is a high-ranking crypto that promises to deliver a “self-regulated financial system”, functioning as an all-in-one Bitcoin and crypto community platform. BitConnect is currently a hot topic of debate amongst members of the crypto community, with many claiming that it is a “scam”. The BitConnect platform bears a striking resemblance to high yield investment programs, or HYIP, so exercise caution if choosing to invest.
Dogecoin
Dogecoin is one of the earlier “joke” digital currencies, but due to the actions of an enthusiastic community, has expanded into more serious endeavours, even funding several charitable ventures in the developing world.
Stellar Lumens
Stellar Lumens, like Ripple, aims to optimize the unwieldy banking system, but focuses more on the underbanked. Functioning as a derivative of Ripple, Stellar Lumens intends to connect payments, banks, and the underbanked while lowering banking costs.
Lisk
Lisk is a new platform that intends to lower the difficulty of creating new blockchain applications. Lisk functions as a sidechain platform that provides users with the ability to easily create new applications and products.
Augur
Augur is a new and unique take on betting platforms. Traditional centralized betting platforms are open to manipulation, not to mention expensive and centralized. The Augur platform functions as a decentralized prediction market, and allows for real-money betting on outcomes.
AntShares
AntShares is commonly referred to as “China’s Ethereum”, and aims to address the same issues as the Ethereum platform. Antshares is currently rebranding as Neo.
Ardor
Ardor, like Lisk, is a sidechain platform, but refers to sidechains as “Child Chains”. Essentially, Ardor aims to streamline the process of creating applications on the blockchain.
GameCredits
In the same way that Bitcoin aims to revolutionize real-world money, GameCredits aims to revolutionize game currency. GameCredits wants all games to use the same currency, and make this currency transferable between all games.
Factom
Factom applies cryptocurrency encryption techniques to the storage of critical items. By functioning as a decentralized storage provider, Factom focuses on creating an audit trial for digital documents that deliver undisputable evidence.
Gnosis
LIke Ardor, Gnosis aims to provide gamblers with an alternative to easily-manipulated centralized betting platforms.
MaidSafeCoin
MaidSafeCoin is similar to Factom, providing for the storage of critical items on a decentralized blockchain ledger.
Decred
The issue that Decred aims to solve is the difficulty involved in solving the problems that face Bitcoin. From the perspective of the creators of Decred, governance should be built into the platform. Decred functions as a solution to these governance issues.
Nxt
Nxt is yet another tool that can be used to create new blockchains, fostering innovation in the blockchain ecosystem.
Komodo
Komodo aims to increased privacy and security levels in transactions on the blockchain, and also provides users with the ability to create more anonymous, privatized blockchain apps and smart contracts.
DigiByte
DigiByte functions as a transparent global ledger that is intended to address the growing issue of international cybersecurity, focusing on security-based blockchain applications.
Byteball
Mobile devices and chat platforms are used to operate millions upon millions of transactions. Byteball is intended to provide chat bots that facilitate smart contracts and payments on these platforms.
DigixDAO
DigixDAO addresses the trust issues presented by purchasing custodial gold. DigixDAO attempts to correct this issue by incorporating blockchain technology.
Basic Attention Token
The advertising industry is plagued by fraud. Most players in the advertising industry generate no profit, apart from ad publishers themselves. The Basic Attention Token not only transforms the way the advertising industry works, but also provides users with the ability to profit from time spend watching ads.
Veritaseum
Veritaseum functions in essentially the same manner as Bitcoin, which makes it somewhat difficult to assess its value proposition. According to the Veritaseum website, the platform eliminates middlemen, gives currency holders full control at all times, and eliminates the need for trust between parties- all of which are provided by Bitcoin already. Assess carefully before investing.
FirstBlood
The FirstBlood platform aims to optimize the static, centralized eSports world.
MobileGo
In a similar manner to GameCredits, MobileGo aims to centralize mobile app platforms and reward developers.
Tether
Tether is a relatively innovative cryptocurrency that is intended to function as a decentralized iteration of both USD and EUR in order to facilitate faster cryptocurrency trading.
Numeraire
Machine learning hedge funds have made a significant amount of progress in the stock market. The Numeraire solution is a decentralized effort that is designed to provide better outcomes by leveraging anonymized data sets.
SingularDTV
Marketing and selling content in the creative industry can be difficult, especially in the online environment. The SingularDTV solution provides artists and individuals living in the creative industry with the ability to directly deliver their content in a P2P marketplace.
SysCoin
SysCoin is another platform that is designed to provide users with the ability to create more blockchain apps, delivering a decentralized marketplace.
BitcoinDark
BitcoinDark is a cryptocurrency that focuses on fulfilling the primary axioms of the blockchain. The BitcoinDark platform has recently rebranded to Komodo.
PIVX
Pivx aims to solve the issues of anonymity in the blockchain, and aims to completely obfuscate financial data in all aspects.
Aragon
Aragon intends to centralize company registration by registering on a decentralized ledger that incorporates a built in court system.
MCAP
MCAP provides cryptocurrency investors with the ability to invest in multiple altcoins at once in a streamlined fashion, as well as delivering cloud mining services.
Emercoin
Emercoin maintains the idea that blockchain platforms should constantly be evolving, and deliver a continuous stream of new features through which transactions can occur for as many users as possible. The Emercoin platform incorporates many different functions, including innovative applications such as a decentralized torrent tracker.
Ubiq
Ubiq attempts to redress a number of issues with the smart contract platforms that are currently available, such as Ethereum.
Peercoin
Peercoin is built around the concept that proof of work systems are unstable over the long term, and that proof of stake systems are built to last.
Peerplays
Peerplays is yet another decentralized betting platform that aims to eliminate the risk of manipulation that centralized platforms are susceptible to.
Ark
Ark is designed to streamline and optimize the creation of new blockchains, responding to the consumer need for interconnected blockchains.
Lykke
Lykke intends to address the difficulty experienced by traders attempting to both hold currencies and trade them on one screen. Lykke delivers a multi-asset trading application and exchange.
Round
Round represents a concerted effort to decentralize inefficient eSports platforms.
Storjcoin X
Storjcoin X is an end-to-end decentralized private cloud that intends to deliver an alternative to expensive centralized solutions.
Reddcoin
Cryptocurrency is experiencing widespread adoption worldwide, but has yet to hit the social media ecosystem. Reddcoin intends to provide social media users with the ability to transmit currency on social media platforms.
iExec RLC
iExec, like Storjcoin X, is intended to provide individuals in need of low-cost cloud storage with a decentralized solution.
Asch
Asch is a Chinese blockchain solution that provides users with the ability to create sidechains and blockchain applications with a streamlined interface.
Melon
Melon is a decentralized fund management platform that provides consumers with the ability to easily invest in digital assets.
Wings
Creating decentralized autonomous organizations is a difficult process. Wings aims to provide users with a platform that streamlines the creation of DAOs and ICOs.
Quantum-Resistant Ledger
It’s possible that the future applications of quantum technology will create solutions that can threaten the security of cryptocurrencies. The Quantum Resistance Ledger aims to create a solution that is not susceptible to quantum attacks.
Nexus
Nexus is an incredibly ambitious project that aims to distribute blockchain solutions via cube satellites in orbit.
Edgeless
Edgeless is yet another decentralized betting platform.
Namecoin
Domain names are an essential part of creating a website. As they are hosted by centralized platforms, they are susceptible to censorship. Namecoin is a blockchain-based domain solution that eliminates this issue.
Counterparty
Bitcoin is a powerful cryptocurrency, but is limited in the amount of assets that can be issued on top of it. Counterparty aims to provide users with the ability to issue assets and smart contracts on top of cryptocurrency.
Synereo
Synereo resembles Steemit in that it provides content creators to receive remittance for their work with a decentralized peer-to-peer currency.
Verge
Verge is another digital currency that aims to completely anonymize the payment process.
Omni
Omni is another platform that is designed to provide asset issuance on top of cryptocurrency.
PRX
PRX, or Printerium, aims to apply blockchain technology to the 3D printing industry.