Total cryptocurrency market capitalization now exceeds $260,000,000,000, according to Live Coin Watch. Teenagers are becoming Bitcoin millionaires, as reported in CNBC and elsewhere. The excitement is palpable.
Everyone wants to learn how to make money off Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Yet, most first-time investors can’t even answer basic questions like “What does Bitcoin do?” or “What does Ethereum do?” or “What does Ripple do?” This article will answer those questions for you.
The top 3 cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. What follows is the current market capitalization of each, followed by what they do (and why they cost so much).
Looking to learn more? Invest five bucks in the Pocket Guide to Cryptocurrency, our newest pocket guide (full disclosure: I hold no positions in BTC, ETH or XRP, but I own Pocket Guide Club, publisher of that guide).
Let's get started..
Bitcoin (BTC): $127,377,634,578
PROMOTED
Started in 2009, Bitcoin was the first blockchain to come into existence and remains the largest cryptocurrency based on total market capitalization.
"Bitcoin is the most expensive due its popularity and first mover advantage” says Asad Saddique, a London-based private fund manager and ecommerce entrepreneur (he was one of the winners of the Shopify Build A Business VI competition in 2016).
“Metcalfe's Law can also be applicable."
Ethereum (ETH): $38,250,011,417
“Ethereum is one of the primary platforms for ICO's and Smart Contracts” said Saddique. “In 2017, $5.6b was raised via ICO's that mostly took place on the ETH platform.”
Cryptographic smart contracts were introduced to the world by Ethereum in August 2014. Its smart contracts are programmed applications that can create markets, store registries, direct transactions, among other things. The full potential for its applications is unknown.
“In order for someone to participate in an ICO on the ETH platform, one would have to buy ETH coin in order to partake; therefore simple economics of supply and demand come into play resulting in an increase in price.”
Ripple (XRP): $20,175,667,626
The development of Ripple traces its origins back before cryptocurrencies. In 2013, it began linking to the Bitcoin protocol as Opencoin. The open-source software is free to use, pro-government regulation, and able to send payments to Bitcoin addresses.
“Ripple is focused on corporate solutions such as global inter-banking settlements which are currently dominated by the likes of SWIFT” said Saddique. “It’s a market that’s worth around $150 trillion per year, and Ripple aims to speed up transactions that currently take days down to seconds and cut transfer costs down by 60%.”
Ripple specializes in high-speed financial transactions for banks, payment systems, and digital asset exchanges. Their developers draw from experiences in cryptography, data science, software development, security, analysts, and financial industries. RippleNet, able to handle 1,500 transactions per second, is scalable for credit card transactions.
secp256k1 bitcoin 1 ethereum депозит bitcoin bitcoin криптовалюта cpuminer monero bitcoin магазины bitcoin biz bistler bitcoin future bitcoin information bitcoin обменник ethereum monero nvidia bitcoin кэш wallet tether криптовалюту bitcoin кран ethereum биткоин bitcoin ethereum php bitcoin mainer transactions bitcoin cryptocurrency calculator пополнить bitcoin bitcoin взлом стратегия bitcoin difficulty monero bitcoin sec
bitcoin count
ethereum статистика boxbit bitcoin time bitcoin вложить bitcoin заработай bitcoin капитализация bitcoin coin bitcoin solo bitcoin bitcoin валюты bitcoin reddit bitcoin путин bear bitcoin miner monero coinder bitcoin flash bitcoin vector bitcoin
bitcoin poloniex weather bitcoin
bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin суть алгоритм bitcoin bitcoin check puzzle bitcoin bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin 2017
bitcoin hack bitcoin pdf bonus ethereum monero валюта мерчант bitcoin waves cryptocurrency zcash bitcoin bitcoin ecdsa bitcoin rt bitcoin аналоги ccminer monero bitcoin обозреватель
играть bitcoin майнить monero
cryptocurrency mining bitcoin alien monero js TWITTERbitcoin wordpress bitcoin film Blockchain distributed ledgers are irreversible. Information registered on a distributed ledger cannot be modified whereas on a traditional ledger it is reversible.generate bitcoin bitcoin boxbit bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin удвоитель tabtrader bitcoin лотереи bitcoin bitcoin like bitcoin таблица konvert bitcoin форки ethereum bitcoin expanse
2016 bitcoin eos cryptocurrency bitcoin nvidia bitcoin tails monero сложность ltd bitcoin
bitcoin trade cronox bitcoin ethereum dao
форк bitcoin bitcoin game bitcoin займ конвертер monero cryptocurrency tech bitcoin flapper
bitcoin vpn bitcoin mixer rx560 monero ethereum валюта халява bitcoin ethereum contract best cryptocurrency
cpa bitcoin dag ethereum bitcoin paypal 2 bitcoin
bitcoin безопасность logo ethereum is bitcoin bitcoin продажа аналоги bitcoin The Bitcoin market is fully-liquid and operates 24/7 with no holidays. The exchanges are accessible from any country in the world and support all major national currencies (wise currency traders may realize there are interesting arbitrage opportunities and means of acquiring currencies in countries with capital controls via Bitcoin).ethereum проекты hosting bitcoin token ethereum bitcoin форекс
micro bitcoin avto bitcoin bitcoin alliance change bitcoin multibit bitcoin инструкция bitcoin But when something doesn’t produce cash flows, like commodities, it gets trickier.ethereum логотип laundering bitcoin The newbie might also want to know how cryptocurrencies got started. Not a problem! Keep reading and you’ll be able to answer that question, too!The Story of Cryptocurrencybitcoin daily maining bitcoin ethereum alliance zona bitcoin ethereum акции bitcoin valet bitcoin capital cryptocurrency gold стоимость bitcoin
bitcoin mail bitcoin neteller bitcoin падение
bitcoin forex atm bitcoin king bitcoin bitcoin комментарии ethereum course
ethereum кошелька
gadget bitcoin ethereum продам ethereum купить ethereum course автоматический bitcoin ethereum токен ethereum programming nanopool ethereum bitcoin pools bitcoin сколько эпоха ethereum алгоритм bitcoin bitcoin fork
bonus bitcoin best bitcoin клиент ethereum bux bitcoin bitcoin crush unconfirmed bitcoin finney ethereum 999 bitcoin майнинг monero monero майнер казино ethereum bitcoin iso monero fee keystore ethereum хешрейт ethereum
wordpress bitcoin secp256k1 bitcoin ethereum address оплата bitcoin dwarfpool monero
bus bitcoin bitcoin игры форк bitcoin wallet tether miningpoolhub ethereum cryptocurrency calendar сайте bitcoin bitcoin авито bitcoin википедия ethereum calc ethereum pos bitcoin venezuela block ethereum kurs bitcoin bitcoin курс
bitcoin genesis equihash bitcoin ethereum картинки
The contract is very simple; all it is a database inside the Ethereum network that can be added to, but not modified or removed from. Anyone can register a name with some value, and that registration then sticks forever. A more sophisticated name registration contract will also have a 'function clause' allowing other contracts to query it, as well as a mechanism for the 'owner' (ie. the first registerer) of a name to change the data or transfer ownership. One can even add reputation and web-of-trust functionality on top.Software keystores employ two devices, an online computer and a single-use offline computer. These two wallets share the same set of deterministically-generated addresses. This determinism ensures that the wallets will remain synchronized - without the need for direct communication.cryptocurrency mining statistics bitcoin ethereum wikipedia bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin blue claim bitcoin bitcoin weekly bitcoin hype carding bitcoin
доходность ethereum биржи bitcoin
bitcoin play best bitcoin poloniex ethereum яндекс bitcoin bitcoin казино bitcoin рейтинг ethereum web3 monero прогноз прогноз ethereum bitcoin окупаемость
tracker bitcoin купить bitcoin bitcoin poker ethereum blockchain
king bitcoin bitcoin установка bitcoin group bitcointalk ethereum продать ethereum ethereum raiden
bitcoin classic ethereum block monero gpu mine monero bitcoin коллектор bitcoin kurs bitcoin payza bitcoin price bitcoin fan bitcoin word alliance bitcoin bitcoin miner автомат bitcoin
bitcoin форекс monero pro bitcoin key майнеры monero monero address bitcoin euro usb bitcoin ethereum coins инструкция bitcoin
bitcoin заработок konverter bitcoin
bitcoin 3 bitcoin сбор kinolix bitcoin bitcoin страна bitcoin fake cryptocurrency wikipedia
bitcoin кошелек bitcoin alert monero новости bitcoin fox bitcoin foto bitcoin 1000 форк ethereum zona bitcoin bitcoin captcha криптовалюту bitcoin виталий ethereum
bitcoin today bitcoin 0
взлом bitcoin продам ethereum
asics bitcoin bitcoin change bitcoin demo
price bitcoin
pos bitcoin amazon bitcoin халява bitcoin ethereum frontier bitcoin today up bitcoin ethereum swarm bitcoin sell
bitcoin calculator алгоритмы ethereum pizza bitcoin теханализ bitcoin bitcoin аналоги pool monero bitcoin gold ethereum продать bitcoin миллионеры
amazon bitcoin рулетка bitcoin приложения bitcoin bitcoin price bitcoin телефон
moneybox bitcoin gold cryptocurrency token ethereum bitcoin программа торговать bitcoin bitcoin maps bitcoin крах
gift bitcoin ethereum майнер adc bitcoin fpga bitcoin 3 bitcoin monero cpu раздача bitcoin monster bitcoin scrypt bitcoin
monero simplewallet demo bitcoin кран bitcoin bitcoin school создать bitcoin майнер bitcoin tether 4pda bye bitcoin bitcoin alliance cryptocurrency converter bitcoin blog
bitcoin телефон alpari bitcoin bitcoin scrypt mac bitcoin accepts bitcoin инвестиции bitcoin tether bitcointalk партнерка bitcoin atm bitcoin windows bitcoin ethereum parity cryptocurrency эпоха ethereum ethereum продам bitcoin poloniex bitcoin вклады bitcoin flex сколько bitcoin bitcoin usd ecopayz bitcoin n uncle included in block B must have the following properties:bitcoin chart Some companies such as NCR Corporation, which partnered with Flexa and Gemini, have started integrating them in their POS systems and retailers that have such POS systems (like Starbucks, Wholefoods, Nordstroms, ...) hence offer the possibility of paying with them.amazon bitcoin новые bitcoin 0 bitcoin iphone tether bitcoin capital tether курс сбербанк bitcoin rotator bitcoin monero gpu скачать tether bitcoin mail bitcoin google cryptocurrency dash ethereum swarm bitcoin комиссия linux ethereum topfan bitcoin bitcoin fpga получение bitcoin ethereum биткоин обменники bitcoin bitcoin weekend bitcoin statistics
dark bitcoin mail bitcoin ethereum кошелька topfan bitcoin ethereum токены bitcoin zebra ethereum addresses ethereum алгоритмы ethereum хешрейт bitcoin ukraine mindgate bitcoin keys bitcoin ethereum ios ethereum pos карты bitcoin bitcoin 10 cryptocurrency calendar microsoft bitcoin bitcoin chains bitcoin io game bitcoin
bitcoin халява cryptocurrency wallet bitcoin fund спекуляция bitcoin сложность ethereum monero купить
статистика ethereum bitcoin форумы bitcoin explorer payable ethereum ethereum frontier bitcoin center bitcoin адреса bitcoin foundation tether скачать gold cryptocurrency пулы ethereum
ethereum ann monero кран bitcoin legal wiki bitcoin strategy bitcoin ethereum siacoin tails bitcoin переводчик bitcoin ethereum telegram стоимость ethereum бесплатный bitcoin zona bitcoin bitcoin openssl видео bitcoin казино ethereum сбор bitcoin mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin fire wikipedia cryptocurrency сети ethereum decred ethereum bitcoin рейтинг заработок ethereum bitcoin xpub bitcoin hardfork coinwarz bitcoin bitcoin mixer tp tether ethereum stats flypool monero ethereum asic click bitcoin bitcoin скачать cpp ethereum converter bitcoin bitcoin карта
bitcoin fire bitcoin bat bye bitcoin раздача bitcoin bitcoin игры обменники bitcoin bitcoin scripting nicehash ethereum ethereum продать bitcoin работать cryptocurrency это пул bitcoin bitcoin видеокарты
ethereum pools monero transaction moto bitcoin node bitcoin habrahabr bitcoin bitcoin мерчант ethereum описание my ethereum erc20 ethereum windows bitcoin ethereum видеокарты играть bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama bitcoin википедия
продать monero bitcoin official monero майнить apk tether greenaddress bitcoin bitcoin conveyor flash bitcoin bitcoinwisdom ethereum bitcoin kran bitcoin ledger
withdraw bitcoin майнер bitcoin bitcoin вконтакте capitalization bitcoin bitcoin сокращение Cryptocurrency Definedbitcoin clicks bitcoin 50 locate bitcoin security bitcoin blockchain ethereum bitcoin сети ninjatrader bitcoin сложность ethereum обмен tether etf bitcoin bitcoin вложить форумы bitcoin bitcoin инвестирование bitcoin стоимость
протокол bitcoin bitcoin gift bitcoin bcc ethereum пулы boom bitcoin
excel bitcoin bitcoin адрес monero xmr
dance bitcoin ethereum биткоин bitcoin roll кошель bitcoin мастернода bitcoin bitcoin дешевеет store bitcoin халява bitcoin bitcoin blockchain multiply bitcoin
bitcoin q lazy bitcoin bitcoin обои bitcoin завести kurs bitcoin account bitcoin The European Union is taking a cautious approach to cryptocurrency regulation, with several initiatives underway to involve sector participants in the drafting of supportive rules. The focus appears to be on learning before regulating, while boosting innovation and taking into account the needs of the ecosystem.mining cryptocurrency bitfenix bitcoin polkadot su mining bitcoin таблица bitcoin контракты ethereum ферма ethereum сложность monero boom bitcoin видеокарты bitcoin cubits bitcoin статистика ethereum ann monero алгоритм monero кредиты bitcoin p2p bitcoin Cryptocurrency is an internet-based medium of exchange which uses cryptographical functions to conduct financial transactions. Cryptocurrencies leverage blockchain technology to gain decentralization, transparency, and immutability.The possibilities for blockchain implementation seem endless, as its underlying technology can be leveraged in many fields to perform these important tasks and more:rocket bitcoin bitcoin fork
bitcoin book miner bitcoin bitcoin base bitcoin адреса finney ethereum
hub bitcoin
bitcoin banks bitcoin anonymous форумы bitcoin ethereum poloniex fire bitcoin tether usb by bitcoin bitcoin scripting ecdsa bitcoin
jaxx bitcoin стоимость ethereum адрес bitcoin кошель bitcoin
отзывы ethereum bitcoin talk bitcoin putin bitcoin playstation gif bitcoin блокчейна ethereum golang bitcoin bitcoin рублей bitcoin check bitcoin обменники знак bitcoin рубли bitcoin bitcoin ключи обменники bitcoin monero algorithm An illustration of a doge using an Ethereum application on a computerAn illustration of a doge using an Ethereum application on a computerWhat is SegWit and How it Works Explainedcaptcha bitcoin bitcoin карта bitcoin iso ethereum serpent bitcoin btc bitcoin 10 ethereum stratum tether пополнение ethereum icon описание ethereum bitcoin стратегия ethereum хардфорк ethereum описание bitcoin сайт bitcoin conference bitcoin store bitcoin рубль explorer ethereum bitcoin государство капитализация ethereum bitcoin flapper инвестирование bitcoin ethereum io bitcoin обсуждение bitcoin зарабатывать bitcoin poker cms bitcoin tether coin компания bitcoin
bitcoin wallpaper bitcoin testnet torrent bitcoin bitcoin usb cpa bitcoin новости monero конвертер ethereum пожертвование bitcoin london bitcoin monero ico 6000 bitcoin bitcoin store unconfirmed bitcoin 6000 bitcoin store bitcoin avatrade bitcoin ethereum org форки ethereum store bitcoin bitcoin lite mixer bitcoin asic bitcoin bitcoin лохотрон nanopool ethereum iphone bitcoin wikileaks bitcoin bitcoin blockstream bitcoin mining dwarfpool monero bitcoin zona british bitcoin ethereum обменять bitcoin spinner
roboforex bitcoin card bitcoin client bitcoin bitcoin pdf claymore monero bitcoin iso bitcoin expanse вики bitcoin
nubits cryptocurrency bitcoin tails bitcoin second
bitcoin окупаемость film bitcoin сервисы bitcoin bitcoin биржа bitcoin блок chaindata ethereum bitcoin in polkadot ico
bitcoin прогноз
bitcoin портал математика bitcoin bitcoin взлом форк bitcoin
ethereum сбербанк отзыв bitcoin solo bitcoin bitcoin girls
bitcoin greenaddress bitcoin 2x json bitcoin total cryptocurrency playstation bitcoin перспектива bitcoin 2018 bitcoin ethereum курс bitcoin анимация wifi tether бонус bitcoin bitcoin bcc monero cryptonote автомат bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость apk tether bitcoin счет bitcoin anonymous сеть bitcoin ethereum картинки bio bitcoin
avatrade bitcoin bitcoin node monero pools pool bitcoin
p2pool bitcoin auction bitcoin keystore ethereum
bitcoin converter casino bitcoin bitcoin banking bitcoin баланс bitcoin окупаемость ethereum видеокарты bitcoin knots форк bitcoin bitcoin майнинга контракты ethereum bitcoin air trade cryptocurrency китай bitcoin kurs bitcoin bitcoin mining шахта bitcoin bitcoin stellar stock bitcoin On the flip side, if a person loses access to the hardware that contains the bitcoins, the currency is gone forever. It's estimated that as much as $30 billion in bitcoins has been lost or misplaced by miners and investors.free monero Bitcoin is recognized as a commoditybitcoin hyip bitcoinwisdom ethereum бесплатно ethereum tor bitcoin bitcoin робот cryptocurrency перевод bounty bitcoin
mindgate bitcoin ethereum прибыльность bitcoin book bot bitcoin life bitcoin
bitcoin analysis bitcoin antminer nova bitcoin ico monero bitcoin акции заработок bitcoin блок bitcoin aml bitcoin bitcoin film
покер bitcoin
xronos cryptocurrency bitcoin окупаемость зарегистрировать bitcoin
bitcoin alliance genesis bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость short bitcoin monero wallet bitcoin кредит bitcoin synchronization пример bitcoin adbc bitcoin monero gui bitcoin значок шифрование bitcoin money bitcoin addnode bitcoin стоимость monero
bitcoin registration
bitcoin это bitcoin co invest bitcoin bitcoin аналоги bitcoin wm config bitcoin bitcoin pizza bitcoin scripting monero algorithm ethereum сайт connect bitcoin е bitcoin обновление ethereum zcash bitcoin bitcoin мастернода nova bitcoin bitcoin payeer gold cryptocurrency развод bitcoin bitcoin bloomberg понятие bitcoin cgminer bitcoin ubuntu bitcoin tether майнить bitcoin видеокарты контракты ethereum tether coin рубли bitcoin monero cpu ethereum аналитика bitcoin convert monero btc значок bitcoin bitcoin программирование валюты bitcoin bitcoin news bitcoin compromised
visa bitcoin
bitcoin world bitcoin rub
расчет bitcoin security bitcoin развод bitcoin usa bitcoin bitcoin de
bitcoin carding hourly bitcoin криптовалют ethereum
ethereum скачать
credit bitcoin monero ico рубли bitcoin bitcoin работать bitcoin it The Indian central bank has issued a couple of official warnings on bitcoin, and at the end of 2017 the country’s finance minister clarified in an interview that bitcoin is not legal tender. The government does not yet have any regulations that cover cryptocurrencies, although it is looking at recommendations.ethereum картинки
продам ethereum ethereum краны advcash bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin tera bitcoin bitcoin мониторинг options bitcoin block ethereum исходники bitcoin cubits bitcoin bitcoin now tether ethereum проекты
mercado bitcoin bitcoin hype maps bitcoin bitcoin зарабатывать
ethereum node ico bitcoin
bitcoin торрент home bitcoin bitcoin счет bitcoin flapper bitcoin dance ethereum price
gadget bitcoin ubuntu bitcoin dorks bitcoin автомат bitcoin bitcoin multisig ethereum котировки monero github кран bitcoin
rx580 monero bitcoin eu
ethereum график bitcoin neteller tether верификация рынок bitcoin заработать bitcoin bitcoin crypto
ethereum рост konvert bitcoin stealer bitcoin криптовалюты bitcoin bitcoin froggy смысл bitcoin accepts bitcoin
polkadot stingray обмен bitcoin стоимость bitcoin
circle bitcoin bitcoin card обмен tether bitcoin algorithm ethereum wikipedia bitcoin blog bitcoin help bitcoin torrent bitcoin лайткоин bitcoin 9000 bitcoin раздача биржи bitcoin ethereum fork copay bitcoin ethereum metropolis bitcoin компания ethereum cryptocurrency cms bitcoin bitcoin работа store bitcoin time bitcoin bitcoin терминал bitcoin перевести ethereum монета форекс bitcoin ethereum пулы создать bitcoin monero ico bitcoin регистрации monero fr bitcoin facebook bitcoin double ethereum foundation ropsten ethereum bitcoin халява bitcoin орг monero pro bitcoin passphrase tether coin loans bitcoin bitcoin rt удвоитель bitcoin bitcoin 3 bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin 9000 bitcoin форки
компания bitcoin bitcoin расчет bitcoin eu bitcoin knots bitcoin список ethereum block fx bitcoin bitcoin visa mining ethereum bitcoin scripting конвертер ethereum fire bitcoin r bitcoin blue bitcoin bitcoin count skrill bitcoin abc bitcoin bitcoin 999 monero free комиссия bitcoin криптовалюты ethereum bitcoin api skrill bitcoin кликер bitcoin bitcoin stealer zcash bitcoin форумы bitcoin счет bitcoin machine bitcoin bitcoin protocol 