Cryptocurrency is a relatively newer asset class that took the limelight about a decade ago. Since then it has grown by leaps and bounds. From just one cryptocurrency in 2010, the crypto market now has more than 6,000 coins with a total market cap of over $400 billion. If you are also planning to invest in crypto, then one of the best parameters is to go for coins with the highest market cap. Such a strategy helps to lower your downside risk as big coins (those with bigger market cap) are known to be comparatively more stable. To help you make a choice, detailed below are the ten biggest cryptocurrencies by market cap (as of Nov. 5, 2020).
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Ten biggest cryptocurrencies by market cap
- Bitcoin (BTC)
It is the first known cryptocurrency and the most popular cryptocurrency globally. With a market cap of over $266 billion, it accounts for more than half of the total crypto market. The value of one Bitcoin is currently over $14,000. Satoshi Nakamoto is known to be the inventor of Bitcoin. However, no one knows who this person is, or if it is a real name at all. This digital currency is similar to cash for the Internet.
- Ethereum (ETH)
This cryptocurrency has a market cap of more than $45 billion, while the value of one Ether is almost $400. In July 2015, Ethereum was launched by Vitalik Buterin, who was a researcher and programmer working on Bitcoin Magazine. This coin led to the popularity of the initial coin offering (ICO).
- Tether (USDT)
This crypto has a market cap of more than $16 billion, while the value of one USDT is $1. Tether is among the newer generation of cryptocurrencies with an objective to keep the valuation of cryptocurrency stable. It is pegged against the U.S. dollar, and each unit of this crypto is backed by $1 held in reserve. One of the objectives of Tether is to facilitate trading between cryptocurrencies.
- XRP (XRP)
It has a market cap of more than $10 billion, and the price of one XRP coin is $0.237568. XRP is the native currency of Ripple, which is a real-time gross settlement system, currency exchange, and remittance network. The platform facilitates the seamless transfer of money, be it USD, Yen and others, while XRP works as a bridge currency for other currencies. Ripple was created in 2012 by Ripple Labs, which is a San Francisco-based company.
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
It has a market cap of over $4.5 billion, and the price of one BCH is about $243. BCH is a Bitcoin spin-off created in 2017 with the objective to come up with a payment system to compete with the likes of PayPal and Visa in terms of volume of transactions processed. BCH facilitates faster transactions and lower transaction fees than Bitcoin.
- Chainlink (LINK)
LINK has a market cap of just over $4 billion and the price of one coin is more than $10. Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network developed on the Ethereum network. It has become popular for making available tamper-proof data for complex smart contracts on any Blockchain. LINK is the native currency to the Chainlink decentralized oracle network, and helps to pay the node operators.
- Binance Coin (BNB)
It has a market cap just under $4 billion, while the price of one BNB is $27.14. BNB has been created by Binance exchange, which is among the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. The coin was launched via an ICO in 2017. One can primarily use BNB to pay fees on the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. Also, it allows users to participate in the token sales on the Binance launchpad.
- Litecoin (LTC)
It has a market cap of more than $3.6 billion, while the price of one LTC coin is about $55. Litecoin is very similar to Bitcoin in terms of technical details, and was created to give investors an alternative to Bitcoin. Litecoin was founded by Charlie Lee, an ex-Google employee and former Engineering Director at Coinbase, in 2011. According to Lee, he created LTC because he wanted “something that is kind of silver to Bitcoin’s gold.”
- Polkadot (DOT)
It has a market cap of over $3.4 billion and the price of one DOT is $4.05. Polkadot is an open-source project and its objective is to facilitate a fully functional and user-friendly decentralized web. It assists the blockchain networks to operate together. Polkadot was created by Dr. Gavin Wood, who is an Ethereum cofounder.
- Cardano (ADA)
Cardano is last in our list of the ten biggest cryptocurrencies by market cap. It has a market cap of more than $2.88 billion, while the price of one coin is $0.092605. Founded back in 2017, Cardano is the first ever peer-reviewed Blockchain with an objective to assist “changemakers, innovators and visionaries” to bring about positive global change. ADA is Cardano’s native currency, which allows owners to participate in the operation of the network.
