There are so many cryptocurrencies on the market today. This once small piece of technology has grown into an entire blockchain industry.

With countries adopting the methodology and the digital currencies becoming more mainstream, many investors are wonder where they should invest.

Four Cryptocurrencies to Consider

Let’s look at three cryptocurrencies and why you should invest in them:

Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin is the original in the industry. This currency introduced the world to the capabilities of blockchain technology. While the currency has had immense growth over the past few years, many are saying it still has a long way to go. There are two reasons for this:

• The Original – While there may be newer options out there, Bitcoin will remain the original and will carry immense value for this. Many future investors will invest in Bitcoin for this reason.
• A limited Number of Coins – With the market growing at a rapid rate and the mining slowing, Bitcoin is said to rise in the future. The currency has a limited number of coins which means eventually there will be a shortage. 

Ripple (XRP)

Ripple is one of the newer currencies on the market that has recorded outstanding growth over the last few years. Ripple is a currency that acts as a fast and efficient global payment system. 

While Ripple’s returns over the last few years are nothing to shy away from there is another contributing factor to its potential future success. This factor is the eco friendliness of the Ripple mining process. Ripple uses 0.079kwh compared to Bitcoins 707kwh. This eco friendliness makes it more sustainable and attractive to eco conscious investors.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is one of the older cryptocurrencies that has remained relatively stable since its inception. The digital asset is backed by a strong blockchain system and dapps which were developed. These dapps or distributed applications allow users to use these dapps without the risk of downtime, fraud or even interference from a third party. 

The currency that has been described as the world’s programmable blockchain has many interesting investment angles. However, the sheer value of the dapps alone has tempted many to invest in the digital asset.

Some of the benefits of Ethereum:

• Backed by a strong system
• Unique dapps offering
• Secure system

Nano (NANO)

The meaning of the word Nano is smaller than micro. This is fitting for a cryptocurrency that wants to make payment systems easier to use and that uses less resources. 

Nano is a unique currency in which each user has to contribute power. Each address on Nano has its own blockchain system and users provide the computational power required to verify their own transactions, allowing transactions to be processed without fees.

Benefits of Nano:

• Lower Fees
• More Eco Friendly

How Tech & Finance Industries Has Changed Due to Crypto

More Transparency

A major impact that has been brought upon by rise of cryptocurrency is the transparency of the financial world. Cryptocurrency is built on blockchain. A system that runs on a decentralised database where everything is recorded on a public ledger. This technology makes every transaction transparent and trackable using the public ledger. 

This technology has increased the level of transparency and has forced traditional financial institutions to catch up to this level of transparency. 

Online Systems & Banking Apps

Before the days of crypto, very little happened online in regard to banking. Banking tech was way behind the rest of the world. Why because they had no competition. However, as more and more people started using digital wallets and exchanges, the financial industry started to catch up. The industry improved its technology to the point where now most banks have online banking and banking apps. 

Lower Fees

Crypto currency is well known for its extremely low costs. This is partly due to less red tape and their focus on online platforms rather than physical locations. While many of the traditional players opposed this view, it has been shown to be more cost effective. This has led to many banks reducing the number of their physical branches and focusing on online systems due to the cost efficiency. 

This disruption has led to the creation of many online only banks that offer huge cost savings in comparison to the normal banks.

Easier and Cheaper Global Payments

Transferring money around the world used to be difficult. Before the days of cryptocurrency, transferring money around the world was expensive, slow and had a lot of paperwork. Now that is no longer the case. You can pay someone with crypto anywhere in the world and they can receive your money within seconds. They can then withdraw it within 24-48 hours depending on the provider and country. 

Some companies with remote teams are now looking into paying via cryptocurrency due to the speed and low cost of the process. With more and more people working remotely, this makes the process easier. 

The currencies and transferability created by the blockchain technology is no mean feat. We are living in a world where technology is not only changing the world but shaping its future.