In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto inadvertently planted the seeds to what has grown to be a full-blown “digital revolution” in the financial industry. We are, of course, referring to the phenomenon of cryptocurrency. In the past decade since bitcoin’s rise in prominence, the number of crypto investors has drastically risen, to the point that there are currently over a million crypto investors worldwide.

Cryptocurrency offers many advantages over fiat money, but the most appealing one is the autonomy it provides. The autonomy cryptocurrency provides comes from its decentralized nature. What this means is, that cryptocurrency, most of it at least, is not beholden to central authority figures, like banks or governments. This means that cryptocurrency is not subjected to high bank fees, international payment fees, or taxes on purchases.

And important thing to understand before you start investing, is that the crypto market is very volatile, and fluctuating. Prices rise, and fall without warning, and at random. While some seasoned investors can predict the market, even veterans can be caught by surprise by the market’s volatility.

One of the ways that investors can combat this volatility is to make an account on trading apps like the BitIQ app. These sites use artificial intelligence technology, the purpose of which is to read the market’s prices, and predict any fluctuations that might occur, with the goal of informing the user on the future prices of cryptocurrencies. This ensures that the user base of these sites can get the best return on their investment.

Now that we’ve looked at some of the basics about cryptocurrency, let us explore the three best options for cryptocurrency investors, new and seasoned.

Ethereum (ETC)

Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The idea of Ethereum was conceived in 2014, and was officially launched in 2015, after a very successful crowdfunding campaign. Ethereum is one of the most important cryptocurrencies in the history of digital assets, as it was integral in the popularization of initial coin offerings. Initial coin offerings is the process of paying for a given cryptocurrency before its official launch, with an expectation of compensation after it has been launched.

The main person behind Ethereum is Vitalik Buterin who, along with a team of six, came up with the idea in late 2013. Buterin claimed he got the name from a science fiction book list on Wikipedia, and the name appealed to him as it sounded similar to the word aether, which is a debunked theory on light’s motion.

As said, Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, as well as by single unit price, with the current price for a single Ethereum token being $2000 on the current market.

Litecoin

Often times called the silver to bitcoin’s gold, Litecoin was one of the first, and most important altcoins in the history of cryptocurrency. The reason for its importance comes from its massive success when it first came on the scene. For a time, Litecoin competed with, and at moments even surpassed Bitcoin in price, and value. While Bitcoin started the phenomenon, Litecoin ensured people that cryptocurrency is not a one-time success, and that there can be other successful cryptocurrencies, other than Bitcoin.  

While its glory days have long since passed, Litecoin is still respectable, and valuable. On the current market, a single Litecoin unit is worth $124 dollars, with prospects of the value to rise to $1000 by year’s end.

Bitcoin

The undisputed king of the crypto world, Bitcoin is the first, and to-date, best cryptocurrency. It started out as an idea in 2008, when Satoshi Nakamoto published a paper espousing the advantages of digital currency, blockchains, and cryptography.

When it first came onto the scene, Bitcoin’s value was below a dollar, and it took an entire year to reach the value of a dollar. Today Bitcoin’s market capitalization is $130 Billion dollars.