New York City: There are over 1800 cryptocurrencies in the world right now, and that number is constantly increasing. Whether you’re interested in launching your own coin or investing in an existing one, it’s good to have a little background knowledge about the cryptocurrency industry as a whole before you get started with your own investment strategy. This article will give you an overview of the biggest cryptocurrencies in the world and the top projects likely to launch soon, as well as their pros and cons so you can make an informed decision when choosing which coin is right for you.

Number of Cryptocurrencies in the World

According to Coinmarketcap, there are over 1800+ cryptocurrencies on the market. They range from being a top 5 cryptocurrency to being a new, unheard-of coin. The following is a list of some of the most popular cryptocurrencies according to their rank as of September 2018: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Dash, Monero (XMR), IOTA and NEO.
Many people feel that Bitcoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies because it was one of the first ones created and because it has been around for so long. This doesn’t mean that other currencies such as Ethereum aren’t popular though. If you were to look at Google Trends data from 2004-2018 you would see how Ethereum has grown more than any other currency with an almost 10x increase. Even though Bitcoin may be the most well-known, this doesn’t necessarily make it the best choice for many people. One of the largest advantages that people point out about Bitcoin is how fast transactions happen compared to a lot of other coins. Transactions on BTC can happen in seconds which makes it easier to exchange value between two parties without having them wait too long and lose interest or change their mind about exchanging money for goods or services. On the downside, transaction fees can get pretty high when transferring money through BTC which might not be ideal if someone wants something more affordable or if they want something without any transaction fees at all.

Bitcoin (BTC) – The most well-known cryptocurrency and the one that started it all!

Ethereum (ETH) – The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap

Ripple (XRP) – Currently ranked third by market cap, but expected to pass Ethereum soon

Litecoin (LTC) – One of Bitcoin’s first forks, LTC has remained among the top ten coins for several years

Cardano (ADA) – Marketed as the first blockchain project with a scientific philosophy, ADA aims to build a smart contract platform similar to Ethereum.

NEM (XEM) – Similar to Bitcoin, this coin was created from a fork of NXT

Monero (XMR) – Monero’s claim to fame is its focus on privacy and fungibility—the capability for units of currency to not be distinguishable from one another

Dash (DASH) – Aiming at mass adoption, DASH operates as a form of digital cash

NEO (NEO) – Known as the Chinese Ethereum, NEO features a distributed network that supports smart contracts and decentralized applications.

IOTA (IOTA) – Founded in 2015, IOTA is focused on providing secure communications and payments between machines.

NEM (XEM) – Similar to Bitcoin, this coin was created from a fork of NXT.

Stellar Lumens (XLM) – Created in 2014, XLM is aiming to become the new standard for financial transactions.

Tether (USDT) – Tether serves as a substitute for fiat currencies like USD when trading on exchanges.

Decred (DCR) – An open-source crypto project that functions as a hybridized PoW/PoS system.

Bytecoin (BCN).

Dogecoin (DOGE).

MaidSafeCoin (MAID).

Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Augur (REP).

Zcash (ZEC).

Siacoin (SC) and many more………..