Bitcoin, the leading digital currency by market capitalization, has grown in value by more than 10 times at its highest point this year, but it has also seen significant plunges in value. Still, a number of cryptocurrencies have managed to come out on top of this new industry, and investment opportunity.
To say that 2017 has been a big year for digital currencies would not begin to do the industry justice. In the span of just months, digital currencies have skyrocketed in value, interest, and number. There are new digital currencies being launched to investors every week, and a hoard of blockchain-related startups have followed in their footsteps.
These are the largest digital currencies by market cap as of mid-December, 2017.
1. Bitcoin
Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency and it remains the go-to leader of the space. As of this writing, the market capitalization of the world’s top digital currency is approaching $300 billion (and growing), with a price per coin of $17,000+.
There are roughly 16.7 million BTC in circulation, according to coinmarketcap.com. This is all in spite of earlier speculation about a Flippening, in which other digital currencies would permanently take over the No. 1 spot. That has yet to transpire. “Flippening”: Well Ethereum take Bitcoin’s place at #1?
Coinmarketcap.com: Bitcoin has led the cryptocurrency revolution for nearly a decade. In the process, it has become the most recognizable name in the new world of digital currencies, and for many years it dominated the industry by maintaining a position of 80% or more of the total cryptocurrency market cap. In the past few months, Bitcoin has also skyrocketed in price, practically tripling in value since the beginning of the year. And yet, in spite of these indicators of its dominant status, there is reason to believe that one of Bitcoin’s competitors, a much newer cryptocurrency called Ethereum, is on pace to overtake the iconic digital currency in at least one respect: market capitalization.
2. Ethereum
Ethereum, the digital token which prompted the rise of the initial coin offering, comes in second on the list of cryptocurrencies by market cap. It is significantly smaller than bitcoin; the current market cap is just shy of $70 billion, with a trading price of about $726 per token. There are just over 96 million ETH tokens in circulation as of this writing.
3. Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin cash, the spin-off of bitcoin, comes in third. The total market cap of this digital currency is about $28.3 billion, with a market price of $1,681 per coin and a total circulation of just under 17 million BCH.
4. Ripple
The No. 4 slot goes to the much-hyped Ripple, with a total market capitalization of more than $18 billion. Unlike the top three digital currencies, the price of each XRP token is very small. As of this writing, it’s just under 80 cents per token, after a huge week. On the other hand, the total number of XRP in circulation is quite high. There are close to 39 billion tokens in circulation now.
5. Litecoin
Rounding out the top five is Litecoin, with a market cap of $17.3 billion and a total circulation of more than 54 million tokens. Litecoin is just under $300 per coin.
I am getting my toes wet in the world of cryptocurrency and invested in four. My largest position is with Litecoin. I hope to have a page in Main Street beats Wall Street dedicated to cryptocurrency very soon.
Do your homework!
Steve
The Options Coach