In the crypto’s own words, Ethereum is “a global, decentralized platform for money and new kinds of applications,” with thousands of games and financial apps running on top of the Ethereum blockchain. This crypto is so popular that even other crypto coins run on its network.

Central to Ethereum is its blockchain network. A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed public ledger where transactions are verified and recorded.

It’s distributed in the sense that everyone participating in the Ethereum network holds an identical copy of this ledger, letting them see all past transactions. It’s decentralized in that the network isn’t operated or managed by any centralized entity—instead, it’s managed by all of the distributed ledger holders.

Blockchain transactions use cryptography to keep the network secure and verify transactions.

Ether, the native token on Ethereum, can be used to buy and sell goods and services just like Bitcoin. But what’s unique about Ethereum is that users can build applications that “run” on the blockchain like software “runs” on a computer. These applications can store and transfer personal data or handle complex financial transactions.

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Ethereum (ETH) is the second most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. Founded by Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood in 2015, today Ethereum’s market capitalization represents more than 17% of the INR 1 lakh crore global crypto market.

There are some distinct differences between Ethereum and the original crypto. Unlike Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum is intended to be much more than just a medium of exchange or a store of value. Instead, Ethereum is a decentralized computing network built on blockchain technology.

If you own a cryptocurrency that uses a proof of stake blockchain, you are eligible to stake your tokens. Staking locks up your assets to participate and help maintain the security of that network’s blockchain. In exchange for locking up your assets and participating in the network validation, validators receive rewards in that cryptocurrency known as staking rewards.

You can also set up a cryptocurrency wallet that supports staking.

If you have your tokens in one of these wallets, you can delegate how much of your portfolio you want to put up for staking. You pick from different staking pools to find a validator. They combine your tokens with others to help your chances of generating blocks and receiving rewards.

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With cryptocurrency, one way to make a profit is to sell your investment when the market price increases. There are other ways to make money in crypto, like staking. With staking, you can put your digital assets to work and earn passive income without selling them.

In some ways, staking is similar to depositing cash in a high-yield savings account. Banks lend out your deposits, and you earn interest

Market Cap:  Over $8.9 billion 

Polkadot (DOT), founded in the year 2016, is a unique blockchain interoperability protocol designed to connect different chains together. It also allows exchanging data and processing transactions for parachains, or parallel blockchains without compromising their security. Developers can create their own blockchains while using the Polkadot security.

The core founder of Ethereum, Gavin Wood created Polkadot. The exciting feature of DOT is that it has no hard limit on its total supply. Rather, a new token is constantly in circulation.

Polkadot’s price reached its heights in May 2020 at $6.30 and later in May 2021, the price hit its all-time high of $55.11 and then plunged to a level of nearly $4, in December 2022.  As of May 03, 2023, it was priced at $0.97. 

Market Cap:  Over $6 billion

Litecoin (LTC), an open-source blockchain project launched in 2011, was created by former crypto exchange Coinbase software engineer Charlie Lee. It was one of the initial cryptocurrencies whose code is imitated from Bitcoin’s. Despite the fact that it has similarities with Bitcoin, it is developed to have a faster transaction confirmation time. It can be used as an avenue for paying people around the world without a mediator. LTC is frequently considered as “silver to Bitcoin’s gold.”

Litecoin has a total round-off supply of 84 million tokens. In May 2021, it recorded its lifetime high of $413.47 but it dropped by over 50%. There are a growing number of merchants that undertake Litecoin. It has a per token value of around $87, the 11th-

Market Cap: Over $5.5 Billion

AVAX is a native token of Avalanche blockchain which supports smart contract functionality. It works on the Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism and is known as one of the fastest and trustworthy smart contract platforms in the DeFi space. Like Ethereum, it supports smart contracts to run decentralized applications on its network and uses Solidity language, the same which is used by Ethereum.

Avalanche has a limited supply of 720 million AVAX tokens. Half of which were created and distributed at the time of its launch in 2020. The remaining tokens are yet to be generated via the minting process in the form of staking rewards. Moreover, unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, Avalanche’s fees are not paid to validators; rather all fees are burned which increases the scarcity of AVAX.

AVAX was priced at around $4.00 at the time of its launch in September, 2020. The token saw its peak at $134.87 on November 23, 2021. As on May 03, 2023, AVAX is priced at levels of nearly $16.7. 

Whether AI cryptocurrencies are safe – either from hackers or from the volatility of the crypto market – depends on how you store them and your attitude to risk.

On the latter, no crypto currency is safe from market instability, and 2022 was the year in which crypto’s volatility was laid bare. 

Bitcoin, for example, started the year at around INR 2 million and ended it at around INR 1 million (-56%), but not before rising to roughly INR 3 million in March. Ethereum had a similar fate, starting 2022 in the region of INR 196,928.40 INR 1 lakh and ending the year at just under INR 98,463.29.

AI cryptocurrencies are no different. GRT fell from around INR  43.32 in January 2022 to INR 5.90 (-86%) in December, while AGIX fell from around INR 13.78 to around INR 2.95 (-78%).

For hackers, crypto wallets and exchanges are likely to remain a target for criminals – leaving people’s assets at the mercy of the security that they and their exchanges implement. 

Cold wallets are a hedge against hacks, but they become vulnerable once connected to a web-connected computer. 

Cryptocurrencies are a form of digital currency. They can be spent or traded, but they’re not issued by central banks or stored in traditional financial institutions.

Instead, they’re decentralized. This means records of balances and transactions are’t controlled by banks or payment providers, instead they’re held by people who volunteer to keep track of everything using specialist software.

Volunteers participate because in doing so they get the opportunity to earn valuable cryptocurrency without having to pay for it.

Huge speculation on cryptocurrencies’ values has led to a boom in both the number and value of assets in the space over the last few years – peaking in November 2021 before crashing in the spring of 2022.

Market cap: Over $550 billion

Created in 2009 by someone under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin (BTC) is the original cryptocurrency. As with most cryptocurrencies, BTC runs on a blockchain, or a ledger logging transactions distributed across a network of thousands of computers. Because additions to the distributed ledgers must be verified by solving a cryptographic puzzle, a process called proof of work, Bitcoin is kept secure and safe from fraudsters.

Bitcoin’s price has skyrocketed as it’s become a household name. In May 2016, you could buy Bitcoin for about $500. Since then Bitcoin has witnessed many ups and downs but has shown tremendous resistance. Last year Bitcoin lost 65% of its market value and now, as of May 3, 2023 Bitcoin is trading in the range of $28,000 to $29,000.

An estimated $4 billion worth of malicious token issuances on PolyNetwork will not bear much money for attackers due to low liquidity and security precautions.

Bitcoin has experienced a remarkable surge, surpassing the 31,000 mark, signaling a bullish momentum in the cryptocurrency market. The recent price movement has defied expectations, as Bitcoin failed to complete a retracement to the 23.6% Fibonacci level.

Bitcoin price hits a year-to-date high as investors’ excitement over BlackRock and Fidelity Investments applying for spot BTC ETFs fuels dreams of a new bull market.