1. Bitcoin

Bitcoin is the best-known virtual currency and was the first decentralized global payment system. Developed in 2008, its aim was to replace paper money and eliminate the need for banks to mediate financial transactions.

To achieve this, its creator, under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, used blockchain. Thus, the technology began to be used to record and validate transactions with the currency in a complex computer system.

However, for this system to work, it is necessary to use several computers provided by users around the world. In this way, the machines perform high-level mathematical calculations to record and validate the information.

Therefore, blockchain ensures greater security for operations, as it makes it more difficult for malicious individuals to attack. This process is called mining, and volunteers, called miners, receive bitcoin in exchange for their services.

Although Bitcoin is an unbacked currency, it is increasingly accepted as a form of payment by companies and institutions around the world. For this reason, it continues to be one of the main cryptocurrencies on the market.

2. Ether (ethereum)

First, it is important to contextualize the difference between ether and ethereum, as it is common to confuse the two names. The first refers to a cryptocurrency, while the second usually refers to the platform.

Although there is a difference between the concepts, the name ethereum is also popularly used to refer to the currency. Unlike bitcoin, which was created solely and exclusively to be a digital currency, ether was developed to be a payment asset on its platform.

Thus, its objective was to reward developers for their contributions to the platform and its projects and miners' services. However, ether began to stand out in the market, reaching a position among the most traded virtual currencies in the world.

The platform is used to execute smart contracts — operations that are performed automatically when certain conditions are met. It is worth noting that the blockchain is also the basis used to validate Ethereum network operations.

3. XRP

Ripple was created in 2011 with the aim of being a crypto asset that offers liquidity to banks and financial agents. In other words, it acts as a global settlement network. Around the world, more than 100 companies have adopted the platform to carry out their operations quickly, safely and cheaply.

The platform's design aims to end dependence on the traditional financial system to carry out transactions. Based on this, the virtual currency XRP was created in 2012 by developer Ryan Fugger, programmer Jed McCaleb and entrepreneur Chris Larsen.

Although it was not created to be a direct consumer currency, the XRP token is accepted as a fast and low-cost form of payment. Unlike other digital currencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, Ripple does not have a mining process.

This is because the system connects payment providers, banks, companies and digital asset exchanges to provide a frictionless experience and send money globally. Finally, the platform stands out by supporting other tokens on its network, which can represent traditional currencies and other assets.

4. Litecoin

Litecoin is a cryptocurrency created in 2011 by Charlie Lee – a former Google employee. In practice, it has many similar characteristics to bitcoin, but the main difference is in the mining process.

After all, anyone can participate in the development process of new Litecoins, as the process was designed to be easier and simpler than in other cryptocurrencies. Another goal in its creation was to reduce the time spent confirming transactions made with the currency.

Furthermore, Litecoin was created to be a virtual currency accessible to the general public. To achieve this, Charlie Lee sold all of his shares in the company. Therefore, he could not influence the cryptocurrency’s price.

In this way, Litecoin is considered an efficient alternative for carrying out day-to-day transactions. In addition, it was developed to produce more units than Bitcoin, for example. While Bitcoin has a limit of 21 million coins, Litecoin's limit is 84 million.

5. EOS

Like Ethereum, EOS is a platform that has its own cryptocurrency (with the same name). It was developed in 2018 by Brendan Blumer and Dan Larimer, with the purpose of being a system for creating decentralized applications, known as dApps.

Furthermore, it aims to solve the various problems that have been identified in Ethereum. To this end, EOS offers faster transaction speeds due to the protocol's parallel processing system.

This means that the system can perform multiple actions simultaneously, which increases transaction rates and scalability. Another interesting point is that the platform does not charge fees. For this reason, many people consider EOS to be an improved version of the Ethereum blockchain.

6. Cardano

Cardano was created in 2015 by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson. The platform presents a very ambitious project. Its goal is to combine the best features and characteristics of all existing cryptocurrencies in the world.

With this, Cardano would be able to solve problems and offer new solutions for virtual currencies. The project is defined as the third generation of cryptocurrencies, so that Bitcoin would be the first and Ethereum the second.

Cardano is also a smart contract platform, specifically targeted at financial institutions and banks. In this case, the goal is to serve as an alternative payment method for people and organizations that have difficulty accessing banks.

To this end, one of its goals is to improve the speed at which operations are carried out. Another notable feature of Cardano is that it was the first digital currency based on a scientific methodology.

This brings more robustness to its code, which is evaluated and reviewed by a large team of scientists, researchers, developers and engineers. In addition, the crypto asset features a more sustainable work algorithm, as is the case with Proof of Stake (PoS).

7. Binance coin

Before learning about Binance Coin, it is important to understand the concept of an exchange. These are companies responsible for mediating the relationship between buyers and sellers of virtual currencies.

Although there is no obligation, carrying out transactions through these organizations tends to be more practical. In this sense, Binance Coin is a cryptocurrency launched by one of the largest exchanges in the world, Binance.

It was created as a utility token for trading fee discounts, but over time, the cryptocurrency became the platform’s native token. As a result, Binance has been constantly releasing new features that allow the token to be used.

This virtual currency can also be used to purchase virtual gifts, pay for travel expenses (such as hotel and flight reservations), make purchases using a credit card, among other services.

8. Stellar lumens

Stellar Lumens is the cryptocurrency of the open-source Stellar network, created in 2013 by one of Ripple's developers, Jed McCaleb. The project's initial intention was to be the bridge between cryptocurrencies and physical money.

Therefore, Stellar is a multi-transactional platform for traditional currencies, such as reais, dollars, euros, etc. In practice, it allows people to send and receive money quickly, with reduced costs and a decentralized exchange.

The Stellar Lumens system is based on open source code, just like Bitcoin. Therefore, anyone can work on its codes to try to bring improvements to the project.

Despite being launched with a strong foundation in Ripple, Stellar has many differences compared to XRP. The first distinction is that most of the Stellar Lumens coins were donated at the beginning.

Furthermore, the cryptocurrency operates on its own consensus protocol, meaning it has a network of internal professionals capable of running this system independently.

This makes the process less decentralized than more traditional ones. However, the feature also allows for a high degree of efficiency.

Chainlink is a blockchain network that aims to simplify the use of smart contracts across different platforms. Its cryptocurrency is called Link, but it is also known by its name — chainlink.

Created in 2017 by Sergey Nazarov, the system consists of a protocol to facilitate access to the best of these contracts for real-world applications. To achieve this, the chainlink structure relies on two main points.

The first is the on-chain infrastructure. The second is the off-chain infrastructure, where real-world data is used with smart contracts. In this way, all platforms join a decentralized oracle network from Chainlink.

This system uses multiple nodes to independently collect data and provide it to smart contracts. This helps avoid single points of failure. Therefore, the network helps prevent conflicts in data transmission between different systems.

Furthermore, the chainlink network can prevent the manipulation of information entering or leaving databases. It also functions as a connection for interoperability between systems.

10. NEO

NEO is another open-source cryptocurrency project that uses blockchain technology and smart contracts. Its goal is to automate the management of digital assets. This could create a so-called smart economy.

The project began in February 2014 and was created by the China-based company OnChain. Da HongFei, the company's CEO, aimed to develop a blockchain platform that would have the same features as Ethereum and also perform other functions.

The concept integrates operations with smart contracts, digital identities and digital assets on the blockchain. With this, the system can form a transparent and decentralized database, allowing companies to manage their operations and take advantage of new technological trends.

This way, it is possible to improve process efficiency and reduce costs. In addition to other features, NEO stands out from other networks by accepting other types of cryptocurrencies, not just its own.

Another difference is that the platform offers two tokens: NEO (cryptocurrency) and GAS, which is generated after purchasing NEO and is used to pay for transactions on the platform.

Now that you have checked out the list of the top 10 cryptocurrencies, you have the information you need to research this market further. It is worth remembering that investing or speculating in virtual currencies involves high risk. After all, cryptocurrencies are more exposed to market fluctuations and tend to have high volatility, requiring adaptation to your profile and objectives.