Top 10 altcoins institutional investors are focusing on

Highlights

• Altcoins or alternative coins is a term used to describe all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin.
• Being alternatives to Bitcoin and traditional fiat money, these cryptocurrencies are known as altcoins.
• Early altcoins arrived on the scene with an aim to improve transaction speeds or energy efficiency.

Altcoins or alternative coins is a term used to describe all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. As alternatives of Bitcoin and traditional fiat money, these cryptocurrencies are known as altcoins. These coins have characteristics similar to Bitcoin. However, there is some dissimilarity too. For example, some altcoins use a different consensus mechanism to produce blocks or validate transactions.

Early altcoins arrived on the scene with an aim to improve transaction speeds or energy efficiency. In a way, they address traditional critiques against Bitcoin. These altcoins have garnered popularity not only among individuals but also large institutional investors.

Here we discuss the top 10 altcoins institutional investors are focusing on. These are lined up based on their market capitalisation (m-cap. The prices (at 12:30 PM AEST) used are from the crytptoasset price-tracking website, CoinMarketCap.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is considered as the second-most popular virtual currency after Bitcoin. The altcoin was created by programmer Vilatik Buterin in 2014, with an aim to make use of blockchain technology to store programmes to power financial contracts and applications.

The current Ethereum price is US$3,589.66 with a 24-hour trading volume of US$17,651,672,715. In the last 24 hours, the altcoin is up 5.41%. The current m-cap is of US$421,932,801,217.

Cardano (ADA)

Created by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson in 2017, Cardano is one of the few altcoins that does not use a white paper. It uses blockchain technology called Proof-of-stake protocol, which consumes less energy compared to Bitcoin.  

The current Cardano price is US$2.47 with a 24-hour trading volume of US$4,142,901,522. In the last 24 hours, the altcoin is up 3.74%. The current m-cap is US$79,177,503,608.

Tether (USDT)

Tether is one of the most widely integrated digital-to-fiat currencies today. Tether pegs itself to the value of the US dollar. A Tether token is US$1 all time.

The current Tether price is US$1 with a 24-hour trading volume of US$67,667,637,070. In the last 24 hours, the coin is down 0.02%. The current m-cap is US$68,293,122,213.

Solana (SOL)

Solana is a highly functional open-source project. The altcoin uses blockchain technology’s permissionless nature to provide decentralised finance (DeFi) solutions.

The current Solana price is US$156.23 with a 24-hour trading volume of US$3,454,472,459.89. In the last 24 hours, the coin is down 0.47%. The current m-cap is US$46,133,664,499.69.

Source: Altcoins address traditional critiques against Bitcoin. © Volodymyrshtun | Megapixl.com

Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadot operates on two different types of blockchains. One is the main network where transactions are permanent. The other is a user-created network called parachains which feed into the main network.

The current Polkadot price is US$35.88 with a 24-hour trading volume of US$2,249,752,455. In the last 24 hours, the coin is down 3.09%. The current m-cap is US$35,437,511,468.

Uniswap (UNI)

Uniswap runs on Ethereum blockchain. Founded in 2018, Uniswap utilises a new kind of trading model known as the automated liquidity protocol.

The current Polkadot price is US$26.90 with a 24-hour trading volume of US$642,544,774. In the last 24 hours, the coin is up 5.26%. The current m-cap is US$16,456,242,756.

Chainlink (LINK)

Chainlink is a blockchain abstraction layer, which enables universally connected smart contracts. The altcoin enables blockchains to securely interact with external data feeds, events, and payment methods.

The current Chainlink price is US$31.53 with a 24-hour trading volume of US$2,012,517,925.73. In the last 24 hours, the coin is down 4.71%. The current m-cap is US$14,357,034,748.12.

Tron (TRX)

Blockchain platform, founded by Tron Foundation, seeks to bridge the gap between content creators and consumers. It uses peer-to-peer network technology to eliminate the middleman between the creator and the consumer.

The current Tron price is USS0.1154 with a 24-hour trading volume of US$2,673,755,082.25. In the last 24 hours, the coin is down 0.65%. The current m-cap is US$8,272,926,374.28.

VeChain (VET)

The blockchain-powered supply chain platform seeks to use distributed governance and Internet of Things (IoT) technology to solve major problems with supply chain management. Two in-house tokens used by VeChain are VET and VTHO.

The current VeChain price is US$0.118307 with a 24-hour trading volume of US$429,468,219. In the last 24 hours, the coin is up 1.19%. The current m-cap is US$7,591,586,350.

Helium (HNT)

Helium (HNT) is a decentralised blockchain-powered network for Internet of Things (IoT) devices which allows low-powered wireless devices to communicate with each other.

The current Helium price is US$20.01 with a 24-hour trading volume of US$19,996,902. In the last 24 hours, the coin is up 1.99%. The current m-cap is US$1,957,349,277.

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