Top Altcoins 2018: Pick Your Favorite Altcoin to Invest in 2018

Written by Benjamin Barasa - Reviewed by Coin Review Team

Published: Sep 12, 2018 | Last Updated: Jan 16, 2019

The growth of altcoins was remarkable in the past year. Here is a pick of the most promising for 2018.

2025-01-22T10:07:58+00:00

Cryptocurrency environment is expanding each day. And as a result, new cryptocurrencies are materializing. In April 2017, the size of the cryptocurrency market was approximately $25.9 billion. As of the publication of this post, the market stands at $409.47billion.

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Cryptocurrencies are times known to as Altcoins as they extend a reserve to Bitcoin. There are hundreds of top altcoins hence selecting the best can be grinding.

Since the establishment of altcoins, some have a promising future while others have faded.

The Best Altcoins to Buy in 2018

Nevertheless, this piece will highlight the best options so you can plan your cryptocurrency investment.

To find out insider news, before-the-public, I advise you to bookmark www.blockchainwhispers.com

Ethereum

Ethereum is the second valuable cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. The current market cap of ETH is $20, 247, 590, 674. It was introduced in July 2015 by Vitalik Buterin, the well-known mastermind of the cryptocurrency.

Ethereum offers a structure to the developers which they can build blockchain-based smart contracts. Still, they can form decentralized apps on it. Apart from that, this altcoin was the first to introduce smart contracts. These contracts are examined to be the next big thing.

Be it as it may, Ethereum is the preferred platform for creating Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). These are some of the features that make ETH appealing to investors and developers.

Scalability is one of the complications Ethereum face. As of this publication, the platform supports approximately 15 transactions per second. This is not significant when you weigh up to VISA’s 56,000 business messages per second. The platform is planning to upgrade from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. This will expand the capacity to a large extent.

You can purchase Ethereum from popular exchanges like Gemini, Coinmama, Coinbase, or CEX.io. Many of these exchanges support bank transfer and credit/debit cards.

NEO

NEO was created in 2014 by Da Hongfei in China. Prior, it was called Antares. The altcoin is the biggest cryptocurrency to materialize from China.

NEO was designed for developing decentralized applications (Dapps), Smart Contracts, and ICOs. This coin is known as Chinese Ethereum because it looks like Ethereum. The Chinese robust technology and government is the driving force behind NEO.

Just like Ethereum, NEO offers a structure for the development of smart contracts and Dapps. NEO comes with technology supremacy as it can facilitate 10,000 transactions per second.

This cryptocurrency supports several languages like C#, Go, Java, and C++. This has made NEO more accepted among the developer community.

This means they can use the platform in the language they know rather than learning a new language.

NEO is expected to build a platform to achieve the vision of building Smart Economy.

There are several ways you can buy NEO. You can buy using fiat currency like GBP or USD. The best and easiest way to buy NEO is to first buy Bitcoin from Coinbase and Kraken. Then, exchange Bitcoin for NEO on exchanges like Binance or Bitfinex.

Litecoin

Created in 2011 by an ex-Google employee, Charlie Lee, Litecoin is one of the oldest altcoins. This cryptocurrency was launched to overcome the shortcomings displayed by Bitcoin. Most important, the slow transaction speed.

The name Litecoin came because it’s 4 times faster than Bitcoin. It takes 2.5 minutes to complete a transaction on Litecoin compared to Bitcoin which takes about 10 minutes. This makes Litecoin more scalable because it can accomplish several transactions per minute.

Litecoin is the closest rival of Bitcoin because it has been built on Bitcoin’s technology. Both Bitcoin and Litecoin serve the same purpose which is – offering an alternative to fiat currencies like USD, CAD, EUR etc.

Most cryptocurrency exchanges support Litecoin so it’s easier to purchase it. You can purchase Litecoin on Bitsquare, Kraken, Coinbase, and Coinmama.

EOS

EOS is one of the latest coins in the market. It was launched in June 2017 by Dan Larimer. Dan is acknowledged for founding Bitshare and Steemit blocking-based blogging site.

EOS like other platforms like Ethereum is designed for developers to build decentralized applications. Though, it slightly differs from the rest (we’ll see below).

EOS is a digital currency as well as a blockchain platform for smart contracts and Dapps. In this context, it’s sensible to contrast Ethereum and EOS. Still, EOS platform has a compatible programming language.

It supports several languages including C++ whereas Ethereum supports one language called “Solidity.” For developers, this is an exceptional feature.

If you want to buy EOS directly with USD the best cryptocurrency exchange is Bitfinex. However, there are options like Binance, Kraken or Shapeshift if you want to exchange Bitcoin for EOS.

DASH

Dash was launched in 2014 by Evan Duffield. Initially, this cryptocurrency was called Xcoin, then was changed to Darkcoin later, renamed to dash. Dash is a fork of Litecoin which is developed on Bitcoin’s technology.

Since it was created, it has gained popularity because of the advantages it offers. First, it offers superior privacy and a higher transaction speed. Second, the public address and that of the receiver are kept hidden.

In other words, transactions carried out on Dash platform cannot be traced. But Bitcoin transactions are traceable.

To find out insider news, before-the-public, I advise you to bookmark www.blockchainwhispers.com

Finally, Dash has a self-funding mechanism where 10% of the mining reward gets absorbed with Dash. These funds are used to improve and grow the platform. All these features have made Dash the most promising altcoin in the market.

There are several places where you can buy a Dash. You can exchange Bitcoin for Dash at cryptocurrency exchanges like Poloneix, Bitfinex, and Shapeshift. Also, you can buy Dash using bank transfer or credit card on exchanges like Kraken and CEX.io.

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano was founded by Charles Hoskinson in September 2017. It offers several technological upgrades than most blockchains. Yet, it offers Dapps and smart contracts like other altcoins.

ADA is a dapp-building system with its own native currency-ADA. Cardano was developed to solve three serious issues which are sustainability, interoperability, and scalability.

The platform also aims to address the issue of international payment transfer which consumes time and money. Its ultimate goal is to reduce the transaction time of international transfers from days to seconds.

There is only one option if you want to buy Cardano directly using credit/debit card- Coinman. Any other exchange that offers Cardano, you have to buy either Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, or Bitcoin Cash, later, exchange for Cardano.

Final Thoughts

There you have the best altcoins to invest in 2018. I have covered the features and where you can buy each. With this information with you, I believe you are now in a position to select your favorite altcoin.

Personally, I like Cardano because it addresses major issues that have rocked the 1st and 2nd generation blockchains. But that is just me. What is yours? Feel free to leave a comment.

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Feature image: shutterstock.com
In-Post Image: shutterstock.com

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Disclaimer

The writer’s views are expressed as a personal opinion and are for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.