Comparison of cryptocurrencies
The cryptocurrency market is explosive which currently serves 735 currencies.
This article aims to list only the most relevant active cryptocurrencies. To be listed here, a currency must have one of the following qualities:
- A market cap of 1 billion US dollars.
- Highly decentralized (anonymous).
- At one point had significant notoriety. Or been the first to introduce an innovative protocol.
References
| Launched | Cryptocurrency | Symbol | Market cap, rounded | Anonymity | Significant notoriety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-01-03 |  Bitcoin
|
BTC | $36 billion | Low | First blockchain |
| 2010-10-21 | Bitcoin Testnet 1
|
TNBTC | None | Low | First altcoin[1] |
| 2011-01-02 | Tonal Bitcoin
|
TBC | See Bitcoin | Low | First on-chain alternative |
| 2011-03-01 |  Ripple
|
XRP | $8.2 billion | Low | XRP is the native currency of the Ripple network that only exists within the Ripple system |
| 2011-04-18 |  Namecoin
|
NMC | $23 million | Low | First alternative chain, bitDNS. merged mined with Bitcoin. |
| 2011-10-07 |  Litecoin
|
LTC | $1.2 billion | Low | |
| 2012-04-12 | Bitcoin Testnet 3
|
TNBTC | None | Low | Current Bitcoin testnet |
| 2012-07-04 |  Bytecoin
|
BCN | $414 million | Low | Introduced CryptoNote. |
| 2012-08-19 |  Peercoin
|
PPC | $36 million | Low | Notable cryptocurrency |
| 2013-07-07 |  Primecoin
|
XPM | $7 million | Low | Implements a unique scientific computing proof-of-work system. |
| 2013-09-29 |  Nxt
|
NXT | $52 million | Low | Notable cryptocurrency |
| 2013-12-06 |  Dogecoin
|
DOGE | $278 million | Low | Notable cryptocurrency |
| 2014-01-18 |  Dash
|
DASH | $914 million | Medium | Introduced the X11 algorithm. |
| 2014-04-18 |  Monero
|
XMR | $584 million | Medium | |
| 2015-03-31 |  NEM
|
XEM | $1.7 billion | Medium | Introduced the proof-of-importance (POI) algorithm. |
| 2015-08-07 |  Ethereum
|
ETH | $21 billion | Low | |
| 2016-02-01 |  PIVX
|
PIVX | $84 million | Medium | Introduced the Quark algorithm. |
| 2016-07-24 |  Ethereum Classic
|
ETC | $1.6 billion | Low | Fastest growing cryptocurrency on the market ever. |
| 2016-09-28 |  Zcoin
|
XZC | $17 million | High | First cryptocurrency that implemented the zerocoin protocol which also makes it the first useful Zero-knowledge proof based anonymous cryptocurrency. First that implements Merkle Tree Proof of Work (MTP). |
| 2016-10-28 |  Zcash
|
ZEC | $338 million | High | First cryptocurrency that implemented the zerocash protocol. |
| 2016-11-10 |  Zclassic
|
ZCL | $5 million | High | First Zcash-based currency without the 20% fee for miners made by Zcash. |
| 2017-02-05 |  Komodo
|
KMD | $54 million | High |