How Four Popular Cryptocurrencies Have Changed Over Time

coolleah · May 30, 2019

The growth of crypto has been complicated to say the least. On one hand, it’s began to see more mainstream acceptance than any ever imagined. On the other hand, the growth of cryptocurrencies has certainly been mercurial. Even today, people seem to be split into two groups, one claiming this is the way of the future. Others claiming it’s a trend, possibly even a dangerous one.

It’s been many years since the popularity of crypto blazed like a wildfire. Today, digital currencies are worth more than 200 billion dollars total market cap. As a whole, it’s clear that crypto is growing, but what about individual currencies? Let’s take a look at four of the more popular ones, and see how they have changed over the past several years.

Litecoin

Litecoin was launched in 2011 and was one of the first alternatives to the original Bitcoin. In spite of being an alternative, the currency itself is nearly identical to Bitcoin in terms of technical attributes. It was launched on GitHub under the guidance of lead developer Charlie Lee, who worked for Google.

There are a few key differences between Litecoin and Bitcoin. Litecoin uses a different hashing algorithm. Also, block generation time was accelerated, and the amount of currency to be processed was also increased. By November 2013, Litecoin hit a one billion dollar market capitalization rate. As of this writing, the current market cap exceeds 1.8 billion.

More recently, there have been other developments. In 2017, Litecoin was used in the first Lightning Network transaction. It took less than one second to send Litecoin from Zurich to San Francisco. During the same year, the rate of return on this cryptocurrency skyrocketed to 800%. Currently, Litecoin is the seventh most valuable cryptocurrency on the market.

Peercoin

Peercoin was founded in 2012. It’s founding developers were Scott Nadali and Sunny King. It’s based on Bitcoin code, so is frequently compared to that original. In spite of these comparisons, there are several features that do set Peercoin apart.

One notable feature of Peercoin is that it uses Proof of Stake. Unlike proof of work that is used by Bitcoin and other currencies, proof of stake requires that ‘forgers’ show ownership in a certain number of cryptocurrency units. In addition to this, mining Peercoin also takes significantly less electricity than other cryptocurrencies.

Today, a unit of Peercoin is worth about $1.94. This is up from $0.38 from the time Peercoin was first launched. It is currently the fifth largest cryptocurrency. There are currently more than 20 million Peercoins on the market.

Terracoin

Terracoin may have the most interesting and dramatic history on this list. It was created in 2012 by a developer who has chosen to remain anonymous. Eventually, the currency was abandoned entirely. This was the case until 2016. Because interest in and affection for this cryptocurrency still ran high, the Terracoin foundation took it over in 2016. Today, the foundation touts the currency as being inexpensive, divisible, portable and fast. Their stated goal is to develop a user friendly currency that is a viable alternative to both Bitcoin as well as fiat currencies.

Since the Terracoin Foundation took over, there has also been an initiative to use this cryptocurrency as a way to contribute to the greater good. Master node owners can submit proposals to the decentralized governance to provide financial support to a local charity, or even a resident in need. There’s another benefit to owning a master node. It can be used as a source of passive income.

Finally, it should also be noted that there has never been a Terracoin ICO. According to the folks at Terracoin, there never will be. Instead, the group chooses to focus on other goals.

Bitcoin

In 2008, the Bitcoin.org URL was registered. The same year, a paper was released to a cryptography mailing list. It was titled, ‘A peer to peer electronic cash system’. The paper detailed what we now largely recognize as many of the pillars of cryptocurrency, a system of electronic transactions that don’t rely on a central trust.

According to Marie Anne at Resumention, “Many people who were involved in the crypto community easily remember that Source Forge released the first open source bitcoin client in 2009. They also remember the famous, first transaction using Bitcoin, a pepperoni pizza ordered from Papa Johns.”

Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of Bitcoin ended their involvement with the cryptocurrency in 2010. They have never been identified. Speculation about the identity of Nakamoto varies widely. Some believe he is a Japanese mathematician. Several journalists have speculated, but so far most of the people named have outright denied being Nakamoto. Many publications have even been forced to post retractions after naming groups or individuals.

In March 2010, the value of one BTC was $0.003. In November 2018 it was worth $3,778. However, there have been some pretty mercurial fluctuations over the years. Keep in mind that it was worth over $19,000 just a year ago.

Final Thoughts

There are more than 1600 cryptocurrencies today. As a result, it would be impossible to write an update on the evolution of all of these. As a result, we selected these four that we believe are either most popular, or that have an interesting, historical trajectory. Whatever your opinions are about the history of cryptocurrencies, it’s hard to deny that there’s nearly always some interesting developments under foot.

Leah Thurberg has only been out of school for awhile, she has already established her expertise when it comes to presenting complex topics in a clear, entertaining, and understandable manner. She currently contributes content to both StudentWritingServices and X-Essays. When she isn’t busy writing and researching, Bridgette enjoys watching movies and spending time with her family.