2017 may forever be known as the year where cryptocurrency exploded into life and went from being a misunderstood side story to mainstream media news. 2018 hasn't been as kind to digital currency so far, especially for Bitcoin and Ripple after their incredible rise. Both currencies have lost nearly half their value as more scrutiny and legislation is attached to the new world of dealing with money. Just as with any business, however, when some fail, others thrive. There are four who have got bigger and better in spite of a fall in the overall market. Ethereum has come through the start of 2018 a lot healthier than Bitcoin and Ripple , with a 20% increase in its value. A lot would put that down to their blockchain and the evolution that has been allowed to happen off the back of it. It’s a currency that can be trusted and the market reflects that. It has huge potential, and may be the number one cryptocurrency in the future. Lisk has seen a near 40% uplift since the turn of the year. That could be down to their more simple way of dealing with the blockchain, allowing sidechains to keep the network running smoothly which don’t require new coding languages.Neo is another cryptocurrency that's thriving, with over a 50% increase in value so far this year. In 10 years from now, there may be a uniform way of providing digital currency. The lure of cryptocurrency is the decentralisation that offers an alternative to the modern day banks. Neo goes against this somewhat, and it’ll be interesting where the future lies on whether digital currency should be completely decentralised, or not. The biggest winner so far in 2018 has been VeChain, who have more than doubled their value. They have developed a partnership with DNV GL and have passed the Cryptocurrency Disaster Recovery Plan which has given them a huge amount of credibility, this has been reflected in their huge soaring of price.Cryptocurrency will go through a lot of changes over the next few years, but its here to stay. Which specific currency will thrive is a lot less certain. It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the year plays out for the digital currency market.