From the moment the first cryptocurrency has been launched into the net, nobody would ever believe that it will become the most attractive investment object. Even investors who earlier admitted the possibility to get profits only from IPO shifted their attention to ICO and other means of investment into digital coins.

Curiosity significantly increased in 2017, when cryptocurrency shocked the market by its capitalization, which grew from $ 18 billion to $ 800 billion. However, the phenomenal increase turned into a fatal fall of the market capitalization to the point of $ 254 billion. Now, it is the end of October 2018 and the world is anticipating another cryptocurrency growth.

That is why it is necessary to consider TOP 10 most attractive cryptocurrencies for investment in 2018.

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

It is the most popular cryptocurrency which does not require any introduction. Even those who have nothing to do with crypto industry and hardly distinguish blockchain from blockbuster know about it. The only thing is that many people have problems with the concept of Bitcoin, as a cryptocurrency and a platform.

So let's sort it out. Bitcoin is a payment system that uses Bitcoin or, in brief, BTC cryptocurrency coins in order to account transactions. The peculiarity of the system lies in the objective to exclude centralized intermediaries such as banks, credit organizations and others. For example, you need to transfer 1 BTC and it is possible to make it through Bitcoin payment system without banks and other financial institutions. Bitcoin cryptocurrency is alternative to fiat currencies such as USD, RUB, JPY and others.

Bitcoin pros

The benefits of BTC can be discussed endlessly. After all, the largest cryptocurrency is the oldest one among all existing cryptocurrencies. It has the largest crypto community, which includes developers and investors who support the further development of Bitcoin currency.

BTC is easy to buy, as it is supported by all the well-known cryptocurrency exchanges and digital wallets. The world’s fundamental economy takes into account the world's first cryptocurrency, and such well-known platforms as Bloomberg, Microsoft, Overstock.com, Expedia.com and others accept BTC crypto-money as the payment means for purchasing goods and services.

Bitcoin cons

It has annoyingly slow transaction speed that takes about 10 minutes. This is due to the capacity of the network which is able to process not more than 7 transactions per second.

Due to increasing competition inside the network, BTC mining has become extremely energy-consuming. Today, not everyone can afford a mining farm. As Bitcoin mining requires ultra-powerful computer equipment with corresponding cost. Beside that, it consumes a lot of electricity.

Bitcoin transfer fee is unreasonably high, which makes it less attractive for many people.

Historical performance

It is hard to believe, but in 2010 everyone could afford BTC, since the price for a one was about $ 1. Isn't it nothing? But in December 2017, the price appeared to be not funny at all. One BTC was sold almost for the price of $ 18 thousand.

After such a rise the rapid fall has started. Now, BTC is experiencing recovery times, the crypto industry is anticipating a new wave. Even in the slack period, Bitcoin remains the first cryptocurrency in the world in terms of capitalization, which is 30% of cryptocurrency market.

2. Ethereum (Ether)

If you are not familiar yet, then let me introduce you the second cryptocurrency in the world, after Bitcoin, which is in great demand and interest of a wide audience which is not even directly dealing with digital coins.

The first Ethereum coin was created in 2015 by Vitaly Buterin. Many people believe that it is more than a cryptocurrency. Ether has the same situation as Bitcoin, as it is both a platform and a cryptocoin. As a platform, Ethereum is developed on blockchain technology for creation of decentralized services and smart contracts. ETH is an intra-platform currency which is used as a payment method for the services provided by the Ethereum platform.

Ethereum pros

It is the largest platform worldwide for creation of smart contracts. It provides a complete base for launching tokens and other projects on the basis of the blockchain technology. The transactions in the Ethereum system are completed just in few seconds, while Bitcoin keeps you waiting for 10 minutes.

Ethereum cons

When scaling, Ethereum faced many problems. The platform still checks the transactions that cause network overload on the Proof-of-Work mechanism. ETH mining requires high computational power, which can be provided only by ultra-powerful computer equipment. Not everyone can afford such equipment for mining, and the process of cryptocurrency mining consumes a lot of electricity. But now the developers are trying to solve the problem related to the demands towards electricity consumption and reduction of network competition.

Ethereum also supports only one programming language called Solidity. The world's second cryptocurrency from time to time is faced with the competitive pressure of digital coins, such as NEO and Cardano, because they offer similar services via an improved technology.

Historical performance

2017 was the best year for ETH. Then the price of digital currency began to grow rapidly. The price increase lasted until January 15, 2018. Then the cost of one ETH was $ 1,390. Now, as of the end of October 2018, ETH is at the stage of degeneration.

3. Ripple (XRP)

This is a unique cryptocurrency, a platform that has an evolutionary mission such as the elimination of problems related to implementation of international payment transfers. Ripple platform, with its digital currency, was launched in 2012 in order to speed up and reduce cost of international transactions.

Ripple pros

Any international transfers last a week, while Ripple needs only a few seconds in order to complete this task. Also, the transfer fee is much less. Compared with traditional fee this is a very small amount of money. The platform partners are real financial institutions, including American Express and Santander. Many people think that making money with Ripple cryptocurrency is more than realistic.

Ripple cons

The platform contradicts a fundamental principle of cryptocurrencies such as decentralization. Due to the fact that half of the XRP belongs to the company for scalability, it follows that the management of the digital money flow of the Ripple platform centrally.

Historical performance

Ripple was launched in 2012, but it gained its success only in 2017. After a fantastic increase of crypto money prices, XRP has become the third largest digital currency in terms of capitalization. Ripple has surprised everyone because its price has grown almost from zero to $ 4.

4. Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

As you have guessed, Bitcoin cash is a fork cryptocurrency of the well-known Bitcoin, which was originally launched into the network in 2016. Fork appeared in the result of not taking a single decision by the Bitcoin developers regarding the system updates. In fact, Bitcoin Cash is an improved version of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Cash pros

During the upgrade, the block size was increased to 8 MB, which significantly increased the speed of transactions. We remind that one Bitcoin block has a volume of 1 MB, which explains the slow speed of transactions.

Bitcoin Cash cons

It is suggested that Bitcoin cash becomes as decentralized as its parent company. However, now it remains doubtful.

BCH mining is a costly thing. Due to the network competition, it has become very difficult and energetically consuming to mine new blocks. Now, in order to mine Bitcoin Cash a huge computing power provided by the ultra-new computer equipment is required. The cost of such machines is sky-high. Competition in the network is constantly increasing, so mining will constantly require upgrade of computer equipment.

Historical performance

After the first launch of the network Bitcoin Cash very quickly reached the TOP cryptocurrencies. In July 2017, the currency price increased from $ 500 to $ 4 thousand. Anyone can compare Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash charts. We recommend CoinMarketCap for monitoring. While comparing the charts, pay attention that the performance of the BCH price is very similar to BTC one.

5. EOS

It was launched by ICO in June 2017. The platform itself is considered to be a direct competitor to Ethereum and NEO. It was created by Dan Larimer, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitshares and Steemit. EOS is a platform for developers who are working on creation of decentralized management applications and improved smart contracts.

EOS pros

The platform will be much bigger and have a more global impact than the well-known Ethereum. Such forecasts are justified by an enhanced mechanism for monitoring transactions. Presumably, the developers will be able to accelerate the speed of transactions to 10 000-100 000 operations per second.

EOS supports several programming languages, including C ++. The names of the team members who have been working on the implementation of the concept, and are currently improving and launching their own platform, are known worldwide.

EOS cons

The only one and main disadvantage of EOS is that the platform is still in test mode. Therefore, all its advantages are only forecasts for the future.

Historical performance

Since its launch, the cost of the EOS token has increased significantly. At the same time, it is one of the few digital coins that has suffered heavily from the collapse of the cryptocurrency market, which occurred in early 2018. Despite the fact that currently, in October 2018, the cost of EOS cannot exceed $ 6, the cryptocurrency remains in the TOP 10.

6. Stellar (XLM)

This cryptocurrency is a Ripple fork. The founder of XRP and XLM is Jedo McCaleb, that is why it unites Stellar and Ripple. The introduced digital currency differs from the others, which are in the TOP, by the fact that the project it supports is not commercial.

Stellar pros

The XLM is much more decentralized than the Ripple. It is more trustworthy because it is non-commercial. More than 30 banks and financial organizations, such as Deloitte and IBM, cooperate with Stellar.

Stellar cons

There is a huge competition aimed at solving problems related to the international payments. Ripple is among the competitors.

Historical performance

Stellar currency exchange platform has been operating since 2014. The revolutionary solutions of developers that are integrated into the platform have helped XLM cryptocurrency to enter TOP 10 best digital currencies in the world to invest.

7. Litecoin (LTC)

A former Google employee, Charlie Lee, in 2011 created the Litecoin payment system, the cryptocurrency of which is called LTC. The platform is developed on Bitcoin blockchain technology. This fact raises the question: “What is the difference between LTC and BTC?” as in fact, there is no difference. Litecoin hit the top ten due to the fact that it has passed the test of time.

Litecoin pros

Transactions with LTC take not more than 2.5 minutes, while Bitcoin keeps you waiting for about 10 minutes. The commission per transaction on average amounts to $ 0.179. This is undoubtedly an advantage, since Bitcoin`s average commission equals $ 1.8.

Litecoin cons

This digital currency can offer nothing but insignificant transaction speed. It is not substantially different from other cryptocurrencies. Litecoin is constantly facing the competition, which can make a much better offer, complemented by confidentiality, smart contracts, international money exchanges and others.

Litecoin currency can be mined. But this mining will be very costly due to high resource consumption such as computing power, electricity and other things.

Historical performance

Litecoin has been in the top 10 cryptocurrency leaders for 7 years. Its sidereal time was in December 2017, when the cost increased to $ 350 from $ 4. After the price increase a collapse occurred, which negatively affected the majority of cryptocurrencies.

8. Tether (USDT)

This cryptocurrency is connected to dollars, a fiat currency. It is called a crypto-fiat hybrid, because the cost is connected to a fiat currency: 1 USDT is always equal to $ 1. Dollars are not the only currency to which the USDT is pegged. The cryptocurrency also supports euro and yen.

Tether cons

There are no problems with the transfer of these coins to other currencies, as popular fiat currencies constitute a price benchmark. Although Tether currency is considered to be a hybrid one, it still retains the benefits of cryptocurrencies, such as decentralization, transparency and accessibility.

Tether pros

Perhaps, this cryptocurrency is one of the most scandalous. News portals daily break the news, where the well-known figures of the crypto industry criticize the hybrid currency. Tether may refuse to service the customers who do not meet the consumer’s conditions.

Historical performance

Tether was launched for the first time in 2015 by Tether Limited Company. For such a short time of its existence the cryptocurrency joined the TOP 10. From 2017 to 2018, the token issuing volume from $ 10 million increased to $ 2.4 billion.

9. Cardano (ADA)

In 2017, Charles Hoskinson created Cardano. He worked on the development jointly with the co-founder of Ethereum. Cardano is a decentralized platform for creation of the similar applications and smart contracts. The idea is the same as in the Ethereum, but the difference is that Cardano is an improvement. At the moment, Cardano is the most modern generation of blockchain technology.

Cardano pros

The platform is supported by academic communities whose members are famous blockchain researchers and scientists. Cardano is much larger than Ethereum, and its throughput per second is 257 transactions.

Cardano cons

Many concepts which were presented before the launch of the platform have not been implemented up to this day as the final product. It has strong competitors - Ethereum, EOS, NEO, Fusion.

Historical performance

Despite the fact that Cardano a relatively new cryptocurrency, it already has managed to make its contribution into crypto-industry and get into the TOP companies. In the period of huge increase in cryptocurrency prices which occurred in 2018 год, ADA grew up from $0,2 to $1,2. In March 2018 Cardano`s price significantly decreased, however now, by the end of the year it is coming back to life a little bit.

10. Monero (XMR)

This cryptocurrency is aimed at anonymous payments. Monero is issued via cryptograms and doesn’t have any relations to a fiat currency that is why the transfers are made via this platform without any banking interference.

Monero pros

The given cryptocurrency doesn’t depend upon a fiat currency that is why it is indifferent towards inflation. XMR has its limited number which guarantees the permanent currency demand increase. Monero is considered to be one of the most reliable cryptocurrencies among the currently issued ones. More over, it guarantees complete anonymousness and its holder`s protection.

Monero cons

Each transaction volume is approximately 8 times bigger than in the Bitcoin system. Despite the fact that Monero position itself as an anonymous cryptocurrency, some critics still extensively deny this peculiarity and put it under a huge doubt.

Historical performance

For crypto-industry Monero became more recognizable in the middle of 2016, when its price began to grow actively. In August 2016 one XMR coin was sold with the price of approximately $1,7, and in September the same year the first serious digital record recorded for Monero in the amount of $13. Nobody could ever think that new and more successful records will appear. March 2017 brought the good news with the mark of $22, August showed the number of $144 and December surprised a lot that XMR price reached $460. Do you think it was a limit? Of course, it was not. At the moment the maximum record Monera got in January 2018 with the price indicator of $494.

Thus, after huge rise the strong falling begins. The cryptocurrency today is sold approximately with the price of $100 per coin.