Cryptocurrencies are a hot topic in the business world. They offer new ways to send money securely and efficiently around the world without depending on banks or other financial institutions, which can charge high fees for these services. In general, it is safe to say that currencies will continue to grow in popularity as they make life easier for everyone from businesses to consumers. Here is a list of 6 types of cryptocurrencies that you should consider accepting as payment options from your customers.
BTC is the most famous of all currencies. It was created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. The price of BTC varies a lot, but it is a perfect payment option. Additionally, BTC offers many benefits to business owners, including lower transaction fees and instant, irreversible transactions. Because it is completely decentralized, there are no banks to reduce the profits made by companies in exchange for processing transactions, which gives BTC significantly lower fees than other means. Bitcoin's end goal is to become a universal currency that everyone will use regardless of their location in the world. Today, you can buy bitcoins or offer your customers incentives to buy gift cards for loved ones. Most stores accept payment in bitcoins and that's a huge plus for everyone.
Dogecoin was created by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, two developers who wanted to create a new cryptocurrency that could be used for micro-transactions and attract a wider audience, especially on social media sites such as Reddit or Twitter. The result was Dogecoin which is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in use today. The currency was created to reach a wider population than BTC by using the popular internet meme "Doge" as its mascot and producing physical coins that people can collect. It is now a universally accepted means of payment. As a businessman, you can comfortably buy cryptocurrencies and improve your business.
Litecoin is another of the well-known currencies. It was created by former Google engineer Charles Lee in 2011 to improve BTC in handling large transaction volumes. Transactions are confirmed faster with Litecoins than with BTC, which means they are ideal for small and medium-sized businesses. Cryptocurrency has grown in popularity, increasing in value more than tenfold over the years. Thanks to this, your customers can buy gift cards with cryptocurrencies from your establishment.
Peercoin was created in 2012 and is currently the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market cap. It uses a hybrid of proof-of-stake and proof-of-work to verify transactions, which reduces the power consumption associated with the latter method used in currencies such as BTC. The idea is that instead of using a single form to verify transactions, Peercoin uses both in a complementary way. Customers can buy cryptocurrencies and spend on your business.
Dash is a cryptocurrency formerly known as Darkcoin and XCoin, but later rebranded. It stands for "Digital Cash" and was created in early 2014. Dash is based on the BTC core code, but improves some features such as privacy, transaction speed, and security. Its transactions are nearly untraceable, with the blockchain only telling you that someone sent "X" amount of coins to someone else, not who they were sent to or where the money came from. Dash also claims to provide a higher level of security by using a decentralized mining network that protects it against 51% of attacks that some other currencies are susceptible to.
Ripple is yet another cryptocurrency created to be a universal currency for financial institutions and individuals. It is a real-time gross settlement system that comes with its currency called XRP. Although Ripple could be used for any transaction, the main idea was to provide an alternative to international transfers and other slow and expensive methods of sending money around the world. With Ripple, you can send money between all currencies with only minimal fees required. For example, if you send money to someone in Russia using your credit card, the bank will charge you 3% just for exchanging your currency for Russian rubles. Ripple converts instantly at the best rates.
Conclusion
Since the currencies are open source and decentralized, anyone can create a new cryptocurrency based on the BTC source code. This is how most of them appeared in the first place – they were created as offshoots of BTC itself. Of course, not all currencies have positive intentions or advantages over others. Before buying cryptocurrencies or accepting them in your business, you should research and learn more about the currency in question.
