Sick of Mt. Gox and Bitcoin? Here are four alternative cryptocurrencies
If you look at its recent track record, Bitcoin is far from a safe investment.
First it was the Silk Road bust, money-laundering arrests, peak-to-valley value fluctuations, and temporary exchange shut downs. Then on Tuesday, Mt. Gox, one of the biggest bitcoin exchanges available, went offline amid reports the exchange lost 740,000 bitcoins, the equivalent of 6 percent of all the currency in circulation.
If you鈥檙e going to invest in a cryptocurrency, unfortunately, investment insecurity is part of the deal. However, with Bitcoin鈥檚 status as a major digital currency crumbling with every misstep, some have pointed to a growing list of 鈥渁ltcurrencies鈥� as better investment options. Since Bitcoin is open source, many have used the available blueprints to correct what they see as Bitcoin鈥檚 flaws. Here鈥檚 a look at a few of the prominent currencies and how they make up for Bitcoin鈥檚 pitfalls.
聽Note: all currency values as of Thursday 2/26/2014 at 2:00 p.m. EST. For current values, .
Namecoin
Namecoin isn鈥檛 just a currency; it鈥檚 a domain name. Users who purchase namecoin can purchase a 鈥�.bit鈥� URL that operates outside of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN鈥攖he nonprofit in charge of top-level domain names). Operating outside ICANN creates a decentralized domain name space, which acts as a block against Internet censorship. CoinMarketCap.com has Namecoin鈥檚 market cap valued at $7,892,190, with each namecoin valued at $3.43. Not a bad deal for a domain name and an investment in what could be the next big cryptocurrency.
Litecoin
Litecoin is essentially Bitcoin without the wait. Though it is also a peer-to-peer open source digital currency based on the bitcoin protocol, its algorithm can be used by standard computers, which cuts down on processing time. Litecoin has been called the 鈥渟ilver鈥� to Bitcoin鈥檚 鈥済old鈥� by many cryptocurrency experts, and has dramatically increased in value in recent months. Currently, CoinMarketCap has Litecoin鈥檚 market cap value at $373,768,722, and each litecoin priced at $14.34.
Peercoin
Peercoin, like Litecoin, is very similar to Bitcoin, although it includes a few key securities and processing upgrades that make many believe it has the staying power that Bitcoin doesn鈥檛. Peercoin uses a proof-of-stake/proof-of-work scheme hybrid, which minimizes the possibility for a mining monopoly because it drives down the reward for people who mine peercoins. Currently, CoinMarketCap has Peercoin鈥檚 market cap valued at $74,826,574, with each peercoin valued at $3.53.
Quark
Quark is one of the youngest altcurrencies available, only launched in late 2013. However, it has already been making waves due to its intense security measures. Transactions go through nine separate rounds of encryption with six different encryption algorithms. It also claims to be 10 times faster than other mainstream currencies. Currently, CointMarketCap has Quark鈥檚 market cap valued at $13,353,900, and individual quarks at five cents.
