Types of Cryptocurrencies, Advantages and Disadvantages

Cryptocurrency or crypto currency increasingly known by many people in Indonesia. This is one of the representations blockchain whose impact is directly enjoyed by the community (consumers), other potential still continues much explored. Interest in cryptocurrencies, generally as an investment, actually only increased rapidly after the Bitcoin exchange rate soared. Exactly after WannaCry shocked the digital world. The attacker demanded a ransom for the release of the WannaCry-infected computer with Bitcoin.

The value of Bitcoin then skyrocketed. On the other hand, Alt-coins (non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies) continue to emerge, generally with the mission of fixing Bitcoin loopholes or offering new ways to process Bitcoin. mining and transactions. At the time of this writing, launching on the site CoinMarketCap, there are 1568 types of cryptocurrencies in the world. The number is still being monitored and continues to grow, as the ICO continues (Initial Coin Offering) carried out in various countries, including Indonesia.

Not all cryptocurrencies are popular, especially in Indonesia. If you look at market capitalization (market cap) largest, here is the ranking of the gains – with Bitcoin still leading the crypto market:

As the Bitcoin exchange rate is getting more and more expensive, users are now starting to try to find other alternatives to invest or use existing cryptocurrencies. Likewise in Indonesia, several crypto investors we met explained quite logical reasons for choosing Altcoins. Regarding choice and trust for crypto products, the conditions are not far from the ranking above. However, each type of coin has a unique value that it tries to offer. DailySocial trying to summarize each one, referring to various sources, both written and oral in Indonesia.

(1) Bitcoins (BTC)

Advantages:

Defining the advantages and disadvantages of Bitcoin would essentially represent cryptocurrencies in general. The first advantage of Bitcoin is that it is a crypto currency, with an increasingly sophisticated Hash Rate (level of complexity of cryptographic algorithms), public trust is also guaranteed to avoid risks such as counterfeiting. This trust helps to develop a global community that strengthens its position as a currency that is not easily swayed by society's conditions. Like gold, cryptocurrencies can be reduce inflation.

Deficiency:

If examined more deeply, Bitcoin is speculative (in terms of value). Its value is determined by the number of people or business units that accept Bitcoin. If more and more people use it, the value will continue to increase. On the other hand, if it is less, the implication is that the selling price will fall. In addition, as a cryptocurrency, Bitcoin does not recognize transaction cancellations. The process is also public, no entity can provide a guarantee for negligence that causes loss or error in the delivery process. Purse hardware (a special device for storing private keys) are also vulnerable to viruses or damage if not properly cared for, causing coins to float.

(2) Ethereum (ETH)

Advantages:

Very similar to Bitcoin, but specifically designed to be Smart contract which is open. Transactions made in blockchain can execute a Smart contract through various means, for example by sending digital currency or data to the contract address. If executed successfully, Smart contract it can process more transactions or execute smart contracts other. Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), is which developers can use to create various applications as easily as making applications based on crypto transactions. With the concept offered, developers do not need to create and maintain blockchain themselves.

Deficiency:

Behind the convenience offered in the development process, there are several things that actually become weaknesses. The first is a matter of access speed, not completely reliable because it relies on distributed servers. Application development on the Ethereum platform can be analogous to leasing services web hosting, when the server down, then the system working under it also doesn't work. Unfortunately, even developers can't improve functionality blockchain independently, because they have to contribute as a whole. When experiencing hard fork (miners run massively different protocols), will directly affect the developed applications. Each compute will also require Ether (a coin type) which increases depending on the complexity and user base of the application.

(3) Ripple (XRP)

Advantages:

The concerns of Bitcoin users seem to be well heard by Ripple developers, as one of the advantages it offers is the easy process of converting to local currency. Ripple technology facilitates the exchange of XRP with various currencies in the world, including Bitcoin. This is because Ripple has been integrated with banking services in the world. It is now one of the cornerstones of the revolution remittances or remittances between countries.

Deficiency:

A research result released Purdue University reveal a loophole from Ripple. The gap is due to the openness of the network. Node those in the network structure may receive attacks that can have an impact on paralyzing user access to transferred funds.

(4) Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Advantages:

versi upgrade of Bitcoin by improving some of the procedures it has, one of its reliability is being able to make its value increase more consistent. In terms of transaction speed, Bitcoin Cash is also relatively faster, thus benefiting users. The level of security and protection is also increased, taking into account in terms of appearance and features to make it more attractive.

Deficiency:

The risk of hardware damage is one of the challenges. However, the fundamental weakness was created because the adoption was still not massive. This makes Bitcoin Cash not yet reached "Critical Mass", the minimum critical mass required for blocks larger than 1 Mb can always be created properly, this is the main factor to make the network more stable. Little by little began to approach there. Adoption that has not been massive also has an impact on its speculative nature.

(5) Litecoins (LTC)

Advantages:

Litecoin is also here to try to improve Bitcoin, one of the things that has been improved is related to the generation time of the blocks that are compiled. Litecoin's average time is 2,5 minutes, while Bitcoin's average is 10 minutes. The mining algorithm is indeed designed to be simpler, making miner do not have to do with a super high specification computer. Litecoin also activates Segregated Witness, which is claimed to make coin transactions faster and provide lower fees. The Swap Atom feature is also added to make it easier for other crypto coin owners to transact with Litecoin without a special platform.

Deficiency:

Litecoin's risk is predicted to occur if the market is not interested. Porces miningis relatively easy, this allows for the accumulation of Litecoin stock. In the long term, if it is not able to grow convincingly it may break "BubbleSo that there is a drastic reduction in inflation.

EOS, Cardano (ADA), Stellar (XLM), and NEO

In addition to the five cryptocurrencies above, there are several other types. While this is not so well known in Indonesia, we will briefly discuss the functionality that each is trying to excel at. EOS is a platform blockchain which is trying to be designed to facilitate the needs of commercial applications, both for Web-based nor mobile-based. Membership, authentication, database, asynchronous communication and scheduling systems are provided through core and cluster. The system architecture is designed to allow for scalability, ensuring millions of transactions can be executed every second.

Cardano is a representation blockchain which uses the Haskell programming language. The concept offered is like Ethereum, i.e. personalized for technology Smart contract. Cardano is also the only cryptocurrency to implement the consensus protocol proof-of-stake overall. There is also Stellar, its function is also similar to Ethereum, with the advantage of a small transaction fee, which is 0.00001. Finally there is NEO, it's also on the rise because of technology updates Smart contract capable of tracking and automating the agreement process in blockchain.

Transaction local platform cryptocurrency

Users in Indonesia who are interested in investing or transacting with cryptocurrencies can visit several service providers that serve the local market. They are:

INDODAX (formerly Bitcoin.co.id)

INDODAX or formerly known as Bitcoin.co.id is one of the initiators of the cryptocurrency trading platform in Indonesia. Currently, INDODAX serves Bitcoin transactions and various Altcoins. Types of cryptocurrencies served: BTC, ETH, XRP, IGNIS, BCH, ETC, XZC, TEN, BTG, LTC, NXT, DOGE, BCD, WAVES, XLM, XEM, DASH, BTS and ADA. INDODAX can be accessed via the link https://indodax.com/.

Luno (formerly BitX)

Luno, formerly known as BitX, is a London-based company that provides web-based and application-based cryptocurrency trading services mobile devices for market share in Indonesia. For now, the types of currencies that are summarized include BTC and ETH. Luno is accessible via the link https://www.luno.com/.

Triv

Triv is a local digital financial portal that also accepts cryptocurrency trading services. Currently it supports BTC and ETH transactions. Triv can be accessed via the link https://triv.co.id/.

tokocrypto

One of the services that just launched, is currently only in the Beta Tester stage. It is targeted to be released to the public at the end of April 2018. Tokocrypto serves BTC and ETH cryptocurrency transactions. Tokocrypto can be accessed via the link https://tokocrypto.com/.