Move Over Bitcoin, These 4 Cryptocurrencies are Making Their Mark (Ethereum, Stratis, Ripple, Siacoin and more)Ethereum, Stratis, Ripple and Siacoin are making some big moves.Let's answer this question once and for all...and create an FAQ while we're at it.(self.Ripple)submitted by [M] - announcementThroughout most of the history of the cryptocurrency industry, Bitcoin has overwhelmingly dominated headlines.This extends even through the beginning of this year, as the price of the major digital currency has climbed to new peaks over and over again.Still, investors are wise to look also to some of the other players in the cryptocurrency field, and particularly those that are gaining traction on Bitcoin when it comes to market capitalization.Specifically, Ethereum and Ripple are the second- and third-largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization as of this time, and there are reasons to believe that both of these currencies are on the rise.Ethereum has seen its share of the market capitalization for the industry grow considerably in the past four months.

Will Ripple also see significant gains?Ripple Lacks Momentum of Ethereum and Bitcoin in Recent Weeks XRP, the native currency of the Ripple network, reached a record high on May 17 after a major rally before dropping over the next 10 days.bitcoin precio de salidaBy May 27, XRP had bottomed out, along with the broader field of cryptocurrencies.bitcoin para nedirWhat has happened since then is more revealing: ether, the currency token for Ethereum, has gained about 200% while Bitcoin has climbed by 45%.bitcoin to sterling converterRipple, on the other hand, has seen its value essentially stay sideways since that time.bitcoin sdk phpAccording to analysis by Elliott Wave Forecast​, in spite of a 40% drop since June 1, XRP appears to be reaching a short-term extreme area at equal legs, providing a floor for buyers who are likely to appear for a 3 waves bounce.bitcoin port forwarding

Elliott Wave analysts predict XRP may be able to rally for new all-time highs.Ripple Offers Unique Transaction Processing One of the key elements of the Ripple structure which may be able to set it apart from other cryptocurrencies is its payment and transaction infrastructure.bitcoin worth usd chartRipple eliminates time delays in order to ensure that transactions can be settled in real time.circle bitcoin buy limitThis keeps transaction costs down and helps to open up new revenue opportunities for banks and other customers.bitcoin eller inteThe issues of transaction processing time and fees are key to the cryptocurrency industry, particularly as Bitcoin struggles with these challenges.ethereal vendor wow

In Bitcoin's case, the issue is one of scaling, as the original code for the currency, much of which is still in use, has not properly accounted for the size of the current customer base and transaction load.If an alternative like Ripple can attract enough attention in the broader digital currency market, it may possess the infrastructure to displace a behemoth like Bitcoin.For the time being, however, the Ripple rally has yet to take place.Want to learn how to invest?as it gains widespread official approval and more people figure out how to use it.As the first of its kind to emerge, bitcoin has become synonymous with “cryptocurrency”.But lately it’s been joined by a lot of others – which together now account for more than half of the cryptocurrency ecosystem: (Forbes) – For the first time, Bitcoin’s market capitalization as a percentage of all cryptocurrencies has dropped to below 50%.It is a symbolic turning point for the first cryptocurrency, which for a long time accounted for more than 90% of the value of all blockchain-based assets combined, particularly through a period when so-called alt-coins that were only minor tweaks to bitcoin proliferated.

Its market capitalization then comprised over 80% of all cryptocurrencies for years, a range that held true until two months ago when it dipped below 80% and not only did not recover but did a quick dive straight down.Several factors are driving the drop from its status as the clear leader.Bitcoin’s development is stalled.A more than two-year-long saga has left progress on its network stymied.With the various factions unable to compromise and no clear method for moving beyond the impasse, the network has been stuck staring down the same question of how to expand the network to accommodate more transactions that it first faced in early 2015.Meanwhile, as no decisions get made, transaction fees have risen from about 11 cents a year ago to $1.70 now, and the time to confirm a transaction has nearly doubled to almost 20 minutes.Because the community has been unable to resolve its divisions, some of the technological advances people were excited to see on bitcoin will be adopted on other tokens, such as Litecoin, which could emerge as the payment token, while bitcoin evolves more into a digital gold, because its software will only ever release 21 million units.

Ethereum continues to grow.Ethereum has, for a while, been the cryptocurrency with the second-largest market cap, but in recent months, its greater rise has further has eroded bitcoin’s dominance.While throughout 2016, its share of the market cap of all cryptocurrencies was in the single digits, it has, in the last couple months, inched closer to 20% as its price has risen from $8 in early January toward $100 in recent days.New ICOs add value to the crypto space every day.Third, a wave of new cryptocurrency launches in crowdsales called initial coin offerings has so far raised $380 million for new networks that have functions beyond just currency.For instance, a few new storage coins aim to facilitate payments between computers needing more storage space and computers with excess drive space to offer in networks like Filecoin, Sia and Storj.Meanwhile, Golem Network Tokens are used for payments between computers that need extra computing power to, say, train a machine-learning algorithm, and computers that have spare GPU and CPU cycles to offer while its owner sleeps.

So many new tokens with uses different from bitcoin’s are bound enlarge the pie, but still narrow its dominance.Speculation is driving up the value of all tokens.Because the ICOs are proving to be such an easy way to crowd fund, they are also being used just as that — as an easy way to raise money — for projects for which tokens don’t even particularly make sense, as well as scams.Speculation is also running rampant as investors who don’t understand the technology or what makes a token valuable snatch up both promising as well as poorly conceived tokens.One project that raised eyebrows recently was a crowdsale of Gnosis tokens, which, because of the way the ICO was designed, left Gnosis, which is only in beta and doesn’t yet have a product to offer consumers, with a valuation of $300 million right after its ICO.Now, speculative trading has now multiplied its valuation to $1.2 billion.Ripple is seeing a big spike.While the other trends have been driving bitcoin’s share of all cryptocurrency market caps down broadly, what appears to have finally tipped bitcoin below the 50% mark is the 24% surge of XRP, the token of the Ripple network, in the last 24 hours.

Since Chinese regulators began enforcing basic know-your-customer, anti-money-laundering procedures earlier this year, Japan has overtaken China as the country with the highest crypto trading volume.XRP is popular in Japan, and one writer surmises it is because of the work Ripple does in Japan, such as through its joint venture, SBI Ripple Asia, with SBI Holdings.Tezos is about to launch.Okay, so this last one might not have pushed bitcoin below the 50% threshold, but it is likely to help keep it below that threshold.Tezos may be one of the most anticipated ICOs, about to launch in June and stay open for two weeks.The code is written in OCaml, a language that has the ability to formally verify smart contracts to ensure that they execute as the creators intended them to.Tezos is also generating excitement because the software has, built into it, a mechanism for resolving issues such as the scaling debate in bitcoin.Therefore, even if bitcoin exceeds 50% market share for now, it will likely again fall under that threshold once the Tezos ICO begins.