We’ve gathered an overview of the 5 best cryptocurrencies on the market, you can use as inspiration.

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We do not advise on currencies and do not make recommendations for either buying or selling. We can provide factual information about the different currencies, but past price developments are not an indication of future developments. No information from Lunar Block should therefore be considered as recommendations and all decisions are up to you alone.

Overview of the top 5 best cryptocurrencies on the market in 2022

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

Market value: 573 billion dollars

Market share: 46,5 %

Bitcoin is the biggest cryptocurrency in the world, and is therefore one of the best cryptocurrencies to keep a lookout for in 2022.

The cryptocurrency was developed in 2009 by the anonymous character Satoshi Nakamoto.

Read more about bitcoin’s history here .

Buy bitcoin

2. Ethereum (ETH)

Market value: 217 billion dollars

Market share: 17,3 %

Ethereum is the second-biggest cryptocurrency in the world right after bitcoin , and is also an important cryptocurrency to keep a lookout for in 2022. Ethereum was devised in 2013, and through crowdfunding, the concept turned reality in 2015. Besides being a cryptocurrency that can be used as a method of paying and currency speculation, ethereum is characterised by supporting smart contracts, decentralised apps, and NFTs.

Read more about ethereum’s history here .

Smart contracts

A smart contract is a digital contract that’s connected to a blockchain. A smart contract could for instance be a deal between you and Benjamin.

The deal is that you’re going to pay Benjamin 2 ethereum for a new TV. 

You deposit the 2 ethereum to a secure account, and Benjamin sends you the TV. As soon as you receive the TV and approve that you’ve received it, the smart contract will automatically release the money on the secure account, and the 2 ethereum will automatically be transferred to Benjamin. If you do not approve that you’ve received the item, the money will not be released because the conditions in the smart contract have not been fulfilled.

Now imagine that Benjamin tried to sell his TV through a middleman - such as Elgiganten.

Here, Benjamin would have to pay to get Elgiganten to facilitate the trade. Elgiganten could also choose to sell the TV for a little more than what Benjamin is asking, to make some extra profit. 

Using an intermediary for transactions would, broadly speaking, always mean that the intermediary would take a certain cut. Why else would they do it? 

By using smart contracts you can get around the costly intermediary.

Decentralised apps

Decentralised apps (also known as dApps) are just like normal apps, but instead of being connected to a single central computer, the app is spread out over an entire network of computers via the blockchain.

For example, when you use your Twitter app, the technology is centrally stored at Twitter. That’s why Twitter has 100% autonomy over the platform, and if they want to ban a person from using the platform, such as Donald Trump, they can do so.  

If Twitter were a decentralised app, it wouldn’t be possible to ban Donald Trump from the platform - unless the majority of the blockchain network would agree upon that. In that way, decentralised apps are said to be democratic, as it’s the network who’s in charge of the platform. 

NFTs

NFTs are “digital barcodes” that ensure intellectual property rights on assets. An example of an asset is a digital artwork from the collection Bored Ape Yacht Club .

Let’s say you own that image. How could we trust that?

The digital barcode ensures that the image file, you have on your computer, is the original image file. There would be no doubt, because the bar code is embedded in the blockchain, which is controlled and verified by a large network of participants.

That’s why you’re not the only one who can prove the copyright. So can everyone else in the network. 

With regular artwork, such as the Mona Lisa, it’s practically impossible to prove that the version on display at the Louvre is actually the real deal. With a digital barcode - or NFT - it would be easy to prove. 

Buy ethereum

3. Cardano (ADA)

Market value: 20 billion dollars

Market share: 1,7 %

Cardano is one of the first cryptocurrencies to use proof-of-stake rather than proof-of-work, which is what bitcoin and ethereum , among others, uses.

When new transactions are added to a blockchain, they need to be validated by the blockchain network first. Here, there are different ways of validating, and proof-of-stake and proof-of-work are among the most common. With proof-of-work, transactions on cryptocurrencies' blockchains could end up becoming very expensive, which is the case with ethereum for instance. This is because proof-of-work is quite energy-intensive.

An alternative method is proof-of-stake which is way less energy-intensive. That’s the method that cardano uses. 

Read more about cardano’s history here .

Why proof-of-stake is less energy-intensive than proof-of-work

Before transactions can be added to a blockchain they need to be validated with a hash code. The code is unknown and the only way to find it is by guessing. The reward for guessing correctly is a payout in the blockchain’s coin - such as bitcoin. And naturally, people are very interested in that reward. 

Only a single person can guess correctly and be rewarded. That’s why there’s a race to be the first to come up with the correct guess. 

In turn, it also means that several super computers around the world are running round the clock to crack the correct code. And that uses a lot of energy. 

The bottom line is that only one of those computers will be rewarded for cracking the code - even if there may have been thousands of computers, who have used energy during the race for the right code.

That’s how proof-of-work validation works. With proof-of-stake validation it’s different. Everyone who participates in the network, also participates in a raffle about being responsible for finding the next code.

In that way, there won’t be thousands of different computers trying to crack the same code. Here, it’s only one person/computer per block, which is why proof-of-stake is less energy-intensive than proof-of-work.

Buy cardano

4. Solana (SOL)

Market value: 13 billion dollars

Market share: 1,1 %

Solana also uses the proof-of-stake method combined with proof-of-history.

The hybrid method also enables faster transactions: Around 50,000 transactions per second. In comparison, bitcoin can handle 7 transactions per second, and ethereum can handle about 30 per second.

Read more about solana’s history here .

Buy solana

5. Dogecoin (DOGE)

Market value: 20 billion dollars

Market share: 1,7 %

Dogecoin originally started out as a “meme” coin, but has since become a popular cryptocurrency. The logo for dogecoin is a Shiba Inu avatar as a reference to the widespread internet phenomenon, “doge meme ”.The special thing about dogecoin is also that there’s no maximum cap on how many coins can be in circulation at one time. This is the case with many of the other large cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin.

Even though a coin like ethereum doesn’t have a maximum cap, ethereum has a cap on how many coins can be issued out annually. Dogecoin doesn’t have that cap either, and there are 10,000 new dogecoins being issued every minute. 

In comparison to ethereum, which issues 18 million ethereum coins annually, the number for dogecoin is then about 5 billion based on the current volume of 10,000 coins per minute.

To “issue” a coin actually means that it’s being mined. You can read more about what “mining” means in a crypto-context here .

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Buy the 5 best cryptocurrencies with Lunar Block

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With Lunar Block you can trade cryptocurrency with peace of mind. We’re a Danish platform, who always has a set, low trading price of 2,5% for buying and selling crypto.