<commit_before>---
layout: post
title: 5 Cryptocurrencies to Look Out for in 2018
date: 2017-12-09 00:18:23
author: <NAME>
categories: cryptocurrency blockchain
image_preview:
description: Cryptocurrencies are not only changing how we think about money, but how we use money on a daily basis. They are more than just nerdy alternatives to using paper money, they are disruptive techologies that seek to separate money and state while providing decentralized platforms and solutions to areas that have traditionally been controlled by central banks and governments.
comments: true
---
Cryptocurrencies are not only changing how we think about money, but how we use money on a daily basis. They are more than just nerdy alternatives to using paper money, they are disruptive techologies that seek to separate money and state while providing decentralized platforms and solutions to areas that have traditionally been controlled by central banks and governments. With Bitcoin surpassing $1800 this year, the entire crypto market has been booming with thousands of new cryptocurrencies that offer unique and promising solutions to current and future technology. 

So here are some cryptocoins to look out for in 2018, all of them currently ranging from $0.11 to $9 (as of December 2017) so if you are a new investor looking to diversify and hold long term, you can actually buy many of these coins at a time unlike some of the more expensive coins. Of course these are all highly speculative technologies in their early phase, as is any other blockchain tech, but even if you are not an investor, some of the solutions these technologies give us a glimse into a world that will undoubtedly be experienced in the near future.  

## [Monero](https://getmonero.org/) [XMR]  
Monero is currently the leading privacy coin on the market.
Read the Monero (CryptoNote) whitepaper [here](https://cryptonote.org/whitepaper.pdf)


## [IOTA](https://iota.org/)  
Perhaps the best way to describe IOTA is the economy of the internet of things. IOTA is an open-source distributed ledger protocol launched in 2015 that goes 'beyond blockchain' through its core invention of the blockless ‘Tangle’. The IOTA Tangle is a quantum-resistant Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), whose digital currency 'iota' has a fixed money supply with zero inflationary cost. What sets IOTA apart from other blockchain tech is that it offers zero-fee transactions and doesn't have a fixed limit on how many transactions can be confirmed per second. IOTA also has no separation between users and validators (miners / stakers); rather, validation is an intrinsic property of using the ledger, thus avoiding centralization. With IOTA, data can be transferred and micropayments can be made through applications for fractions of a cent with zero fees.  
Read the IOTA whitepaper [here]()

## [OmiseGo](https://omisego.network/) [OMG]  
The reason we will see OmiseGo beak out in 2018 due to its partnerships and the undeniable demand for what they aim to do. OmiseGo is a decentralized exchange built on a smart contract framework called [Plasma](http://plasma.io/plasma.pdf), hosting an open-source digital wallet platform from [Omise](https://www.omise.co/), connecting mainstream payments, cross-border remittances, and much more. OmiseGo is both fiat and crypto-friendly, cross-chain compatible, Ethereum based and "designed to enable financial inclusion and disrupt existing institutions". Their slogan is "Unbank the Banked" as they aim to eliminate the need for corporate institutions acting as the middleman when making digital transactions.  

## [Raiblocks](https://raiblocks.net/) [XRB] 
Read the Raiblocks whitepaper [here](https://raiblocks.net/media/RaiBlocks_Whitepaper__English.pdf) 


## [Request Network](https://request.network/#/) [REQ]  
Most of us already use Paypal or Venmo to request payments from others. Both these platforms rely on sharing private banking information and relying on the bank or another 3rd party institution to approve the transactions while taking anywhere from 1% - 6% in commission fees. Request Network offers a secure and decentralized p2p solution to this problem, bypassing banks and 3rd party mediators all together. Request Network is built on top of the Ethereum blockchain and is "designed to be flexible, last hundreds of years and work with IoT" according to their website.  

*Please note that I am not suggesting anyone invest in these technologies. If you are interested, do your own research and make educated investments.  

What coins will you be eyeing up next year and why? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to hear!  <commit_msg>update blockchain post<commit_after>---
layout: post
title: 5 Cryptocurrencies to Look Out for in 2018
date: 2017-12-09 00:18:23
author: <NAME>
categories: cryptocurrency blockchain
image_preview:
description: Cryptocurrencies are not only changing how we think about money, but how we use money on a daily basis. They are more than just nerdy alternatives to using paper money, they are disruptive techologies that seek to separate money and state while providing decentralized platforms and solutions to areas that have traditionally been controlled by central banks and governments.
comments: true
---

Cryptocurrencies are not only changing how we think about money, but how we use money on a daily basis. However, they are more than just nerdy alternatives to using paper money, they are also disruptive techologies that seek to separate money and state while providing decentralized platforms and solutions to areas that have traditionally been controlled by central banks and governments. With Bitcoin surpassing $1800 in 2017, the entire crypto market has been booming with thousands of new cryptocurrencies that offer unique and promising solutions to current and future technology. 

So here are some cryptocoins to look out for in 2018, all of them currently ranging from $0.11 to $9 (as of December 2017) so if you are a new investor looking to diversify and hold long term, you can actually buy many of these coins at a time unlike some of the more expensive coins. Of course these are all highly speculative technologies in their early phase, as is any other blockchain tech, but even if you are not an investor, some of the solutions these technologies give us a glimse into a world that will undoubtedly be experienced in the near future.  

## [VeChain](https://www.vechain.com/#/) [VET]
What VeChain aims to do is to build a distributed business ecosystem that is trustless and transparent. This eliminates the trust issue involved in business transactions between two parties. The VeChain Token [VET] is the 

Read the non-white paper [here](https://cdn.vechain.com/vechain_ico_ideas_of_development_en.pdf)


## [Quantstamp](https://quantstamp.com/) [QSP]
Quantstamp describes itself as being "the first scalable security-audit protocol designed to find vulnerabilities in Ethereum smart contracts." Those who are familiar with Ethereu
The Quanstamp team is an impressive group of 

## [OmiseGo](https://omisego.network/) [OMG]  
OmiseGo is a decentralized exchange built on a smart contract framework called [Plasma](http://plasma.io/plasma.pdf), hosting an open-source digital wallet platform from [Omise](https://www.omise.co/), connecting mainstream payments, cross-border remittances, and much more. OmiseGo is both fiat and crypto-friendly which will solve one of the main problems with entering the cryptocurrency market - easily trading altcoins without going through more than 1 exchange. OmiseGo is also cross-chain compatible, Ethereum based and "designed to enable financial inclusion and disrupt existing institutions". Their slogan is "Unbank the Banked" as they aim to eliminate the need for corporate institutions acting as the middleman when making digital transactions.  

## [Raiblocks](https://raiblocks.net/) [XRB]  
RaiBlocks can be best understood as what Bitcoin is supposed to be. It's main usage is as a currency and technically it functions as the best one on the market. XRB offers instant transactions with zero fees and has infinite scalability. 

## [Request Network](https://request.network/#/) [REQ]  
Most of us already use Paypal or Venmo to request payments from others. Both these platforms rely on sharing banking information and relying on the bank or another 3rd party to approve the transactions, in turn taking anywhere from 1% - 6% in commission fees. Request Network offers a secure and decentralized p2p solution to this problem, bypassing banks and 3rd party mediators all together. Request Network is built on top of the Ethereum blockchain and is "designed to be flexible, last hundreds of years and work with IoT" according to their website.  

*Please note that I am not suggesting anyone invest in these technologies. If you are interested, do your own research and make educated investments.  

What coins will you be eyeing up next year and why? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to hear!  
{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.04668958633691915, 'fraction_numerical': 0.01031385161361872, 'mean_word_length': 4.77706598334401, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 5, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 5, 'https://': 15, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 3, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
{'dir': 'git-commits-cleaned', 'id': '2879810', 'n_tokens_mistral': 2243, 'n_tokens_neox': 2033, 'n_words': 1319}