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Complete cryptocurrency market coverage with live coin prices, charts and crypto market cap featuring coins on 964 exchanges. XRP is decentralized and uses the Ripple protocol to prioritize speed and minimize costs. Some economists have pointed out that cryptocurrencies do not fulfill the traditional functions of money and so should be regarded as merely speculative schemes.

Litecoin

About every four years the number of Bitcoins in a block, which began at 50, is halved, and the number of maximum allowable Bitcoins is slightly less than 21 million. As of 2025 there were almost 20 million Bitcoins, and it is estimated that the maximum number will be reached in 2140. The blocks are organized in a chronological sequence called the blockchain. Blocks are added to the chain using a mathematical process that makes it extremely difficult for an individual user to hijack the blockchain. The blockchain technology that underpins Bitcoin has attracted considerable attention, even from skeptics of Bitcoin, as a basis for allowing trustworthy recordkeeping and commerce without a central authority. Blockchain technology is also critical to NFTs (non-fungible tokens), which are often paid for with cryptocurrency.

• Satoshi Nakamoto was concerned that traditional currencies were too reliant on the trustworthiness of banks or governments to work properly.
• We offer more than ten of the most popular cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, litecoin, EOS, stellar (XLM) and NEO.
• This section of the FinTech guide briefly covers cryptocurrency (like “Bitcoin”) and blockchain technology (a protocol for a peer-to-peer electronic cash system).
• All other things being equal, the scarcer the coin, the more valuable it should be.

Fast-moving and volatile, this industry keeps participants, observers, and regulators on their toes. As mainstream companies explore cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies for new markets — or even to build them within calvenridge virtual worlds — the crypto space is in a rapid state of evolution. Cold storage is a way to store and secure cryptocurrencies in an offline environment. The benefit is that the user can keep private keys (essentially passwords that give access to cryptocurrency tokens) offline, where they cannot be hacked.

Fidelity Viewpoints®

Bitcoin is the largest and most popular cryptocurrency by market cap and was created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. It is a decentralized digital currency that has transferrable ownership. This cryptocurrency is mineable and has a maximum supply of ₿21,000,000. This section of the FinTech guide briefly covers cryptocurrency (like “Bitcoin”) and blockchain technology (a protocol for a peer-to-peer electronic cash system). From Bitcoin and Ethereum to an ever-growing list of altcoins, cryptocurrencies have taken a new generation of investors around the world by storm.

Cryptocurrencies are mostly used for speculating (trading) on price movements. While the intended use was originally for online payments, uptake has been slow and few retailers accept them. There are many reasons why this is the case, including strict regulations, accessibility of the coins, infrastructure, and stability – cryptocurrencies are very volatile. This could change in future, especially if ‘stablecoins’ prove to be successful.

Crypto at Fidelity

You should consider whether you understand how this product works, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. EOS is the cryptocurrency of EOS.IO, a blockchain platform that is said to replicate the key functionality of a computer’s hardware and operating system. It provides tools and services for developers to build dapps, including user accounts, authentication and databases. Responsibility for processing and other operations is distributed across the network, which its designers claim will enable it to scale to millions of transactions per second in the future. Please ensure you understand how this product works and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing money.

He was convicted by a jury on multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy in October 2023. Massive numbers of customers of FTX and Alameda Research LLC, also founded by Bankman-Fried, lost at least $10 billion. As of 2025 the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies was about $3 trillion. Bitcoin and Ethereum make up the majority of that sum, with market capitalizations of about $1.9 trillion and $321 billion, respectively. Although there are hundreds of cryptocurrencies, the top 20 coins make up much of the market.

Proof of stake has the advantage over proof of work of being much less energy-intensive. Indeed, Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, changed in 2022 from proof of work to proof of stake. New Bitcoins are created by users running the Bitcoin client on their computers. The client “mines” Bitcoins by running a program that solves a difficult mathematical problem in a file called a “block” received by all users on the Bitcoin network.