FX.co ★ Four important crypto threats to bitcoin

The most popular digital currency in the world is still bitcoin. But experts believe that doesn't mean bitcoin's dominance will last forever. There are a number of cryptocurrencies waiting in the wings that could unseat bitcoin. Experts tried to analyze what cryptocurrencies may very well be the biggest threats to bitcoin.

Litecoin

Experts think that Litecoin is not an addition to Bitcoin but is actually bitcoin's greatest competition. The number of Litecoin transactions per day have been steadily rising as bitcoin's have remained range bound for two years. The Litecoin blockchain has a number of advantages over bitcoin. For example, Litecoin lowered transaction fees and speeded up processing times over its network. Transactions in Litecoins are operating quicker and for less cost than bitcoin's.

Nano

According to experts, another potential competitor is Nano (formerly RaiBlocks). Its advantages are the quickest transaction processing and high efficiency - about 7,000 transactions per second. It is currently the quickest of all cryptocurrencies, and close to a third of the transaction-per-second capacity of payment processing giant Visa. The secret to Nano's success is the uniqueness of its blockchain: every user on the network has a personal blockchain. Users are able to make changes on their own blockchain without the need for consensus.

Stellar

Experts believe that this impressive cryptocurrency has a genuine opportunity to supplant bitcoin at some point in the future. Stellar brings three attractive qualities to the table that consumers and businesses would appreciate: high speed of transactions (from 2 to 5 seconds), as well as smart contracts in the cryptocurrency's blockchain. Digital form of smart contracts make things a lot more efficient. Large business also supports Stellar: Stellar announced that it had partnered with IBM in a cross-border remittance project run on IBM's blockchain.

Ripple

Ripple does not compete very much with Bitcoin, but experts highly assess its prospects. Ripple's blockchain can process up to 1,500 transaction per second which is considerably faster than bitcoin. Another advantage of this cryptocurrency, in addition to the instant processing of transactions, is incredibly low costs. Ripple has plenty of high-profile partners, like American Express and Banco Santander. They develop real-time remittances and test cross-border transfers with MoneyGram International.