This idea came in mind when I was talking to my mom hours ago who is a bit interested in cryptocurrencies. Obviously, she has near to zero knowledge in altcoins since she bitcoins is the only ctc she is aware of. Unfortunately, my knowledge is a bit limited as well since these are the only coins I am familiar (because of their popularity). Please, if you have other altcoins in mind, feel free to reply on the thread to add on the list. It's good to consolidate the different kinds of coins and know what sets them apart.
note: I did not list the value of these coins because they are very volatile. Please check coinexchange.io.
Bitcoin
symbol: BTC
NOTES: It was created by Satoshi Nakamoto on 2008 and the very first decentralized cryptocurrency with the the highest value so far. According to The Economist (2015), it is hardest to earn, limited in supply but easy to verify. Ideas in creating an altcoin were based on the features of BTC: decentralized, anonimity, fungibility, security, etc., therefore, many points to this digital currency as the mother of altcoins.
LiteCoin
symbol: LTC
NOTES: It was created by a former google employee on 2011. Unlike BTC, it has faster transaction time, and uses a different proof-of-work algorhithm. However, its mining is more complicated.
Ether
symbol: ETH
NOTES: It was proposed in 2013 and went live on 2015. ETH was created using the Ethereum Platform. Unlike BTC, ETH has improved features in terms of transaction speed and fees, mining, and in security.
Monero
symbol: XMR
NOTES: It was created in 2014. Monero focuses on the anonymity of its owner and its fungibility, meaning, the unit can be substituted by another unit. Due to its high privacy feature, XMR is the preferred currency for illegal transactions, especially in the darknet. The privacy ensures anonimity of the sender and the reciever, plus the amount of being sent.
Ripple
symbol: XRP
NOTES: This was released on 2012 and perhaps the outlier coin of the cryptocurrency world. Unlike the rest of the altcoins, XRP is not based on BTC. It is somewhat centralized because the system this coin uses is based on the technology for interbanking transactions, therefore, it is adopted by many banking institutions. Controversies shows that banks uses XRP to gain advantage over bitcoin and other decentralized currencies.
Dash
symbol: DASH
NOTES: It was released on 2014 as DarkCoin, but was rebranded on 2015 as Dash. Its features include near-instant transactions, privacy and lower transaction fees.
Zcash
symbol: ZEC
NOTES: It was created in 2016 and like Monero, it has an enhanced privacy feature. The difference is that the privacy feature is optional. One example is the 'selective disclosure" which is used for auditing purposes. Like BTC, its total supply is 21 million units.
Neo
symbol: NEO
NOTES: Neo is formerly called Antshares,. It is famously called the Chinese Ethereum because it follows the features of ETH in terms of smart contracts and Dapps (Decentralized Applications). Its total supply is 100 million units which was created from the Genesis Block.
Waves
symbol: WAVES
NOTES: It was created in 2016 by Alexander Ivanov through a crowd sale. Its unique feature is trading through tokenization, meaning, it will enable an individual to create his custom token - ideal for crowd funding and ICOs
Well played,you really did your homework boy,you should keep that spirit do not stop learning new things everyday and im sure you will be a good crpythusiast in the future because you are spending a lot of time researching,i know how it feels when you want to know most of the coins.I actually did read all the whitepaper of each coin at the top 200 coins in marketcap and my mind blew by that.
These coins are just piece of the iceberg,there are a lot of potential coins out there that you need to know because they will give yoi a lot of profits than these well-founded coins.Most of these are at the top spot,i suggest look for new coins which has potentials so you can have x100000 gains in the future.
I am focusing now on the major coins so that the noobs in the crypto world will know what made these popular coins famous and what's unique about them. I would also appreciate if you share what you know about the minor cryptos and what makes them special for you. 