In the present time, cryptocurrencies have garnered enormous popularity mainly due to their immense returns potential. However, when it comes to investing in crypto for the first time, people are often confused.

There are several options available, and choosing the right one needs thorough research and in-depth knowledge. This article will talk about the top six cryptocurrencies that are ruling the market in 2021.

1. Bitcoin (BTC)
   

It is the most popular and renowned cryptocurrency in the market. Tracking bitcoin price live in USD; you can easily notice its remarkable rise in value in the present times. It is the highest traded cryptocurrency that assures liquidity to investors. Bitcoin also rules retail and institutional adoption. Most of the altcoins follow the trend set by Bitcoin. It means that if the value of Bitcoin depreciates, the value of altcoins will go downhill too.

Looking at the present times, the price of Bitcoins has gone a little down from its all-time high, which was $64,000. Thus, this might be the right time to invest in this cryptocurrency. It has great potential and can yield great returns. The number of Bitcoin that exists is limited, and the user base is continuously growing, increasing the asset price. Presently, bitcoin comes with an inflation rate of 1.7%, and this rate will get halved every four years. This phenomenon is known as bitcoin halving.

1. Ethereum (ETH)
   

It is the platform that made smart contracts a part of the cryptocurrency market. The company was introduced in 2015, and since then, it has witnessed some massive growth. It stands second, just after bitcoin, in terms of market capitalization. Due to all the benefits it offers, Ethereum has become one of the top names in the cryptocurrency market.

Some of the biggest names, including J.P Morgan, Microsoft, etc., are building the business-ready versions of the software which drives this crypto. With the growing value and rising popularity, there is a higher chance that the value of this crypto will be on the rise. Hence you should think about investing in it, of course, after you conduct thorough research.

1. Polygon (MATIC)
   

This is a sidechain of Ethereum that is scaling Defi at a very high rate. The increasing gas fee of Ethereum has highlighted to the network the struggles associated with upgrading it to Eth2. The co-founder has also shown his support for scaling up the solution to layer 2. It will handle a given transaction on a sidechain before submitting the whole transaction batch to layer 1 of the Ethereum blockchain. This benefits the users as they have to pay lesser transaction fees, and also, the transaction can be fully settled within a few seconds.

The layer 2 sidechain plays a vital role in scaling Ethereum. The assets need to be bridged to the sidechain so that there are some switching costs. This will lead people to stay with Polygon in the long run.

1. Cardano (ADA)
   

It is one of the biggest competitors that Ethereum has. It was co-founded by one of Ethereum’s founders. It is already proof-of-stake, a consensus algorithm that Ethereum is trying to migrate to. The proof-of-stake helps with faster and cheaper transactions. Moreover, it’s environmentally friendly too.

When it comes to the Decentralized Financial ecosystem, Ethereum beats Cardano. The latter is yet to launch the smart contacts on its platforms. Besides having many decentralized applications on the platform, Ethereum also has a bigger customer base than Cardano.

1. Stellar Lumens (XLM)
   

This variant aims to be the go-to cryptocurrency for payments. It’s trying to use technology that is fast and cheap. The objective of this crypto is to allow retailers and digital investors to send a digital representation of all money forms. Apart from sending XLM, the network also enables users to send Bitcoin and fiat currencies worldwide.

1. Chainlink (LINK)
   

It is a token of Ethereum that powers the respective decentralized oracle network. It allows smart contracts to connect to external data sources, payment systems, and APIs securely.

The company had also set up a strategic partnership with Google in 2019. The agreement helped to secure its protocol with the smart contract technology by Google. Investor’s loved this collaboration as they were able to connect with the two most popular cloud services of Google.