New hottest cryptocurrency of 2018 so far
In recent days, the stellar has risen to the top 10 digital currencies and was the eighth in importance Tuesday.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $ 232 billion, has lost its bullish momentum over the past two weeks.
Digital digital currency rose 17.5% on Tuesday to a record high, while litecoin rose 14%.
Stellar is already in the news this year in the world of cryptocurrencies. Stellar is already in the news this year in the world of cryptocurrencies.
6:13 PM ET Wed, 2 January 2018 | 0:50
The most popular digital currency in early 2018 is stellar, which has climbed more than 65% since Friday to the top 10 cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
On Tuesday, Star had a market capitalization of $ 10 billion as the eighth largest digital currency, according to CoinMarketCap. The digital currency traded 17.5 percent higher on the day at around 56.4 cents, the website showed.
Stellar operates a network with blockchain technology behind bitcoin. But unlike popular digital currency, stellar transactions are set between 2 and 5 seconds and allow users to quickly exchange government-backed currencies, such as converting US dollars to euros, according to their website. Stellar parts are officially called lumens, or XLM.
In particular, IBM uses the Stellar network to develop a cross-border payment system with some major banks. The consulting firm Deloitte is also a partner.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $ 232 billion, has lost its bullish momentum over the past two weeks. The digital currency was trading slightly higher Tuesday at $ 13,880, down 12% last week, according to Coinbase.
While bitcoin has attracted the most attention in the past 12 months, rising briefly in the range of 1,900%, 2017 was the year of shockwaves in terms of percentage change.
Bitcoin performance over 12 months
Source: Coinbase
Ripple, or XRP, rose 35,500% to $ 2.30 last year and ranked second in terms of market capitalization. The digital currency rose 2% Tuesday to about $ 2.44, with a market capitalization of $ 94.65 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Like Stellar, Ripple's focus is on payments. The San Francisco-based start-up is working with financial institutions in South Korea and Japan to use Ripple's XRP currency.
The two companies also have the same founder: cryptocurrency developer Jed McCaleb, who created the Mt.Gox bitcoin exchange. McCaleb left Ripple in 2013 and sold Mt.Gox in 2011 to Mark Karpeles, under which the exchange suffered a massive cut and eventually declared bankruptcy.
Today, McCaleb focuses on Stellar, whose website says it operates as a non-profit organization and covers operating costs with some of its digital currency holdings and donations.
Meanwhile, the Ethereum climbed 17.5% to a record $ 908.12, according to CoinMarketCap. But digital currency remained in third place in terms of market capitalization.
Litecoin rose 14% to $ 261, about $ 100 less than its record reached in mid-December, according to CoinMarketCap. Litecoin has a market capitalization of $ 14 billion as the sixth largest digital currency.