What Cryptocurrencies can you invest in and trade? Since the launch of Bitcoin in early 2009 there have been thousands of other digital tokens based on blockchain technology. They are usually the means of exchange built into a project aimed at providing some real world use such as validating transactions and provide security. Some have become major currencies such as Ripple (XRP), Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC), while many other projects, and their associated coin, have failed to obtain traction.
Two of the best websites to view a complete list of Cryptocurrencies ordered by market cap and trading volume are coincap.io and CoinMarketCap. Both sites provide links to the associated website of the coins project so more detailed information can be found to help with assessing the potential of the coin and the project.
Some other good sources of review and information about Cryptocurrency projects and the coins can be found at:
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is the first and most well known of the cryptocurrencies, and many believe it will stay at the forefront of value, being compared to a digital 'gold'. It currently has over 50% of the crypto market capitalisation and dominates the overall market.
Stable Coins
Coins such as Tether (USDT) are known as stable coins because they are backed by a FIAT currency (USD) on a one to one basis and are thus tied to that currency. On exchanges that don't offer FIAT trading pairs (USD, EUR, GBP etc) then a stable coin provides that facility.
Alt Coins
Everything else apart from Bitcoin and the stable coins is known as an alt coin or altcoin (alternative coin). There are many thousands, some of very dubious origin or use, but the major alts such as Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), EOS (EOS) and Binance Coin (BNB) have huge market caps in the billions of USD and can be considered as worthwhile as Bitcoin for long term investment or trading.
Cryptocurrency News & Opinion
There is no shortage of opinion, review, analysis and news reporting in the world of crypto. Everyone has an opinion, and it's usually different to the next person. One will write convincingly, using technical analysis and market data, that Bitcoin is about to crash into the crypto abyss, while another will use the same data to argue it is about to moon past $20k. As with all matters it's best to read widely and then form your own opinion.
An excellent place to start with the latest crypto news is actually the charting website TadingView. Once a trading pair is selected. BTCUSD for example, then the right hand bar has a Headlines section that is updated regularly throughout the day. This has links to the latest news articles being published and is a good place to find publications on crypto with a wide range of topics. Some are listed below.