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Comparing the 25 Most Notable Cryptocurrencies

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Comparing the 25 Most Notable Cryptocurrencies

Comparing the 25 Most Notable Cryptocurrencies

Since garnering more mainstream attention, the rise of Bitcoin has been debated openly by government officials, financial institutions, and mass media outlets. A segment on Bitcoin was even recently broadcast to millions of viewers on the popular The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

While Bitcoin remains the undisputed bellwether for digital currencies, it’s also fair to say that the entire crypto landscape has been changing dramatically over the last year. New coin and token offerings have raised billions of dollars, innovative ideas are capturing the attention of investors, and there are now 20+ cryptocurrencies that have at least $1B in market capitalization.

Bitcoin may be in the public spotlight, but there’s a lot happening behind the scenes.

Most Notable Cryptocurrencies

Today’s visualization comes to us from Nick Young, and it shows the 25 most notable cryptocurrencies on the market using data from March 5, 2018.

In the graphic, the 25 cryptocurrencies are organized by market capitalization, inception date, 30-day trade volume, and also the type of function that each coin or token has. It’s also worth noting that relative comparisons are done on a log scale for easier viewing.

Here are the top five cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, according to the graphic:

RankCryptocurrencyMarket Capitalization
#1Bitcoin$194 billion
#2Ethereum$85 billion
#3Ripple$41 billion
#4Bitcoin Cash$22 billion
#5Litecoin$12 billion

Note: Cryptocurrencies are volatile and have large swings in value, so these numbers can change quickly.

And here is the top five cryptocurrencies by 30-day volume, as well:

RankCryptocurrency30-Day Trade Volume
#1Bitcoin$230 billion
#2Tether$81 billion
#3Ethereum$76 billion
#4Ripple$32 billion
#5Litecoin$12 billion

Bitcoin’s journey to $10,000 in late 2017 caught the attention of many people in the media and investing world, catapulting the currency into the mainstream. At the same time, however, it’s also clear that the rest of the cryptocurrency landscape is flourishing as a strong supporting cast, making for a more diverse, interesting, and efficient ecosystem overall.

Exactly a year ago, Bitcoin made up over 80% of the market capitalization of the cryptocurrency space. Today, with many altcoins gaining traction (and the Bitcoin hard forks taking place), the share held by Bitcoin is closer to 42%.

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Bitcoin

Top 10 Bitcoin Mining Countries & Their Renewable Electricity Mix

Bitcoin miners worldwide use about 348 TWh of electricity per year, as much as some countries, but just where does all that power come from?

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Teaser to an infographic showing the top 10 countries for Bitcoin mining, led by the U.S. Kazakhstan, and China, and their renewable electricity mix. Only China, Canada, Germany, and Ireland had renewable mixes above the global average of 30%.

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The following content is sponsored by HIVE Digital Technologies

Top 10 Bitcoin Mining Countries & Their Renewable Electricity Mix

Bitcoin miners use an estimated 348 terawatt hours of electricity per year, and with the world increasingly moving to renewables, some are asking the question: just where does Bitcoin get its electricity?

To answer that question, we partnered with HIVE Digital to visualize data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance and Ember, a climate-oriented energy think tank, to look at the Bitcoin network’s electricity mix. 

This is part one in our How Green is Bitcoin? series, which examines the cryptocurrency’s sustainability.  

The World According to Bitcoin

The top 10 countries for Bitcoin mining represent 93.8% of the entire network by hashrate—a measure of computational power—with the U.S., China, and Kazakhstan rounding out the top three. Together these three countries hosted nearly three-quarters of the network at the end of 2021. 

CountryHashrate (%)Renewable (%)
U.S.37.8%22.5%
China21.1%30.2%
Kazakhstan13.2%11.3%
Canada6.5%69.7%
Russia4.7%18.5%
Germany3.1%43.0%
Malaysia2.5%19.1%
Ireland2.0%38.6%
Singapore2.0%2.4%
Thailand1.0%15.5%
Rest of the World6.3%30.1%

Source: Hashrate (%): Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance as of December 2021; Renewable (%) Ember, as of 2022.

China used to be the top spot for Bitcoin mining, up to 75% of global capacity, but a crackdown in the summer of 2021 saw their share drop to nil in just a couple months. Many miners relocated to nearby Kazakhstan, attracted by cheap electricity, loose regulations, and a ‘stable’ political climate, while others opted for the United States. A sizable covert mining scene has also emerged in China, now that the dust has settled.

At the bottom of the top 10 are Ireland, Singapore, and Thailand, which together host 4.9% of the network. Ireland’s reported share—and this applies to sixth-place Germany, as well—is thought to be a significant overstatement caused by miners in other countries masking their true locations.

The Role of Renewables

On a national basis, the U.S., China, and Kazakhstan each had renewable shares of 22.5%, 30.2%, and 11.3% respectively. For context, renewables made up 30% of the world’s electricity generation in 2022 (not including nuclear). 

Kazakhstan’s dismal renewable share is due to their heavy reliance on coal (60%), which is also a major export of the central Asian country. At the same time, coal contributes a similar amount of the electricity in China (61%), but their overall renewable share is higher because of their breakneck expansion of wind and solar power.

Wagons Ho?

Just where a Bitcoin miner sets up their rig is important, because unlike many other industries with factories or big head offices, they are mobile (Google ‘Bitcoin mining shipping containers’ if you need convincing).

Where they choose to put out their shingle is based on things like the regulatory regime, price of electricity, and because Bitcoin rigs generate a lot of heat, the average outdoor temperature. On this last point, here is how the top 10 breaks down by mean annual temperature:

Increasingly, though, with climate change driving the push to renewables, many Bitcoin miners are looking more closely at where their electricity is coming from. This could be why Canada—with its embarrassment of hydroelectric riches—has crept up the ranking from less than one percent of the network in 2019, to six-and-a-half percent at the end of 2021. 

But considering that top renewable countries such as Iceland, Paraguay, and Norway together only hosted just over one percent of the global network, there’s still a lot more room left for growth.

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Learn more about how Bitcoin miner and data center operator HIVE Digital is using clean, renewable energy at its facilities in Canada, Sweden, and Iceland.

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