Bitcoin halving has ended. 3 cryptocurrencies you can buy right now.

Bitcoin's (BTC 0.12%) The halving that occurred on April 19th was one of the biggest triggers for the cryptocurrency market this year. The high-profile event, in which Bitcoin mining rewards are halved every four years, was widely expected to tighten the supply of the top cryptocurrency and stabilize market prices.

In addition to the halving, the approval of Bitcoin's first spot value ETF and hopes of lower interest rates have all brought bulls back, sending Bitcoin prices up over 140% in the past 12 months. While I personally believe Bitcoin still has plenty of room to play, investors should also consider investing in three other promising cryptocurrencies: ether (Ethereum 0.97%), Solana (Sol 0.52%)and XRP (XRP 0.02%) — Cryptocurrency winter is finally over.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. ether

Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the open-source Ethereum network, differs from Bitcoin in two ways. First, in September 2022, we switched from the energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) mining method (used by Bitcoin) to a more energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) system for transaction verification. That “merge” reduced the cost of Ethereum. The total mining energy consumption of the network has been reduced by 99.95%.

Second, the Ethereum blockchain can be used to develop decentralized apps (dApps), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), small-scale cryptocurrencies, and other cryptoassets. That flexibility makes it more attractive to developers than Bitcoin's blockchain, which can only be used to mine more Bitcoins.

Bulls believe that the Ethereum network will continue to expand as developers create more dApps and tokens, and some of those applications will disrupt traditional financial institutions. As its ecosystem matures, the value of Ether, already the world's second largest cryptocurrency, will stabilize and continue to rise.

Several companies, including Ark Invest and VanEck, are also seeking regulatory approval for spot-priced Ether ETFs. If this initiative is successful, the price of Ether could rise further.

2. Solana

Ethereum's main competitor is Solana, which also operates an open source blockchain for developing decentralized apps and tokens. It uses the same PoS process as Ethereum, but speeds up the process with a unique Proof of History (PoH) method. This important difference allows Solana to process transactions at a much faster rate than Ethereum.

Solana suffered two major setbacks in 2021 and 2022. First, the explosive growth of the NFT market has created severe congestion and security issues across the network. Second, one of Solana’s biggest backers, the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, went bankrupt and began liquidating its tokens to raise new cash for creditors.

However, Solana's price eventually stabilized and recovered as it upgraded its network and weathered FTX's high volume sales. Its blockchain is still used to generate popular meme coins such as: Bonk (Bon 9.74%) and WIF (WIF -7.55%), as well as decentralized exchanges like Jupiter and Orca. Deploy Solana Pay, Shopify Last year to reach more mainstream users. We also settled more stablecoin transactions. visa And a circle.

All of these developments indicate that Solana, currently one of the five most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world, still has plenty of room to grow as the crypto market picks up steam again.

3.XRP

XRP is the native cryptocurrency of the Ripple payment protocol network, which was launched in 2012. Ripple instantly settles real-time gross payments, remittance payments, and exchange transactions with low fees and no chargebacks, and typically sends money across borders. Later, financial institutions such as Travelex Bank, Tranglo, and Sentbe connected to Ripple's payment network, but Ripple's XRP token was not as widely accepted for payments as Bitcoin and Ether.

For now, XRP's biggest challenge is the US Securities Exchange (SEC) lawsuit that was initiated in late 2020 in response to Ripple's $1.3 billion offering of XRP tokens. The SEC alleges that the offering constitutes an illegal sale of unregistered securities. The final stages of the trial began in April this year and are likely to drag on for at least several more months.

For now, Ripple appears to be winning that battle. Last July, a judge ruled that the XRP token was not actually an unregistered security, and the SEC dropped a separate lawsuit against two Ripple executives. If Ripple ultimately wins a decisive victory against the SEC, the price of XRP, which is trading nearly 90% below its all-time high, should rise further.