Cryptocurrency Coins
There are over 15,000 cryptocurrencies, but only a handful really matter. We write detailed, beginner-friendly guides on the most popular coins — covering their history, what they're used for, price stats, and honest takes on whether they're worth your attention.
Quick terminology: a "coin" has its own blockchain (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana), while a "token" lives on someone else's blockchain (USDT, UNI, LINK run on Ethereum). In everyday language, people just say "crypto" for everything — and that's fine.
Coins vs. Tokens — What's the Difference?
Coins
A coin is the native currency of its own blockchain. Bitcoin (BTC) runs on the Bitcoin blockchain. Ether (ETH) runs on Ethereum. Solana (SOL) runs on Solana. These are all coins — they power and secure their own networks.
Examples: BTC, ETH, SOL, ADA, AVAX, DOT, LTC
Tokens
A token is built on top of an existing blockchain. USDT, UNI, LINK, and SHIB are all tokens — they run on Ethereum (or other chains). They don't have their own blockchain; they borrow security from the chain they're built on.
Examples: USDT, USDC, UNI, LINK, SHIB, PEPE
💡 In everyday conversation, most people just say "crypto" for everything — coins and tokens alike. That's perfectly fine. The distinction mostly matters when you're learning about blockchain architecture, but you don't need to worry about it when buying or trading.
Coin Guides
Click any coin to read our detailed guide — covering history, what it does, price statistics, and where to buy.
Bitcoin (BTC)
The original cryptocurrency — digital gold and the largest by market cap.
Ethereum (ETH)
The world's programmable blockchain — smart contracts, DeFi, and NFTs.
Solana (SOL)
Ultra-fast Layer 1 — 400ms blocks, low fees, and a booming ecosystem.
XRP (XRP)
Built for cross-border payments — fast, cheap, and bank-connected.
BNB (BNB)
Binance's native coin — powers the BNB Chain and gives trading fee discounts.
Cardano (ADA)
Peer-reviewed blockchain built by academics — slow and steady wins the race.
Dogecoin (DOGE)
The original meme coin — started as a joke, now worth billions.
Chainlink (LINK)
The oracle network that connects blockchains to real-world data.
Polkadot (DOT)
Layer 0 multi-chain protocol — connecting blockchains together.
Avalanche (AVAX)
Sub-second finality Layer 1 — fast, scalable, and subnet-powered.
Litecoin (LTC)
The silver to Bitcoin's gold — faster blocks, lower fees, proven since 2011.
Toncoin (TON)
The Telegram-connected blockchain — 900M+ users, Mini Apps, and more.
TRON (TRX)
The stablecoin highway — moves more USDT than any other blockchain.
Shiba Inu (SHIB)
The Dogecoin killer — meme coin turned DeFi ecosystem with Shibarium L2.
Stellar (XLM)
The people's payment network — cross-border transfers in 3–5 seconds for fractions of a cent.
Sui (SUI)
Facebook's blockchain reborn — sub-second finality built by ex-Meta engineers.
Hedera (HBAR)
The enterprise hashgraph — governed by Google, IBM, Boeing, and 28 other Fortune 500 companies.
PEPE (PEPE)
The viral meme coin inspired by Pepe the Frog — Ethereum's most traded meme token.
NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
Sharded Layer 1 with chain abstraction — simplifying crypto for everyone.
Cosmos (ATOM)
The internet of blockchains — connecting independent chains with IBC.
Polygon (POL)
Ethereum's scaling solution — zkEVM, enterprise NFTs, and 1.3B+ transactions.
Aptos (APT)
Built by ex-Meta engineers — Move language, Block-STM, and $350M in funding.
Uniswap (UNI)
The king of DEXs — decentralized trading without middlemen for $2T+ volume.
Internet Computer (ICP)
DFINITY's world computer — hosting dApps, websites, and enterprise systems fully on-chain.
Filecoin (FIL)
Decentralized storage marketplace — rent out hard drives, replace AWS and Dropbox.
Arbitrum (ARB)
Ethereum's biggest Layer 2 — optimistic rollups for fast, cheap transactions.
Render (RENDER)
GPU power marketplace — rendering, AI, and compute on a decentralized network.
Algorand (ALGO)
Pure Proof-of-Stake by a Turing Award winner — fast finality, low fees.
VeChain (VET)
Enterprise supply chain blockchain — trusted by Walmart China, BMW, and more.
Aave (AAVE)
The DeFi lending giant — borrow, lend, and earn interest on-chain.
Kaspa (KAS)
The fastest Proof-of-Work chain — 10 blocks/second using BlockDAG technology.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Bitcoin's payments fork — bigger blocks, lower fees, same 21M supply cap.
Optimism (OP)
Ethereum's leading Layer 2 — the Superchain powering Coinbase Base and 20+ other chains.
Injective (INJ)
DeFi's native blockchain — order books, derivatives, and zero gas fees built into the protocol.
Worldcoin (WLD)
Sam Altman's proof-of-human project — iris scanning for a universal digital identity.
Lido DAO (LDO)
The largest liquid staking protocol — stake ETH and get stETH while keeping full liquidity.
Axie Infinity (AXS)
The play-to-earn pioneer — breed, battle, and earn with digital pets on the blockchain.
Immutable (IMX)
The gaming Layer 2 — zero gas NFT minting on Ethereum, powering blockchain games globally.
Floki (FLOKI)
Elon's dog became a crypto — meme coin with DeFi tools, NFT gaming, and a Binance listing.
Mantle (MNT)
Ethereum Layer 2 backed by a $3.5B BitDAO treasury — massive resources for ecosystem growth.
Mantra (OM)
The RWA blockchain — tokenizing real-world assets on a Cosmos-based, Dubai-licensed chain.
THORChain (RUNE)
Swap native BTC for native ETH without bridges — the only real cross-chain DEX at scale.
Celestia (TIA)
The first modular blockchain — separates data availability from execution for a scalable L1.
Ethena (ENA)
The delta-neutral stablecoin protocol — USDe earns 20%+ yield from ETH funding rates.
Hyperliquid (HYPE)
On-chain perps exchange that actually competes with Binance — no VCs, 31% airdrop to users.
Jupiter (JUP)
Solana's dominant DEX aggregator — $700M+ airdrop, perps, DCA, and the LFG launchpad.
Ondo Finance (ONDO)
Tokenized US Treasuries on-chain — BlackRock, Goldman Sachs veterans, $1B+ TVL.
Sei (SEI)
Layer 1 built for trading — parallel execution, EVM + Cosmos, sub-400ms finality.
Stacks (STX)
Bitcoin Layer 2 — Clarity smart contracts and Proof of Transfer that settles on Bitcoin.
BONK (BONK)
Solana's original community meme coin — 50% airdropped to the ecosystem after FTX collapsed.
Pendle (PENDLE)
Trade the future yield of DeFi assets — fixed rates, leveraged yield, and the LRT boom.
Pyth Network (PYTH)
First-party oracle data from Jump, Jane Street, and Cboe — 400ms updates on 40+ chains.
dogwifhat (WIF)
The dog with a hat — Solana's biggest meme coin. Fair launch, no presale, 100% community.
Bittensor (TAO)
Decentralized AI training network — buy and sell machine intelligence on-chain.
Fetch.ai (FET)
Autonomous AI agents infrastructure — the foundation of the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance.
The Graph (GRT)
Google for blockchains — the indexing protocol that powers DeFi and Web3 apps.
Monero (XMR)
The leading privacy coin — ring signatures and stealth addresses make transactions untraceable.
Maker (MKR)
MakerDAO governance token — the protocol behind DAI, crypto's most decentralized stablecoin.
dYdX (DYDX)
Decentralized perps exchange on its own Cosmos appchain — real order book, 100% fees to stakers.
Curve Finance (CRV)
Stablecoin king of DeFi — StableSwap AMM, veCRV governance lock, and the Curve Wars.
Gala Games (GALA)
Blockchain gaming platform where you truly own in-game items as NFTs — from the Zynga co-founder.
Ronin (RON)
Axie Infinity's gaming blockchain — survived a $625M hack, fully reimbursed users, growing ecosystem.
Berachain (BERA)
Proof-of-Liquidity Layer 1 — stake liquidity to secure the network, earn BGT rewards, and govern the chain.
Starknet (STRK)
Ethereum ZK-rollup by StarkWare — provable computation using STARKs for unlimited scalability.
ZKsync (ZK)
Ethereum's native ZK rollup by Matter Labs — the first L2 with account abstraction built in.
Raydium (RAY)
Solana's biggest DEX — AMM + order book hybrid, deep liquidity, and the launchpad behind pump.fun.
Jito (JTO)
Solana's liquid staking + MEV protocol — jitoSOL earns staking yield plus a share of MEV block rewards.
Sonic (S)
Fantom reborn — 10,000 TPS DAG blockchain with developer fee monetization and the Sonic Gateway bridge.
EigenLayer (EIGEN)
Invented restaking — reuse staked ETH to simultaneously secure Ethereum and other protocols (AVSs).
Cronos (CRO)
Crypto.com's EVM-compatible blockchain — CRO staking unlocks Visa card perks for 80M+ users.
Wormhole (W)
Cross-chain messaging protocol connecting 30+ blockchains — survived a $320M hack and came out stronger.
Story Protocol (IP)
Programmable intellectual property on blockchain — on-chain licensing, AI training data marketplace, $2.25B valuation.
Related Guides
Want to understand the fundamentals before exploring individual coins? Start here.
What is Cryptocurrency?
Understand the basics of crypto, blockchain, and digital money before diving into specific coins.
Read guideHow Does Cryptocurrency Work?
Learn about blockchain, mining, consensus mechanisms, and the tech behind crypto.
Read guideHow Many Cryptocurrencies Are There?
From 1 coin in 2009 to over 15,000 today — see how the crypto ecosystem has evolved.
Read guideReady to buy your first coin?
Compare the top crypto exchanges — we've reviewed 15 platforms covering fees, security, and supported countries.