The Periodic Table of Cryptocurrencies

It’s getting more difficult by the day to keep up with the changes in the ever-evolving cryptocurrency market. Even for the lucky few of us who get to spend our days reading whitepapers and refreshing coinmarketcap.com, the sheer volume of information is overwhelming.

The first way we sought to address the problem was with long-form articles such as the Top 50 Cryptocurrencies and the Top 20 Ethereum Tokens. These articles help to introduce investors to new projects in a concise manner, as well as provide links to resources for further research.

However, we felt that the information could be distilled even further. And so, in an effort to create the most concise possible overview of the cryptocurrency market, we began work on a Periodic Table of Cryptocurrencies.

Do note that there wasn’t a set criteria for deciding which cryptocurrencies would make the table, nor for determining the order in which they are included. The cryptocurrency market changes incredibly quickly, so we may update this table in the future to include new projects that have gained relevance and to take out any projects that have lost it.

For a more scientific take on a periodic table of cryptocurrencies, check out Dr Aleksandar Arsov’s proposal on blockchain categoization. His paper puts forth the idea of a “theory of cryptocurrency periodic table policy in Altcoin markets with focus on supply rigidities identified with aggregate supply in cryptocurrency markets.”

If you’d like a quick summary of cryptocurrency porjects, you may like Top 100 Cryptocurrencies Described in 10 Words or Less.

The Periodic Table of Cryptocurrencies

(Click here to download the table)

Categories of Cryptocurrencies

The Periodic Table of Elements consists of 118 elements that fall into 8 different categories.

Try as we might, 8 categories couldn’t quite cut it for cryptocurrencies, but we managed 9. These categories are listed below, along with brief explanations of the factors that contribute to a coin or token being included in a given category.

Note that there are many cryptocurrencies that could fall into multiple categories. That’s particularly the case with Business & Enterprise vs. Platforms. We tried to place each coin and token in the category that was most appropriate, but it’s expected that some readers might feel that different categorizations work better for specific cryptocurrencies.

(If we receive strong feedback that a coin or token has been miscategorized, we may consider updating it in future editions of the table.)

Currencies – Coins used primarily for payments and to store value.
Protocols, Exchanges, and Interoperability – Projects building decentralized infrastructure to exchange cryptocurrencies and enable communication between different blockchains.
Computing, Data Management & Cloud Services – Projects related to computing, data storage and security, and cloud services including file storage and cloud computing.
Others – Projects that didn’t fit into any of the other categories. These include prediction markets, oracles, betting platforms, and AI-related projects.
Platforms – Smart contract and decentralized application (dapp) platforms.
Gaming, Media, and Social Networking Platforms – Projects related to the gaming industry, online content publishing and distribution, and social media.
Privacy Coins – Currencies with features to make transactions anonymous and/or untraceable.
FinTech – Financial services and technology.
Business/Enterprise – Platforms meant to help businesses improve efficiency, transparency, and security, among other things.

Currencies (13)

Bitcoin (BTC)

Website: https://bitcoin.org/en/
Whitepaper: https://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-paper
Learn more: What is Bitcoin? Everything You Need to Know About Bitcoin, Explained, Bitcoin is a Deflationary Currency: What Does it Mean?, How the Lighting Network Can Resolve Bitcoin’s Scaling Issues, How to Buy Bitcoin

Litecoin (LTC)

Website: https://litecoin.org/
Whitepaper: None (A Litecoin whitepaper would be almost identical to the Bitcoin whitepaper)
Learn More: What is Litecoin?, How to Buy Litecoin

Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Website: https://www.bitcoincash.org/
Whitepaper: None (Bitcoin Cash closely follows the original Bitcoin whitepaper)
Learn More: What is Bitcoin Cash?, What’s Up With Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash?

Bitcoin Gold (BTG)

Website: https://bitcoingold.org/
Whitepaper: None (The BTG team is supposedly writing a whitepaper, but it is not yet available)
Learn More: Find BTG in The Top 50 Cryptocurrencies

Dogecoin (DOGE)

Website: http://dogecoin.com/
Whitepaper: None (DogeCoin is based on Litecoin)
Learn More: What is DogeCoin?

MonaCoin (MONA)

Website: https://monacoin.org/
Whitepaper: None (Technical specifications are available on the project website)
Learn More: Find MONA in The Top 50 Cryptocurrencies