Lesser-known Cryptocurrencies that You should Look Into

Cryptocurrencies have been in the news a lot lately. Whether it’s because of fluctuations in the market, discussions about Elon Musk’s involvement with meme coins or the massive potential of certain coins, the big media outlets are all talking about crypto.

Bitcoin has truly gone mainstream and Ethereum is close behind. They aren’t just vanity projects for tech bros without any practical application any longer. You can now use these major cryptocurrencies to make all sorts of purchases.

A lot of people who haven’t really engaged with cryptocurrencies or visited a crypto exchange don’t realize that there is so much more to the market than just these two major coins and their offshoots. There are tons of different coins and types of coins. Some are short-lived, while others have existed almost as long as Bitcoin has.

A quick glance through the OKX cryptocurrency list gives you some idea of the number of cryptocurrencies that it’s possible to invest in today. In this article, we’re going to examine some of the lesser-known cryptocurrencies that deserve a second look.

Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadots aren’t just for decorating anymore! Polkadot isn’t the newest coin on the market, but it is one that hasn’t received quite as much attention as it deserves. It was founded by Gavin Wood, who was one of the co-founders of Ethereum. Blind Assignment for Blockchain Extension (BABE) is the protocol used by Polkadot. BABE is a derivative of the Ouroboros protocol which is used by the Cardano cryptocurrency platform. With this pedigree, it’s understandable why Polkadot has a good reputation.

What sets Polkadot apart is that it isn’t just a single blockchain. It’s designed to facilitate communication between blockchains. This makes it an important platform for transferring assets across blockchains and for sharing data.

One of the other cool things about Polkadot is Kusama. Kusama is a public environment for Polkadot where developers can test and develop their ideas for new blockchains or applications in a pre-production setting. It’s a great tool for developers to have access to.

Polygon (MATIC)

With the news that is just breaking about Polygon’s huge price jump, this cryptocurrency isn’t going to stay less known for much longer. While the general public might not have had their eyes on Polygon, it has been experiencing a lot of recent activity from whales, who might have more market insight than the rest of us are privy to.

Polygon is related to Ethereum but is a Layer 2 crypto instead of a Layer 1. In the most basic terms, Layer 1 cryptocurrencies have been optimized to provide the top levels of security, but the trade-off is decreased speed. Layer 2 uses less block space, so they are faster and thus cheaper. As they still use blockchain, they are still very secure.

Polygon was designed to be efficient. Concerns have been raised about the environmental impact of mining cryptocurrencies, so efficiency is a good thing from an ecological perspective as well. Polygon has also committed to being carbon neutral, which makes this a coin that puts less of a burden on our already suffering planet. If you take global climate change seriously (as we all should), this is a coin that can be invested in with confidence.

Perpetual Protocol (PERP)

Bitcoin might be the original coin, but Ethereum is the coin that most other cryptocurrencies have been based off. Perpetual Protocol is another one of these coins that has been built on the Ethereum blockchain. It is the newest coin on this list. A version of it was introduced in 2018, but the current coin wasn’t launched until 2020.

The Perpetual Protocol (PERP) coin is actually part of a larger program. Unlike other decentralized exchanges, Perpetual Protocol was designed to facilitate leverage trading and short positions. It uses a virtual automated market maker (vAMM). Instead of working with contracts that have an end date, Perpetual Protocol is just that — perpetual. Clients can pay to maintain their position for as long as they want.

These sorts of services are very important to have in the crypto sphere. In the traditional financial world, banks and governments control financial tools like these, which creates a tiered system that works against regular people. This may not necessarily make PERP an ideal coin for everyone, but it does have the potential to play an important role in the crypto ecosystem.