, Columnist
You're Gonna Need a Bigger Virtual Wallet
The cryptocurrency market is exploding with new options, and there's reason to doubt a consolidation is coming.
One for Bitcoin, and one for Ripple, and one for Zcash ...
Photographer: Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
One unusual development is how many new “coins” -- sometimes called alt coins or cryptocurrencies -- have been created lately. Bitcoin is well-known, but now there’s Ethereum, Ripple, Zcash, Byteball, Augur and many others. By one estimate, there are more than 900 such assets on the market. These are not physical coins, of course, but rather entries in ledger systems based on new information technologies, sometimes called a “blockchain.”1502299546176
In the long run, how many of these assets can survive? After all, we are used to nations having one dominant currency, or investors holding assets in a relatively small number of currencies, such as dollars, euros and yen.