100 cryptocurrencies described in four words or less

Nate MurrayCONTRIBUTOR

Nate Murray is a programmer, musician and beekeeper. He works at IFTTT and has been working with terabyte-scale data since 2009.

This list describes cryptocurrencies.

Each gets four words. There are many.

Some are landmarks. Some are scams.

Hopefully this provides orientation.

Name            | Sym.  | Description                              
----------------|-------|------------------------------------------
Bitcoin         | BTC   | Digital gold                             
Ethereum        | ETH   | Programmable contracts and money         
Bitcoin Cash    | BCH   | Bitcoin clone                            
Ripple          | XRP   | Enterprise payment settlement network    
Litecoin        | LTC   | Faster Bitcoin                           
Dash            | DASH  | Privacy-focused Bitcoin clone            
NEO             | NEO   | Chinese-market Ethereum                  
NEM             | XEM   | Batteries-included digital assets        
Monero          | XMR   | Private digital cash                     
Ethereum Classic| ETC   | Ethereum clone                           
IOTA            | MIOTA | Internet-of-things payments              
Qtum            | QTUM  | Ethereum contracts on Bitcoin            
OmiseGO         | OMG   | Banking, remittance, and exchange        
Zcash           | ZEC   | Private digital cash                     
BitConnect      | BCC   | Madoff-like investment fund              
Lisk            | LSK   | Decentralized applications in JavaScript 
Cardano         | ADA   | Layered currency and contracts           
Tether          | USDT  | Price = 1 USD                            
Stellar Lumens  | XLM   | Digital IOUs                             
EOS             | EOS   | Decentralized applications on WebAssembly
Hshare          | HSR   | Blockchain switchboard                   
Waves           | WAVES | Decentralized exchange and crowdfunding  
Stratis         | STRAT | Decentralized applications in C#         
Komodo          | KMD   | Decentralized ICOs                       
Ark             | ARK   | Blockchain switchboard                   
Electroneum     | ETN   | Monero clone                             
Bytecoin        | BCN   | Privacy-focused cryptocurrency           
Steem           | STEEM | Reddit with money voting                 
Ardor           | ARDR  | Blockchain for spawning blockchains      
Binance Coin    | BNB   | Pay Binance exchange fees                
Augur           | REP   | Decentralized prediction market          
Populous        | PPT   | Invoice trading futures                  
Decred          | DCR   | Bitcoin with alternative governance      
TenX            | PAY   | Cryptocurrency credit card               
MaidSafeCoin    | MAID  | Rent disk space                          
BitcoinDark     | BTCD  | Zcoin close                              
BitShares       | BTS   | Decentralized exchange                   
Golem           | GNT   | Rent other people's computers            
PIVX            | PIVX  | Inflationary Dash clone                  
Gas             | GAS   | Pay fees on Neo                          
TRON            | TRX   | In-app-purchases                         
Vertcoin        | VTC   | Bitcoin clone                            
MonaCoin        | MONA  | Japanese Dogecoin                        
Factom          | FCT   | Decentralized record keeping             
Basic Attention | BAT   | Decentralized ad network                 
SALT            | SALT  | Cryptocurrency-backed loans              
Kyber Network   | KNC   | Decentralized exchange                   
Dogecoin        | DOGE  | Serious meme bitcoin clone               
DigixDAO        | DGD   | Organisation manages tokenized gold      
Veritaseum      | VERI  | Vaporware                                
Walton          | WTC   | IoT Blockchain                           
SingularDTV     | SNGLS | Decentralized Netflix                    
Bytom           | BTM   | Physical assets as tokens                
Byteball Bytes  | GBYTE | Decentralized database and currency      
GameCredits     | GAME  | Video game currency                      
Metaverse ETP   | ETP   | Chinese Ethereum plus identity           
GXShares        | GXS   | Decentralized Chinese Equifax            
Syscoin         | SYS   | Decentralized marketplace                
Siacoin         | SC    | Rent disk space                          
Status          | SNT   | Decentralized application browser        
0x              | ZRX   | Decentralized exchange                   
Verge           | XVG   | Privacy Dogecoin                         
Lykke           | LKK   | Digital asset exchange                   
Civic           | CVC   | Identity and Authentication App          
Blocknet        | BLOCK | Decentralized exchange                   
Metal           | MTL   | Payments with rewards program            
Iconomi         | ICN   | Digital asset investment funds           
Aeternity       | AE    | Decentralized apps (prototype)           
DigiByte        | DGB   | Faster Bitcoin                           
Bancor          | BNT   | Token Index Funds                        
Ripio Credit    | RCN   | Co-signed Cryptocurrency Loans           
ATMChain        | ATM   | Advertising network                      
Gnosis          | GNO   | Decentralized prediction market          
VeChain         | VEN   | Supply chain item IDs                    
Pura            | PURA  | Cryptocurrency                           
Particl         | PART  | Privacy marketplace and chat             
KuCoin Shares   | KCS   | Profit-sharing exchange fees             
Bitquence       | BQX   | Mint for cryptocurrency investments      
FunFair         | FUN   | Decentralized casino                     
ChainLink       | LINK  | External data for contracts              
Power Ledger    | POWR  | Airbnb for electricity                   
Nxt             | NXT   | Cryptocurrency and marketplace           
Monaco          | MCO   | Cryptocurrency credit card               
Cryptonex       | CNX   | Zerocoin clone                           
MCAP            | MCAP  | Mining investment fund                   
Storj           | STORJ | Rent disk space                          
ZenCash         | ZEN   | Privacy-focused Bitcoin clone            
Nexus           | NXS   | Bitcoin clone                            
Neblio          | NEBL  | Decentralized application platform       
Zeusshield      | ZSC   | Decentralized insurance                  
Streamr DATAcoin| DATA  | Real-time data marketplace               
ZCoin           | XZC   | Private digital cash                     
NAV Coin        | NAV   | Bitcoin with private transactions        
AdEx            | ADX   | Advertising exchange                     
Open Trading    | OTN   | Decentralized exchange                   
SmartCash       | SMART | Zcoin clone with rewards                 
Bitdeal         | BDL   | Bitcoin clone                            
Loopring        | LRC   | Decentralized exchange                   
Edgeless        | EDG   | Decentralized casino                     
FairCoin        | FAIR  | Bitcoin that rewards savers

Coin ranking from coinmarketcap.com.