Now that Bitcoin has surged to a shocking $8000+ per coin, everyone is asking “what is the next bitcoin?”. The answer is tricky, as there are hundreds (!) of digital cryptocurrency coins out there to purchase (and to be hacked!).

We have gone ahead and curated a list of 13 interesting coins, some of which may indeed be the next bitcoin. As always with cryptocurrencies, invest at your own risk.

The Next Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Alternatives:

Peercoin: Secure & Sustainable Cryptocoin

One of the most attractive investment alternatives to Bitcoin is Peercoin, which is actually derived from it and uses the same hardware, thus enabling the miner to accept payments in several different cryptocurrencies without having to connect to other networks.

The potential increase in the value of Peercoin is huge, because it consistently rewards miners, and its algorithm marks no limit on the amount of coins to be mined. The network security of Peercoin uses a Proof of Stake protocol, which ensures no Selfish Mining practice may exploit this particular cryptocurrency.

Dash: A revolutionary digital money system: Digital Cash

An open source and privacy-oriented cryptocurrency? That is Dash. Designed to work as a peer-to-peer transaction framework, it confirms and displays instantly every payment, and only discloses information privately to the parties involved, wherever they might be in the world.

Another interesting feature of Dash are its very low fees, which are set to compete with the lowest fees of bank and credit card transactions. How about zero fees? Yes, in some cases it is possible to send money through Dash for free. Is this the next Bitcoin? It has it all to become exactly that.

Litecoin: The Cryptocurrency For Payments – Based on Blockchain Technology

Before all the other forks of Bitcoin there was Litecoin. Even though it has existed from several years now, it remains little known. Based on open-source software running over a decentralized network, which is hardened with math-based security, it also includes an extra layer of safety with its encrypted wallet, which will protect your assets from trojans and viruses with a password-based lock.

This cryptocurrency allows a higher transaction volume than its predecessor, and given that the mining difficulty is lower than Bitcoin, the mining reward is quite higher: for each block a miner will get about 25 minted Litecoins, and this quantity will halve in over four years.