To give an idea of the current cryptocurrency market, take a look at the chart below. Bitcoin accounts for 56% of a $537 Billion Dollar market. This list changes frequently, but these top 10 have made it here for a reason. These are the coins people are consistently talking about. If you’re looking to make an investment in the cryptocurrency market, these are the coins you want to research first. If you’re just getting started, check out our intro to Bitcoin article. 
All stats are as of 12/15/2017.
1. Bitcoin – Market Cap: $298 Billion – Price: $17,825
2. Ethereum – Market Cap: $66 Billion – Price: $688
3. Ripple – Market Cap: $30 Billion – Price: $0.77
4. Bitcoin Cash – Market Cap: $30 Billion – Price: $1,767
5. Litecoin – Market Cap: $16.5 Billion – Price: $305
6. IOTA – Market Cap: $10.6 Billion – Price: $3.84
7. Dash – Market Cap: $7 Billion – Price: $900
8. Cardano – Market Cap: $5.5 Billion – Price: $0.21
9. NEM – Market Cap $5.2 Billion – Price: $0.58
10. Bitcoin Gold – Market Cap: $5 Billion – Price: $295
These top 10 coins have a combined market cap of $474 Billion, accounting for 88% of the total market.
There are nearly 1,350 more altcoins in the cryptocurrency market of varying usefulness and reliability. 15 have a market cap over $1 Billion. A good site for tracking the top crypto coins is Coinmarketcap.com.