1.  

There's a new hottest cryptocurrency of 2018 so far: stellar     

• In the last few days, stellar rose into the ranks of the 10 largest digital currencies and was eighth largest on Tuesday.
• Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap at $232 billion, has lost its upward momentum over the last two weeks.
• Digital currency ethereum soars 17.5 percent Tuesday to an all-time high, while litecoin rallies 14 percent.

 The hottest digital coin as 2018 kicks off is stellar, which has  climbed more than 65 percent since Friday into the 10 largest  cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.  By Tuesday, stellar had a market cap of  $10 billion as the eighth-largest digital currency, according to  CoinMarketCap. The digital coin traded 17.5 percent higher on the day  near 56.4 cents, the website showed. Stellar operates a  network with the blockchain technology behind bitcoin. But unlike the  popular digital currency, Stellar's transactions settle in 2 to 5  seconds and allows users to quickly exchange government-backed  currencies, such as turning U.S. dollars into euros, according to its  website. Stellar's coins are officially called lumens, or XLM. 

                                        

 

 Notably, IBM is using Stellar's network to develop a cross-border payments system with some large banks. Consulting firm Deloitte is also a partner.  Bitcoin,  the largest cryptocurrency by market cap at $232 billion, has lost its  upward momentum over the last two weeks. The digital currency traded  slightly higher Tuesday near $13,880, down 12 percent over the last  week, according to Coinbase.  While bitcoin has grabbed  the most attention over the last 12 months, briefly soaring about 1,900  percent, 2017 was the year of ripple on a percentage-change basis. Bitcoin 12-month performance 

 Source: Coinbase Ripple,  or XRP, climbed 35,500 percent to $2.30 last year and into second place  by market capitalization. The digital currency traded 2 percent higher  Tuesday near $2.44, with a market cap of $94.65 billion, according to  CoinMarketCap.  Like Stellar, Ripple's  focus is on payments. The San Francisco-based start-up is working with  financial institutions in South Korea and Japan to use Ripple's XRP  coin. The two companies also  have the same founder: early cryptocurrency developer Jed McCaleb, who  created the Mt.Gox bitcoin exchange. McCaleb left Ripple in 2013 and  sold Mt.Gox in 2011 to Mark Karpeles, under whom the exchange suffered a  massive hack and eventually filed for bankruptcy. Today, McCaleb is focused  on Stellar, whose website says it operates as a nonprofit and covers  operating costs with some of its digital currency holdings and  donations. Meanwhile, ethereum  soared 17.5 percent to an all-time high Tuesday of $908.12, according  to CoinMarketCap. But the digital currency remained in third place by  market cap.  Litecoin  jumped 14 percent to $261, about $100 below its record high hit in  mid-December, according to CoinMarketCap. Litecoin has a market cap of  $14 billion as the sixth-largest digital currency.