Recently, I’ve seen a lot of newcomers in the community asking what mainstream coins are. So I went ahead and put together this topic to help everyone avoid getting them mixed up all the time.

In fact, the definition of mainstream coins is pretty simple: they’re cryptocurrencies that are recognized by the vast majority of investors, with high market activity and good liquidity. At first there was only Bitcoin, but as the ecosystem developed, projects like Ethereum gradually became a new mainstream thanks to innovations like smart contracts. The shared characteristics of mainstream coins are a large community, high levels of participation, relatively mature and stable technology, security that’s guaranteed, and a wide range of application scenarios—along with a complete ecosystem.

When it comes to the advantages of mainstream coins, the most obvious is that they have deep liquidity and are widely listed, and they attract a lot of attention—so they’re easy to become market hotspots. But their drawbacks shouldn’t be ignored either. When big trends come, their price increases may not be as explosive as those of smaller coins. However, this is also why many people still prefer to start with mainstream coins, since the risk is relatively more controllable.

Next are stablecoins. These assets are like the “pillar of stability” in the crypto market. Stablecoins are usually pegged to the US dollar or other fiat currencies, used to reduce risks caused by market volatility. There are mainly three types on the market: one is directly supported by fiat currency (such as USDT and USDC), one is backed by collateral in crypto assets (for example DAI), and the third is maintained purely through algorithms (such as AMPL).

USDD and USDC are the two most common stablecoins in the market. The former has the largest market cap and the widest range of applications, while the latter is known for transparency and compliance. DAI is relatively special—it’s issued through Ethereum-asset collateralization. There are also other stablecoins like BUSD and PAX, and each has its own features. These stablecoins are widely used in scenarios such as trading, payments, and savings.

Back to the choice between mainstream coins and other coins: my suggestion is that for beginners, it’s safer to start with mainstream coins. Cryptocurrencies themselves don’t produce any real output—their price fluctuations mainly depend on hype and community momentum, and this is crucial. No matter what you choose in the end, be sure to allocate according to your own risk tolerance, stay rational, and don’t blindly chase pumps just because of FOMO. Reasonably diversify your risk and control your position sizes—that’s the real way to survive long term.