Stellar

In general, I am a big fan of Stellar (so much so that, disclaimer, I own some). Stellar is the open-source ecosystem, Stellar.org is the development and social good foundation, and Lumens are the native asset (cryptocurrency) that allow you to send funds across borders and across currencies cheaply and fluidly. For example, you want to send 50 USD to your friend in London, and by using the Stellar network your friend would automatically be credited in GBP.

They’ve been round for a while (since 2014) and apart from their tech and team, what I like about them is their organizational ethos - they’re structured as a non-profit and their mission is to promote global financial access, literacy, and inclusion by expanding worldwide access to low-cost financial services through the development and maintenance of technology and partnerships.

Why is this important? While cryptocurrencies are thought of as “trustless” instruments that only apply to the technical aspect, as in, I don’t need to trust/know you or any organization in order to send/receive Lumens and be sure that they’re legitimate. Distribution of coins and consensus building is where organizational ethos is important. Stellar is committed to making their ecosystem a low-cost, publicly accessible good, which is why they decided that they would never profit from transaction fees from network activity.

Now, I don’t think Stellar is perfect, no cryptocurrency is actually, and you should always be very skeptical and do your own research before even thinking about putting any money into crypto. One more disclaimer for good measure: you should always consult a certified investment professional (which I am not) when making investment decisions.