Since its inception in 2014. Monero (XMR) has become a highly respected and recognized altcoin. Monero prides itself on providing private, secure, and untraceable transactions, as well as fungible assets.

Monero was the highest growing altcoin in 2016 and enjoyed an even better year in 2017. It has a reputation for secure transactions with a focus on anonymity. This has proved popular with investors and helped the altcoin stand out from other currencies.

Steem (STEEM) has also enjoyed significant growth since its creation in 2016. Steem stands out from other currencies by offering a social media platform (Steemit) to its users.

In this article, we compare Monero and Steem and examine how they are performing in the market.

	Steem	Monero
Utility	Reward for Contributing to Steemit Platform	Open source public ledger using privacy technologies at protocol level
Circulating Supply	$250 million	Over $15 million
Total Supply	$268 million	Initially $18.4 million then 0.3 XMR per minute once the limit is hit
Community	Large	Large
Market Capitalization	$700 million	Over $4 billion
Daily Trading Volume	$100 million	$155 million
Public Awareness	Low	Low

Utility

Monero uses an open source public ledger for recording transactions. It differs from other currencies by using mandatory privacy technologies at the protocol level. It does this by using ring signatures to hide all transaction details made by its users.

Steem provides its users with a peer-to-peer payment option. Steem is unique as it operates as a digital spending currency, and it uses Steemit to reward its customers with its currency when they contribute to the social media network.

Supply

Monero has a circulating supply of just over $15 million and a total supply of $18.4 million. To balance out Monero's yearly coin loss, it will introduce a fixed production of 0.3 XMR per minute when its total supply is hit.

In contrast, Steem has $250 million coins in circulation, with a total supply of just above $268 million.

Community

According to CoinMarketCap, Monero is currently in the top ten list of digital currencies. Monero's privacy properties may appeal to new digital currency investors who might still be on the fence about investing.

Steem continues to see its stock grow on a global level. This is a direct result of the popularity of its social media platform Steemit. Its users are enthusiastically contributing to the platform in an effort to earn Steem.

Market Capitalization

Monero has an impressive market capitalization of over $4 billion. Steem's market capitalization is currently on the lower side, hovering around the $700 million mark.

Daily Trading Volume

At the time of writing, Monero had a daily trading volume of $155 million. In comparison, Steem's daily trading volume is at the $100 million mark.

Public Awareness

Monero has grown in popularity and its focus on anonymity is attractive to investors. However, it is still far behind bitcoin in terms of hype and awareness.

While Steem has enjoyed considerable growth in the past few years, it is also well behind bitcoin in the public awareness department.

What To Take Away

As mentioned, Monero's privacy settings remain the driving force behind its growth in popularity. With digital currencies still in the development phase, you can see why this would be of appeal to investors.

It is also clear that Steem's unique social media concept has helped it stand out from other currencies. These two currencies represent two exciting opportunities for investors in the New Finance world.

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