CryptoAssets Taxonomy

"The cryptocurrency taxonomy can be used for pedagogical purposes, for explaining and comparing coins, for managing portfolios, for analytics, or in any other ways that you deem useful."

CRYPTOCURRENCIES

A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency designed to work as a medium of exchange. It uses cryptography to secure and verify transactions as well as to control the creation of new units of a particular cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrencies are designed to make trustless, peer-to-peer payments and there?s obviously many others besides Bitcoin these days.[/font]
This is the one that everyone knows well, and the best example is Bitcoin (BTC). It was a designed as "cash for the internet"; you could use it to move value peer-to-peer in a trust-less manner. Other examples of cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), and Zcash (ZEC). Some of these, like the last three, are focused on privacy.
The original purpose of cryptocurrencies, more specifically Bitcoin (BTC), was to come up with a universal currency that was not controlled by any institution (decentralised from government, banks, companies etc). In its current state of development, it is not functioning better as a day-to-day currency due to technical limitations in transaction speeds and volume.
Furthermore, transaction fees, which are typically charged as a fraction of the token, have become so expensive as the value of cryptocurrencies surge. Hence, many altcoins have surfaced, with the aim of bettering Bitcoin as a mode of payment ? think cheaper fees, faster transaction speeds, greater transaction volumes, better security, increased anonymity.

PLATFORM

These are essentially blockchain-based operating systems, and the best-known example is Ethereum (ETH). Alex points out that it is kind of ridiculous when people in the media say things like "Ethereum is the new Bitcoin" since they do very different things: Bitcoin was designed as a secure medium of exchange for the internet , whilst Ethereum is a general-purpose platform that lets you build decentralized applications (DApps) and smart contracts. There are currently over 1500 DApps that run on Ethereum.
The best example here is Ethereum, what Tapscott calls ?the investment bank of the cryptocurrency world? given its prevalence as people build on top of it. In fact, he points out that in 2016 about $165 million was raised by ICOs, in 2017 that was $6.5 BILLION, and in the first quarter of 2018 alone, it?s 7 or 8 billion dollars.
A number of third-generation blockchain protocols have emerged, and it is likely to diminish somewhat over time.. But a lot of fundraising is built on ERC-20, even if the end results are built on other platforms.

UTILITY TOKENS

These are "native blockchain assets that operate within an application system." The reason for calling these blockchains "utility tokens" is that their tokens have "utility" by virtue of usually being the only accepted form of payment for the service provided by the blockchain.
Utility tokens are intrinsically useful, however. In the case of Filecoin, it?s secure digital file storage. Augur is another example. Built on Ethereum, Augur allows you to create a prediction market. It?s open-source and uses real world data with token holders making corrections and potentially receiving a benefit for doing so.
In any event it?s likely that token holders are the governors of these systems, and although they aren?t securities, they?ve attracted the attention of regulators due to the sheer number of dollars involved.
Utility tokens are tokens that users will consume in exchange for a service. Each service provider runs his own tokenised system, where users will purchase the credits and use it in exchange for his services. This is similar to how you would purchase tokens to play (service) in an arcade (service provider).

SECURITY TOKENS

In the world of finance, a "security" is a tradable financial asset. In the United States, a security is a tradable financial asset of any kind. There are three types of securities: debt securities (banknotes, bonds); equity securities (common stocks); and derivatives (forwards, futures, options, and swaps).
There are six types of security tokens: debenture tokens; smart swap contracts; option tokens; equity tokens; bond tokens; and smart futures contracts.
Security tokens are much like stocks or bonds, a contract that stipulates their value and your benefit. Business logic in contract form can be tokenized. The equity market is a good target, says Tapscott, given the trillions invested. Compared to other asset classes ? like the equity market ? these tokens still a very small slice of the pie.
This category will potentially will become the most important/valuable in the crypto space since the equities and derivatives markets are worth hundreds of trillion dollars, and even if only a small portion of those markets was put on the blockchain, we are easily talking about trillions of dollars in value.

NATURAL ASSET TOKENS

These are tokens that are backed by physical assets in the real world. These assets can come from either "established markets" (examples include gold, oil, natural gas, fuel oil, and base metals) or "frontier markets" (examples are carbon, water, and air).
There are also experiments like air, carbon, or water. One natural asset token is the EARTH token, which was launched by a carbon mitigation company and aims to decentralize the marketplace for the trade of natural assets. These can play a part in the supply chain or in business logic, but what Tapscott finds interesting are new markets opening up because of the tech in blockchain itself.

CRYPTO-COLLECTIBLES

These are unique (i.e. not fungible) digital assets. As with natural asset tokens, they track provenance, but are not usually linked to something with real value. Perhaps, the best example of today's crypto-collectibles is CryptoKitties. As for tomorrow's crypto-collectibles, one good example is assets in virtual worlds.
These are typified by having uniqueness, and non-fungible items could prove to be a big deal in the future, says Tapscott. What?s central to this tech is the uniqueness, the ability to watermark something to prove its uniqueness.
With a collectible, the key is that ability to authenticate. This also avoids the double spending problem. Tapscott envisions even more opportunities as celebrities or other ?unique item? markets develop.

CRYPTO-FIAT CURRENCIES AND STABLE COINS

There are two types of price-stable crypto assets. Crypto-fiat currencies are government-issued currencies on the blockchain. The other way to achieve price stability is via stablecoins, which try to keep the price within a certain band either by pegging to an asset in the real world like gold or dollars -- examples are Tether (USDT) and Circle's USD coin (USDC), or through a dynamic supply system
Stablecoins often have an implied pre-money valuation.Crypto-fiat is more interesting to Tapscott. Venezuela is perhaps one notorious example, with the Petro. There?s no real way to know if it?s truly backed by the oil the country says, as the government has become an international pariah.
It may also be why there?s some recalcitrance by other governments to give more credence to crypto-fiat tokens. But Tapscott argues it should be a rallying cry for other governments to listen and start taking crypto seriously.

https://medium.com/swlh/a-better-taxonomy-for-cryptocurrencies-cbffd2e1b58c
https://strategiccoin.com/taxonomy-of-blockchains-consensus-2018/
https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2018/05/alex-tapscotts-taxonomy-of-cryptoassets-from-consensus-2018/
https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-for-beginners/what-are-cryptocurrencies