Glenn Hutchins has revealed how public investors can know which one of the leading cryptocurrencies will be the "right answer" and continue to thrive.

He predicted that some of the leading cryptocurrencies will fade away with only a few successfully taking over the marketplace. 

Mr Hutchins, who is the former Chairman of Nasdaq and one of the first establishment investors in bitcoin, compared the cryptocurrency battle to the beginning of the internet

Referring to the original commercial websites online, he said: "You want to Google - you don't want to be Pets.Com."

Asked on Fox Business News how to know which digital currency will be the "right answer" to the market, Mr Hutchins said: "It's difficult.

"The price is a distraction - rather you should focus on the means of exchange. It’s a very small nascent property that has potential to be transformative."

"Bitcoin could be the wrong solution - and other tokens like ethereum or Ripple could end up being the right answer.

"Can you take that technology and use it as a solution for an important customer problem? That's the question investors need to monitor."

Mr Hutchins has poured around £4m into a series of early-stage investments in companies operating in cryptocurrency.  

The investor added: "I just really think people are missing the point. They should be talking about the companies.

"It’s the biggest opportunity I’ve seen because the two most important things are business information and value.

"We can now move information around the world at the speed of light at no cost. Why can’t we do that with value in the future?"