What did bitcoin get in the Weiss Cryptocurrency Ratings? 

Financial rating service Weiss Ratings has ranked 74 cryptocurrencies on a scale of A to E, where A is “excellent” and E is “very weak”. 

Bitcoin, the best known and most widely traded cryptocurrency on the planet, received a C+ grade on the Weiss scale. 

The plus sign indicates that bitcoin fell into the top third of the “fair” category. 

The rating said: “Bitcoin gets excellent scores for security and widespread adoption. 

“But it is encountering major network bottlenecks, causing delays and high transactions costs. 

“Despite intense ongoing efforts that are achieving some initial success, Bitcoin has no immediate mechanism for promptly upgrading its software code.”

Bitcoin’s closest rival Ethereum received a B grade, though Weiss revealed none of the digital currencies measured got the highest A rating. 

Following the announcement Dr Martin D. Weiss, who founded the company, insisted that cryptocurrencies have a “bright future”, adding their notorious volatility makes the market confusing for investors. 

He said: “Despite extreme price volatility, cryptocurrencies have a bright future and the potential to deliver unusually large profits to investors.

“However, the market is hectic and confusing for investors. They need the clarity that only robust, impartial ratings can provide.”

The Weiss Cryptocurrency Ratings evaluate price risk, reward potential, blockchain technology, adoption, security, and other factors.

Cryptocurrency investors appear to have been waiting in anticipation for the results to be released.

Dr Weiss reported a huge surge in visitors to the site in the wake of the publication, including thousands from Europe and Asia. 

He said: “Since our customers are almost entirely in the US, we rarely get more than small amounts of traffic from Asia.

“But last night, we had more than 100,000 unique visitors in a matter of hours, almost entirely from Asia, until early this morning, when more of the traffic rolled over to Europe. 

“To handle the volume, our staff instantly expanded its server capacity on the cloud many times over.”

Bitcoin has had a remarkable 12 months, surging by nearly 1,200 percent from this time last year. 

In December 2017, a single bitcoin was worth an eye-watering $20,000 (£14,000). 

This has since crashed to $11,100 (£7,800), though bitcoin is still far ahead of its competitors and makes up nearly 35 percent of the total crypto market.