Independent financial ratings firm Weiss Ratings awarded ethereum a B and bitcoin a C+ in its first cryptocurrency ratings report. No cryptocurrency received an A. EOS was the only other currency to receive a B. (CNBC)
The key facts: Bitcoin was dinged for slow transaction times, high transaction fees and no method to upgrade its underlying technology. Ethereum, by contrast, was faster and had better underlying technology. (CNBC)
Market fears: Weiss Ratings had to overcome distributed denial of service attacks to publish the ratings report. The attacks appear to have originated South Korea. Fears of low ratings for certain cryptocurrencies may have prompted the DDOS attacks. (Palm Beach Post)
The bottom line: Weiss Ratings is considered a tough, but fair rating service. As cryptocurrencies gain mainstream acceptance, more ratings like this will come out. And as more ratings come out, cryptocurrencies will move from a speculative market play to a much more informed one.