In a nutshell DLT/Blockchain started with Bitcoin (1.0 technology). Since it was the first out of the gate, it has the largest liquidity pool, approx 130 Billion, but is extremely slow (only 5-7 transactions per second). Ethereum was web 2.0, with the ability to add smart contracts (progammable code). It is still slow, at only 15-30 TPS. Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) is web 3.0, thousands times faster, big data specific. Within these different projects are different coins or currencies. Some are utility tokens, where others are designed for facilitating payments (crypto currency). Crypto is a direct challenge to state sponsored/bank currencies as it removes all the middlemen and allows peer to peer payments at a fraction of the cost. However, even though it is encrypted, “regulators” enacted KYC (Know your Customer), the “travel” rule, and just simply settling to fiat, or even taking a delivery from a merchant will reveal your identity, and then every transaction can be traced (see company called ChainAnalysis). This not only exposes all of your transactions, but also reveals all of your crypto holdings. Privacy coins were designed to counter these initiatives, and there are quite a few different coins and mechanisms being used. But all of these coins privacy mechanisms have been broken, except for XMR and APL. There is a battle being waged to quash these coins, whether through delisting at exchanges, or outright ban of their use. Below is a link that covers some of the coins and their technology. Apollo is newer, so it is not on the list, but IMO it is the absolute best privacy coin to own.
I think eventually it will come down to using both public and private coins. Public for business and everyday transactions, and private, for “cash” type transactions. The Feds may need to know about my legal business entity transactions, but only two people need to know about the six pack of beer I bought at the convenience store. Soon with projects like Fetch, IOTA, Fantom, and so many more will revolutionize data collection. In about 5 years, decentralization will bring about a new internet, and a new data driven society.
https://coinsutra.com/anonymous-cryptocurrencies/
Link bkmkd for later read. Thanks.