Bitcoin Forum

Sure alts have a relatively small market cap, except XRP (though not a real market cap inmho as trade levels are too low), but every alt except ltc on BTC-e can only be originally be purchased by BTC, and in some cases LTC.

So do alts dilute the BTC price or merely spread the BTC's around more?

I am interested in your views!

I *think* alts function as a way of getting BTC's out of early adopters as they have enough to throw at a few at alts as an insurance policy, and alts are an evolutionary hotbed, sorta forcing this behavior of insurance in buy bying in for a few of them.

the caveat has to be for XRP as it has the implied size similar to BTC market cap which is why I think many BTC'rs feel strongly about it.

It's mainly bullish.

I like to compare alt coins to those little fish eating excess skin of a whale to keep it healthy. At first people tend to use alt coins for day trading when there is not enough volatility to do it with Bitcoins. Then what people do is hedge the dips with altcoins rather than dollars making them less steep.
The real market cap (in terms of actual currency invested rather than circulation times price) of alts is a sub-set of BTC. And since alts are pegged to BTC one has to buy Bitcoins first in order to trade for alt coins.
All in all alt-coins give an additional incentive to trade Fiat Money for Bitcoins.

agree


XRPs are a completely different beast though, that's right.

Can't believe XRP are selling for what they are.

I think the volume is not large though, and not much market depth....could be wrong though....

I trade XRP on ripple site

I think that's the only place?

As far as Alts go, I've been into Novacoin lately. It seems it is the only altcoin at the moment that has not been very effected by the ups and downs of the cryptomarket. Since the bubble, every other altcoin has been sliding down, it has been either rising in value or staying consistent.

http://www.cryptocoincharts.info/period-charts.php?period=6-months&resolution=day&pair=nvc-btc&market=btc-e

Compared to the largest and most well known alt Litecoin

http://www.cryptocoincharts.info/period-charts.php?period=6-months&resolution=day&pair=ltc-btc&market=btc-e

Novacoin has a market maker who has been guiding the price. The word that describes the amount of XRP available for the market to trade is the float. The market cap may be $1B+ but I'd be surprised if the float is even $2MM.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/float.asp

I suppose some may use their BTC position to go into alts but I'd recommend only putting new outside money into them if you feel compelled to gamble. I say this in spite of having some recent misgivings about the level of electricity wastage under a pure proof of work currency.