Bitcoin Forum

And so - like so many others - I am thinking of launching my own SHA-256 coin, and so I was doing some research and reading altcoin threads.
I see the field already very crowded. Anyone can now launch a new coin.
I considered coingen.io to get started, but saw that it has bad reviews and limitations.
- Is there a better automated way to create a coin?
- I would like to get your feedback on what constitutes a successful launch of a new coin and what is needed to create demand for it?
- Anyone out there with development/bitcoin experience who'd like to partner with me?

Unless it's going to be innovative don't bother.

more coingen shit. what will you do when the coin forks or needs updates? ???

I see a lot of clones claiming "innovation."  What generally constitutes innovation?

Supp'd up apps for smart phones?
More coins than any other (or less)?
Longer times to the halving points (or more)?
A catchy name?

What's the biggest room in the world?  Room for improvement.

But what can be improved on, in respect to altcoins.  What options are there? 

Unless you have a deep understanding of cryptography and how the whole thing works, why do people think they can make a coin that's better than the original, using the originals work?

by making all celebs , enterpreneurs , politicians to use that coin :P

a coin that is actually good for something except trading and gambling would be something people would pay attention to. unfortunately, today's technology makes it impossible to create such a coin.

Because Bitcoin has limitations and disadvantages that hamper its worldwide acceptance as a payment tool:
Bitcoins Are Not Widely Accepted
Wallets Can Be Lost
Bitcoin Valuation Fluctuates
No Buyer Protection
Risk of Unknown Technical Flaws
Built in Deflation
No Physical Form
No Valuation Guarantee

I was a non-believer, until I paid for an item from a Chinese manufacturer with bitcoin online. No bank wire transfer, no exorbitant fees, and immediate transfer of payment. This can be the way all international trade can be done in the future. But only if the buyer can trust the seller will deliver, and not screw him over.

Perhaps, the biggest limitation I see is its limited supply that will end in 2140. What will happen when no more coins are minted and miners lose every incentive to keep mining? Transaction fees will not be enough to pay for expensive ASICs.

Is there room for improvement here?

I'd be happy to make a coin, if only for pump and dump reasons  :D

I don't think a coingen coin can be a big success now. You need to add new innovation or find a group that could make the coin useful. If you own a business and could use the coins to purchase goods from that business, that could be one way.

I don't think you can just use an autocode service and put on a meme or unusual name and expect it to be a big success. If you can't code I don't think you should make a coin.

Agreed... or get a developer/coder on my team.
That's also why I am not going to use coingen.
I believe a successful coin will need a team effort. Bitcoin itself took 2 years (2009 - 2011) and the work of developers from around the world, to get where it is now.

Its got to have a couple things

1. Fair launch
2. Something different, something innovative, something useful
3. Community support
4. Active dev(s)
5. Time

After much thought and purchasing of bitcoins which is basically a mathematical equation, I spoke to others and thought why not do it as a form of artistic expression since maths can help create art.

For us it is a good enough reason as any....

This is it, with a coder next to you that can take care of the developing department, the community needs to be built around the network, you need to have some type of exposure that can lift you above network failure, if you can get a celeb or politician to use it then you would get alot of other user's that come with them.

Looks to me like all you need is a nice looking logo and a relatively large community of sheeple.

I think there are two ways:

Method 1: create your own algo, a totally new one; and/or adding a totally new function, such as darksend

Method 2: have a real business model to put your coins into real life usage.

Turns-out: easier said than done. All potential developers I contacted thru this forum were more interested in discouraging me from creating my coin, than offering advice or some help.

Anyone knows, if the source code for an altcoin is available online? Maybe I can start with that and modify it to meet my needs?

Because your "idea" is downright ridiculous and stupid.

Anyone with a clue wouldn't be asking this.

Method 1: I was watching yesterday a youtube video: an interview with the creator of Litecoin (he now works for coinbase). Brilliant guy and I am nowhere near as bright as he is!! ;D
Method 2: I have some - what I think - are some good ideas.
For now, still stumbling on the technical (coding) aspect of it.

i can sell you the rapecoin source code. 2 btc if you promise to keep the copyright notice in case you're releasing your own coin.

Sent you PM.
Where does the copyright notice appear? Is it only in the code, or also in "About" in the wallet client? elsewhere?

Are you really asking for a source code ?

in the source code on top of several files and in the about dialog of the qt wallet.

Does it mention the name of the coin (rapecoin)? and if yes, can I keep it but modify it slightly to say something like: "Built on rapecoin technology"?
If OK with you, give me the exact text of that copyright notice as it is now?

What if you made a coin that has no limit that it's simply infinity amount ?

what if the difficulty was longer due to it being infinity and makes something of value at the same time ?

What if there was a new format of a wallet that means anybody in the world can use it regardless of internet or APP?

What if a platform that is already existing that complies with day to day use for people to receive and send payment for goods?

What if a coin had a certain stability in price that +/- 10% jumps on value that was not controled so much by traders due to it being designed to be used as a day to day payment currency?

I am very interested in the answers to my qeustion

change it to whatever you want as long as it is clear what is meant.

I think if you have to ask how to make one you won't be bringing anything to the table really. How are you going to develop it? How will you protect it from attack?

What if you made a coin that has no limit that it's simply infinity amount ?

what if the difficulty was longer due to it being infinity and makes something of value at the same time ?

What if there was a new format of a wallet that means anybody in the world can use it regardless of internet or APP?

What if a platform that is already existing that complies with day to day use for people to receive and send payment for goods?

What if a coin had a certain stability in price that +/- 10% jumps on value that was not controled so much by traders due to it being designed to be used as a day to day payment currency?

I am very interested in the answers to my qeustion

ITGeniusGuru has obviously never heard of open source......don't fuck him too badly, crunchynut.

Please don't clone Rapecoin.  This coin might be funny if it wasn't so sick and an embarrassment to all crypto coins.  Associating with this pathetic attention seeking coin is going to look bad.

You don't have to be a programming genius to get started. The creators of dogecoin used a howto clone foocoin guide on the web.  

Here is one:

http://dogecoin.ga/how_to_create_scrypt_based_altcoins.html (http://dogecoin.ga/how_to_create_scrypt_based_altcoins.html)

Just think of a clever way to market it.  

Either he is totally dumb or he is just being a troll..

2 btc for just the source code, seriously? I've seen people in the services section offering development of whole coin (by that I mean source, compilation, and custom modifications) for way less than that.

To be fair, it's encouraged to sell open source software for the whatever price you can (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html).

It needs to really stand out among the pile of copy/scam/shit coins that are released daily.

If you have no experience then download the source of a coin with good devs like Digibyte, Darkcoin or Next and use it for learning.
But please...don't publish the outcome as a regular coin and call it "innovative"  ::)

This happen often so don't get surprised if you see it again.

I am actually both. And also lazy to boot.

So I decided to get off my lazy bum and use a tool I never heard of before: Google search.
I googled: altcoin source code.

And so, let me put forward a new set of questions to the knowledgeable gurus out there:
(I will also post the questions below in the DEV forums, and endure some more ridiculing  ;D ).

How easy (or difficult) is it to modify bitcoin source to change behavior of a newly-created altcoin?
- Is bitcoin-0.6.3-linux.tar the latest and greatest source available? What langage is this written in? Is this updated on a regular basis? Where is the Windows source (or is it also compiled from same)?
- Can the following modifications be done to the code (a simple yes/no answer would be great):
- All coins are pre-mined.
- All mining is done by only one central point, not by the general public.
- To accomplish above, keep network difficulty at zero or less than one, and never changes.
- To accomplish above, limit number of confirmations required for transactions to one or two only?
- Automatic deposit of a changeable amount of coins (after a changeable mandatory waiting period) in every new wallet activated.

If above changes can be implemented, how difficult (or easy) would it be?

Thanks all for input and constructive criticism.

Thanks for advice. I am not a developer, have no such experience, will not start learning it now, and prefer to leave that side of my project to a competent one.

Would you be kind enough to PM me a link to such offers, or the usernames of members who made such offers?
I guess I could do a forum search, but I am thinking maybe you already know where to quickly find that info.

THANK YOU! that's exactly the kind of help I was hoping to get.
Is there a similar how-to guide for SHA-256 (NOT scrypt) altcoin? Or how easy (or difficult) is it to change the algo in the source code?
Sure, anyone can create a new coin, good or bad. The trick is to market, promote it, and create demand for it. I totally agree with you. This is the differentiator. Some members have already PM'd me offering help in that department, especially from China... The Chinese are quite motivated and have an aggressive positive attitude!

Wow you really don't know anything about Altcoins what so ever.  Lol.  I think you should contact Vlad2Vlad.  The 2 of you could create something that would leave the world standing in awe. 

YES! We will create LaughingStockOfTheWholeWideWorldCoin.
Market it to Hollywood and Comedy Central.
Not a bad idea actually. I like it!

Don't waste your time buying the source code of rapecoin! What a joke! That's a shitty coin and shitty price. Seriously 2 BTC for rapecoin?!

I can get you the source code of BITCOIN for 2 btc. PM me.

I am also very interested in buying the Brooklyn bridge and the Empire State building... what's your lowest most-competitive offer?

spam the living fuck out of the Bitcointalk.org Main forum section with not so subtle advertising posts ?

That's ridiculous.

The Dear Leader will sell you the source code for North Korea Coin for 2 BTC.  End of discussion.  It is the best, most popular coin in the world.

You should never work with that person. I don't think that the outcome would be something which would amaze us.

I have asked my barber to have a haircut similar to the Dear Leader's. My barber informed me the Dear Leader has patented his haircut and holds an exclusive license of the haircut. Would the Dear Leader consider selling the license to me, for 4 BTC?

That guide is just a rip-off of Shakezula's cloning tutorial with a couple of hidden affiliate links to a cloud server company slapped on it.

Here's a link to the original guides:
https://cryptocointalk.com/topic/3140-shakezulas-scrypt-and-sha256-cryptocurrency-clone-guides/

your mother is a pathetic attention seeking coin. only because you are an early adopter and registered in november 2013 it doesn't give you the right to talk bad about innocent projects like rapecoin.

Don't be so offensive. November 2013 /= early adopter.
2010/11 = early adopter.
The name rapecoin is just wrong (Please note that I have nothing against the coin otherwise).

Spend more time learning.

You can't rely on hiring someone that knows. Im not saying you need to learn how to code, but if you're going to start a coin, it would be wise to learn the basics of what is going on around here.

The only good new coin is not just one that is "innovative" but one that is a dramatic shift from what has come before, something that is trying an interesting and novel approach.  Look for it not just to be a little faster or safer, but for it to do things completely differently. 

You're wrong in that it actually has built-in inflation. The BTC supply increases by 10% every year until 2016 at which point it will increase by 5% every year. That's more inflation than dogecoin. Unless there is serious market pressure on it, it slowly loses value. It's an inflationary currency that appreciates only due to market speculation.

Wow, this thread is off the rails.

I was seriously asking what kind of innovations could be made with a new coin.

While you were all slap-ass'ing each other, I found some coins I find intriguing.

ISR Coin - Looks well thought out, although it's pre-mined 10%, they seem to have good reason for it.  The whole philosophy of how their country operates, and how the coin is intended to challenge that, makes me like it.

CIN Coin - Although the name is corny, the principles on it, once again, are well thought out.  The creator of the coin clearly researched it and has a firm understanding of how coining works.

I'm mining these two and holding them for a bit, while I look for other promising coins, not just the ones that are most profitable for the minute.

ITGenius.  You're doing it all wrong.  Don't ask "how something works" and then try to learn the principles, that's backwards as hell.  Learn how something works, then see how you can use it. 

I don't look at website and say I want to make that site, then learn by looking in the source code.  I learned PHP, then said, now I can make something better.

Jumping in "relatively" late in the coin game.  I'm new as you can see from my # of posts.

I see my options as

1. Coin for profit
2. Coin for longevity

With the hardware I have purchased, I can profit roughly $40 a day and payback my investment in 2-3 months.

As a tech guy, I'm more interested in the philosophy and "coolness" factor of coining.  I see myself in this for a long time (or untill it's dead).  If I break even... great, if I get rich... awesome.

I'll be going at it as the whole thing being an investment.  Although the whole market is on a downward trend right now, I see that as a good thing, decreasing difficulties in some coins, buyers market, with a rebound inevitable.  Seems like a recipe for some good success in the future.

Everyone has opinions, I'll formulate my own, go after those coins, and probably hang on to them.  Only time will tell.

1 guy from quebec canada just create a new coin he call it the quebecoin i juste start mining this coin tell will telll if is good or not

You are reading my mind.

Hi ITGeniusGuru,

 I don't know how you attracted some of the brightest minds around here, as well as some others too, but maybe it would be best first to read maybe 100 hours worth, or even maybe 500 hours worth, on this entire broad topic that you care to master. Right here at bitcointalk is where the greatest information and the worse of information all awaits the reader. This is where Bitcoin lives and breaths, and where everything revolves, but you likely already figured that out. There must be many millions of pages here of many dozens of sub topics and child boards. You got lot's of reading and researching to do before ever bothering with creating your very own cloned crap coin, which by the way is a completely futile effort. But you already heard that right? Many here are full of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt - fear mongering) others don't have half a clue, others are sheer genius. Hero labels are time tested veterans and generally have way more than half a clue concerning at least Bitcoin, being they have been here for years already.


 At any rate the best advice I have found in the last 18 months here is to Buy Bitcoin and then Hold on to it tightly as well as very securely and carefully. Hey, it sure beats anything else especially since bitcoin began as long as one holds it for at least a year, the longer the better too, so far. Straight up buying Bitcoins even beats mining profits since the Fall of 2013 with precious few lucky exceptions.

 Trading profitability pretty much ended a few months ago for almost all alt coins, and all but the luckiest early receivers of the latest generation asic mining rigs.  

 Now yet another rinse is now occurring (Bitcoins price has fallen to the lower part of it's present trading range), and soon enough another false rally for a broad batch of crappy clone coins is almost sure to attract the fools and dupes, so a few of us can scoops up yet another round of profits (hint, don't be very greedy). This will occur just as or soon after Bitcoin again enters another big rally mode upwards in price.

 Your apt to make much more by doing the above (Buying Bitcoins) than bothering with yet another clone, or even something that brings something new to the table. Simply BUY BITCOIN and hold it. Hold it for years. In four years your extremely likely to be terrifically well rewarded for that. Even starting small and working your way up will still offer huge returns.

 But things like mining is extremely risky these days when it comes to ASIC hardware mining in it's present state save for all but one asic miner at this rare point due to a recent large price drop on the antminer, much less the ever diminishing returns of GPU mining at present. I just sold my GPU Video cards all away on eBay, save for one that I will use in yet another new build from the top quality parts left from my mining rig. Hey, I might even GPU mine again a dash when it's profitable to do so on a worthy coin, but right now it's not woth the effort combined with the cost of electricity. All those parts left are for a nice new desktop and was meant to be so a year ago when new. But with asic hardware it's soon obsolete and worthless.


See this for a mining profitability guide

http://www.coinwarz.com/cryptocurrency


For a great bitcoin charts and more see these:

http://bitcoinwisdom.com/markets/bitstamp/btcusd
http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg360ztgSzm1g10zm2g25zv
http://www.cryptocoincharts.info/
http://www.cryptocoincharts.info/v2/main/smallCharts
http://crypto-coins-table.com/
http://www.cryptocoincharts.info/v2/coins/info


Learn to use this for many answers to good key word choices
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=search


For the only well established and most trusted Crypto trading see this place, where I have close to 3000 trades so far:
https://www.cryptsy.com/
Myself and others that have been here a long time have great trust in Cryptsy, but always keep track of your trades while doing them so if anything goes awry at least you know what's what later. Sometimes trades get delayed and it's possible to double spend and end up with a negative balance if you don't stay fully aware. Never happened to me but for fools rushing in it happens a lot, but less lately from what I gather. Maybe their learning the limits of Cryptsy and their sometimes stalled/stuck trading servers as well as stuck wallet clients for deposit and withdrawal delays that seem to often get overloaded by sheer demand.
https://www.cryptsy.com/


Here's a place that lists the current or recent ASIC hardware for sale, usually a painful pre-order experience, or far worse...
https://tradeblock.com/mining/
(scroll down a ways)


Lastly, check news at the following links:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php
http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/

and

http://www.coindesk.com/
http://www.thebitcoinchannel.com/

and
(scroll down to Inflation, Deflation, Cryptocurrencies) at:
http://dollarcollapse.com/



 The wiser folks started selling all the alt coins back in late December through Early to Mid January. By early February I cleared out of every single last Bitcoin alternative except a couple, and even those I released by the middle of February. I had a ton to clear out and at many times market depth isn't deep enough (demand) so it takes time to unwind larger positions for maxium yields. Most didn't sell until they had lost most of their gains or investments, others tried to either defend their alt coins by further purchases/trades or kept purchasing while prices were in free fall for the last few months time.

 I have traded everything under the sun, or nearly so, for decades. But most wont make out trading cryptos. The vast majority that dare try to day trade or even swing trade wont have the skill set to make any profits. 1/3 of my Bitcoins came from trading. I doubt hardly anyone can replicate that feat but trust when I say I more than paid my full dues to learn to do such a task.
here is a rookies guide to the scam of trading in the retail forex: http://www.babypips.com/school/ it's quite good for learning all things technical for rookies, but don't dare trade in the forex at higher than 10/1 leverage, with 20/1 being the absolute max leverage even in the best of conditions. And forgetabout setting any stops. Either run without them, or not at all. Otherwise far too often you will get stopped out of your forex trades (that's one of the scams designed in to the scam of the forex marketplace against retail traders). That said only http://fxtrade.oanda.com/ and http://interactivebrokers.com/en/main.php are trust worthy enough to dare touch the forex. Crypto trading is far safer and way easier, but it's full of dangers and cliffs for every rookie. Go to here first:  http://www.babypips.com/school/  get through at least grade school there before daring to venture into anything besides Bitcoin. Now would be a great time to start dollar-cost averaging your way into bitcoin a little every month or whatever, spread out over 3 to 12 months time. Just realize price spikes tend to happen suddenly, and very violently, right now we're in the lower trading range of $400 to $1000 that was easy enough to quickly define back in early December 2013.


 Many still wet behind the ears rookies (noobs) that showed up from late November 2013 through January 2014 still can't grasp that none of these new "brings something new to the table" alt coins as well as all the others are almost all dead now.

 Sure there are still pumps and dumps going on but their not worthy of touching for the chances of getting burned at this point is exceedingly high.

 I myself have close to 3000 crypto trades now, but I got out months ago, and only quite recently bothered to dip my toes ever so gently back in to a few of the top 10 coins at http://coinmarketcap.com/ but even those are now extremely high risk ventures. Let alone anything not in the top 20 having slim chances of ever making the grade. Look over that long list of 130 or so alt coins. Realize your best off joining the BitcoinExpress and also learning everything you can to keep from losing your coins to hackers, keyloggers, trojans, and of course many a crook offering scam after scam to cryptocurrency holders.

 Since others took to trying to assist I thought I would too.

 As for your nick, well hopefully you know how to secure your PC's and router well, as well as run a VPN and of course Noscript, plus isolate your PC's and dedicate at least one PC to nothing but the Bitcoin-Qt client, and whatever other clients you trust enough to dare to download and pray their not infested with crypto stealing malware. This is all so hopefully you don't regret being the next victim around these torturous parts of the new wild, wild west.

 No it's not as bad as I make it out, as long as you at least have a dedicated Wallet PC for only that purpose with a fresh clean install of your favorite OS that is at least well secured at the consumer level. But above all else learn Noscript for Firefox and don't enable java-scripting unless you really trust the site very much, or whatever script needs to be run to enable web page features. I wont even dare enable java-scripting here at bitcointalk at all, no way, no how. Even though I have several PCs including casual ones I still as a routine don't take chances.

 Like I mentioned, at least one Bitcoin Hero responded to you with good advice. Others too offered sound advice. Forgetabout making your own coin for at least now. Instead learn all about the topic. After all, only fools rush in right?

 It will take you at least 6 months to grasp a lot, and at least a year for you to become past your rookie stage. Even with an IT background it doesn't do one any good when it comes to this unique world of this Decentralized Cryptocurrency Revolution.


O, and lastly, Always verify, never ever trust anyone on anything. Do your own due diligence on all this stuff.



 Welcome to Bitcointalk.org,



Caveat emptor - let the buyer beware!

Nice all-encompassing post/advice Slingshot.
I can tell you have a lot of experience in the field.
Well... I particularly like your advice about buying and holding BTC.
When I started mining BTC about a year ago, I started with a laptop's integrated video chip, and I was making a whopping 0.01 BTC every 2 weeks or so. Since then, I graduated to multiple 100 GH/s and 200 GH/s ASICs.
Finally, I decided mining BTC is a rat's race against ever-increasing network difficulty. I have come to the conclusion it makes more sense to just buy the coins rather than invest in mining hardware.

I started this topic on April 21st, and back then I knew almost nothing about altcoins.
Today, I am getting ready to launch my very own coin. Sorry, won't follow you advice! The wheel is already set in motion and I have some great people helping me with the technical (development) and marketing bits. I knew all along I simply can NOT do everything all by myself.
And so I will jump into the waters, sink or swim.

If you want to take a look at / evaluate my coin, I'll send you a few thousands for free pre-launch!!   ;) ;D :D ;D

RE: What if you made a coin that has no limit that it's simply infinity amount ?

 Been done. See Novacoin, others too? Some others have no set "hard limits" but have "soft limits" already that could be redefined later if the majority agrees to support that new "fork" in the future.



RE: what if the difficulty was longer due to it being infinity and makes something of value at the same time ?

 That would be fair to future generations. But around here it's a greed filled madhouse, just like the broader society.



RE: What if there was a new format of a wallet that means anybody in the world can use it regardless of internet or APP?

 Already done: See many various cryptocoins, including Bitcoin, lol.



RE: What if a platform that is already existing that complies with day to day use for people to receive and send payment for goods?

 Do what? Not well written.



RE: What if a coin had a certain stability in price that +/- 10% jumps on value that was not controlled so much by traders due to it being designed to be used as a day to day payment currency?

 It's not "traders" per say that are drastically effecting market price, but instead very little marketplace depth in many cryptocurrencies far too often. Even for Bitcoin at times. This will drastically improve for Bitcoin over time, but for now and the near term to the mid term over at least the next several years expect major swings to occur that will have to be endured. As for any others, very few are apt to be around in several more years time. From here out most will keep sinking into oblivian but with bear market rallies and pump & dump schemes engineered there by sucking many into thinking there is hope for their selections. Be extremely wary of trusting anyone's thoughts about anything except those bullish on Bitcoin.

 Bitcoin is the new king of currencies, believe it or not. It will keep doing what it's been doing for many years to come, with major rallies and major bear markets until it's price is far higher than most would dare now believe. Or of course it too goes back to being worth next to nothing should something else fully displace it, or Cryptocurrencies in general all fail due to various technicalities not yet on scene. Just realize no government and no other groups can hope to stop Decentralized Cryptocurrencies. The preverbial cat is out of the bag and there is no way to stop this Decentralized Monetary Revolution unless it's participants almost all surrender to whatever reasons. Which is extremely unlikely at this present point in time, all things considered, same for the future from here out.

 Bitcoin is the King. Either ride the BitcoinExpress or very likely wish you had. Speculate only a dash with others as you desire but don't dare get left behind or that next rally could pass you by and quite likely break your spirit as well as financially cause you grave harm.

 Much like Ebay beat out all contenders so has Bitcoin whipped all contenders combined, and Bitcoin is so far ahead and gaining strenth with each passing setback that it's quite obvious now that it's almost assured 1st place, if not the lion share of the marketplace, much like Ebay. It's tough to dethrone or even squeeze into a marketplace like this. Bitcoin itself was fortunate with blessed timing and great media coverage to catapult it into the public's attention.

Bitcoin is Freedom



Caveat emptor

With such a username, you should be able to eat bitcoin source code and spit out litecoin, vertcoin and blackcoin.

So...
"should something else fully displace it"
That's exactly the subject of this topic!
I am surprised a firm/strong believer in BTC such as yourself even mentions the possibility "something else" could displace it. And so my question is still the same" What other coin can come along and be a "Better coin than Bitcoin"??

Those who love BTC so much defend it against any criticism with the zeal and fanaticism of a religious cult defending its almighty GOD.

As for "or Cryptocurrencies in general all fail due to various technicalities not yet on scene."
two things come to mind:
1. BTC Transaction Malleability bug discovered and exploited not too long ago. when BTC core developers RUSHED-IN - in a mad dash - to fix it. Who to say another bug does not surface or a malicious attack - somehow - cripples the network?
2. Government interference: if I am not mistaken, Russia has banned a lot of BTC activity and set exorbitant import tariffs on mining hardware. China Central bank has banned Yuan deposits and withdrawals against BTC (I could be wrong about that, but that's what I had heard).

+1

Advanced features, preferable something any other coin don't have. And it needs to be POS or other very low-energy solution. Otherwise you are wasting your time.

Second generation coins, NXT and NEM particularly, will overtake Bitcoin pretty soon with many advanced features, no 51% attack, no wasteful mining, lot faster confirmations etc, etc. If you think you can make better coin than those two, then go for it. You will need at least many good devs for that. It's going to be very hard task indeed. Propably you can use your money and time better by just invest in those... 

Then you can go check out DRK. It's been the best performer these past few days (on the market).

But isn't Dark a "one trick wonder"  like peercoin or Namecoin. And that anonymous thing is already in development on many other coins too.

...And now it's getting down... Darkcoin feature (anonymous transactions) and also anonymous messaging is being released in NXT very soon... And it is just a beginning...