First off, anyone who says Bitcoin is probably useless in the future, has lost all point on reality. Without Bitcoin, none of these alts would have a chance in hell.

Secondly, yes, the reality is that 99% of alt holders SAY their coins are the best but probably know deep down that they are just pumped crap.

Thirdly, I guess I am no different, but I buy my coins with some care, hoping for them to get profitable but with a longer timeframe in mind. A year is all right to wait, six months is the minimum I would wait. But the way Bitcoin is flying, we are all in for a very long wait! We're all winners if we come out of this with small profits. But we need to stop thinking in terms of x10 in 2 months.

I've heard a lot of issues lately with Nova, but my own personal experience hasn't been bad at all. Granted, they have limited support and seem to run into trouble with the small alts almost listed on no other exchange, but I never faced issues or delays with BTC withdrawals. I think they have been trying to deal with their problems.

They just announced their closure, and will deal with all outstanding issues before handing over to new management. Running an exchange catering to a thousand small alts is always going to be tough. Hope the new management will hire skilled developers. Goes the same for any small exchange, really.

This is what I've learnt, and it's not just for airdrops either, but in general any form of reward or bounty. The higher your rank, the more followers you have on social media, the more you earn. So, if anyone wants to invest in time, I would suggest building up. Get a friend to follow or subscribe every day and slowly the numbers will grow. Post here as much as you read, but ensure to contribute and not simply spam. Before you know it, you'll be Full Member after some months, Senior after 8 months.

And always work to improve your quality of posts because managers will look at that now. Soon, the same will be for airdrops!

I actually remember CarTaxi... I believe their ads are floating around those big ad networks. I had a look at their signature campaign when they first launched (was it last month?) but they required something like 50 posts a week minimum and only in ICO ANN threads. Seemed like a bit too much for me. They had a rather solid idea, to be honest, if I speak from a traditional and non-crypto point of view. I live in a city with almost daily scenes of towing and a lot of cutthroat competition to secure the towing services for accidents, so if they somehow get a share of that...

But to OP, forget the advice from here and continue your own research. At least if you regret your decisions later (like me haha) you have yourself to blame and don't feel SO disappointed.

Great post, jlp. Of course, I feel that it is a minor "shame" that some legitimate ICOs would fall under your category as #2 or even an outright scam. I definitely agree that some of the names you've mentioned, viewed by many as legitimate are just smoke and mirrors. They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on great videos and promotional material that they had almost nothing to do with creating.

But this is also the problem that is self-creating. People see that without the marketing hype and great videos, they will struggle to compete for attention and space. I know there are many great projects out there that don't get the attention they deserve because everyone is caught up with the next big thing. And these crypto multi-billionaires like Vitalik are party to this, they know they get their appearance fees or "advisor fees" upfront.

Look at Humaniq for a prime example. Pumped by Vitalik, and now look at where they are going. Absolutely clueless with no product to use in the real world except all their betas and trials.

Haha yeah, actually this is the third or fourth time I've seen words like that, funny how language can play a part in this globalized world of crypto. Doomed to success. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and so on.

On point though, I see a lot of teams now spending a lot of money on marketing and promotion, going to blockchain conferences and expos. Makes me wonder that all this new money is being thrown around to create even more money. Crypto is definitely a sort of bubble, but of course fueling new innovations and tech. How long before the world gets tired?

Not sure what you mean here, to be honest. I am holding "real coins", and am holding many coins. I only hold what I believe it... since the idea of holding means I think they have value after periods of many, many months, 20, 30, maybe even 50 or more. I wouldn't buy a single coin if I didn't think it had a future. Price is of course an objective but never the primary concern for me. Sometimes, proven tech is good, not everything has to be available. For me, an existing product with proven potential and a realistic projection with future developments, PLUS I like it.

I got in Stratis at above $5 so I'm inclined to agree that it's oversold now... then again almost every alt in my holding seems to have the same oversold analysis! But yes, Stratis for me is such a good buy anyway below $5, it has more than enough potential to bring it close to $10 and with all the developments appearing to be on track, I'm definitely in for more now.

But unlike you, I'm a long-term holder, so I see profit taking like this as one of the deterrents but hey, keep the volumes!

Anyone know where to get immediate updates on this? In particular would like to learn more about any partnerships with mobile gaming companies. I think the project is mistaken in saying that there isn't anything like it available right now... I can think immediately of Game Credits and there are a couple more other competitors I'm sure.

Just want to see how many existing solid deals are already in place before I check this out properly. And no, I don't want to join Slack and Telegram. Too much rubbish.

I'm not surprised I only recognized three from your list. But you know what? If we all really want the domination to end from centralized exchanges, who just keep holding us hostage to whatever random and arbitrary laws that they come up with whenever they feel like it, then this will be the future that must happen.

I guess the point of decentralization is just that. Many exchanges to choose from, and market competition is free. Just like Bitcoin. Doesn't matter if there are 100 wallets and 100 explorers. We can all use them and use any or all. Doesn't have to one big wallet that everyone must use. And the coin and all of crypto is far better because of this.

This I wouldn't be too surprised to learn. They both feel the same, even if they have different models. My wariness with them is just simple. They are now fast and they are listing a number of ICO coins which I feel is a sort of secret tactic that's win-win for both (ok you let me buy at big presale discount, and I can start selling and listing you immediately).

Binance and Kucoin feel very Chinese, even if they cannot express that yet.

Long-term holds for me are beyond 12 months, with a 3-5 year outlook, based on Bitcoin from 2011/12 until today. In which case Litecoin is my #1 choice which is why I hold a lot of it. Even buying them now would be a smart investment for stability, in my opinion.

But like others here I also recommend Waves because of a very stable price growth over time with extremely strong support (fiat, not BTC pair). And agree to hold Monero, it may not have jumped the ways of Dash or Zcash but that is always going to set the pace, even if it ultimately won't sprint.

Filesharing is always going to tread legal complications, especially now that every country is closing down on IP rights, while torrent sites are also facing more and more difficulty. Advertising and marketing is a double edge sword for them too, you bring attention to your project and risk getting in legal trouble. It starts with the ICO,  like you said. If they manage expectations from there, it will bode well for the future of the project. If not... you get angry investors and they rip it up from within.

Wait, so does that mean that before this, Civic's data integrity was not secured? Should not that be a pre condition rather than an upgrade for a project like Civic, or am I being too expectful of crypto-projects in 2017?

Also, this is the first time I have seen the term velocity being used for a market. I am wondering if this means how quickly volume changes hands? If so, why is this important for the market? I thought large volume but less quick changing of hands means more holding?

Well, if anyone's wondering about Bitcoin Gold, they've already run into all sorts of problems. Coinbase first said they weren't transparent, saying that they will premine the coin before releasing full options to other miners. If you go on their blog now also it's unclear whether or not they've completed all the work they promised to do, such as replay protection and the completion of equihash.

Exchanges seem to have traded already, some on futures and some actual BTG, but the price just keeps on declining. All sorts of allegations happening now, seems wise for BitDice to have just stayed away from this.

Think about this. If you have to ask someone in this forum for validation of your decisions to join an ICO, then shouldn't you realise that you should stay away from it? All decisions have to come after your research, after your evaluation, and should never rely on the opinion of others, especially not on this forum where everyone is anonymous and using newbie accounts to promote ICOs.

Divide your reasons into Why you should join and Why you should not. Write them down clearly and then think. It's all about risk versus benefit.

The point here is, if you don't control your own funds and have to trust someone else or a third party, like any of the exchanges you mention... then yes, of course there is nothing to stop them from ever doing anything to:

"collect bitcoin gold" or any other fork coin

"collect" airdrops like byteball and stellar lumens.

do something else with your bitcoin.

run with it one day.

Learn your lesson. Don't store coins at exchanges, fork or no fork.

It depends on what you view as underperformance. Litecoin has gone from strength to strength in this last twelve months, in case you didn't notice! Remember how difficult it was for Bitcoin to break past $1000. Litecoin did almost reach $100 but it will definitely make a few more runs for it. Once that mark is broken, then $200 and $300 can only be a matter of time. Bright future for sure, maybe not as blinding as Bitcoin but we always knew that.

Go and visit the developer's website immediately and download the latest wallet. If you're a holder, there is no exception to the rule. Keep control of your own coins. These alts are very poor in circulation, and only tradeable on exchanges like Cryptopia. Should any issues happen with the wallet, with nodes, with the blockchain, your coins are in danger of being stuck forever. I've seen it happen too many times.

In fact, there's no reason for anyone to ever store coins on exchanges unless they're reserved in orders.

There shouldn't be a clear winner (or losers). The whole point of decentralized internet means that all of these coins and networks can exist, in cooperation or without shouldn't matter. Of the choices here, though, my pick is Sia. Is it because I have some SIA? Nope, it's not even 3% of my total portfolio. The only reason it's so low now is miners are co-mining together with ETH, but once that stops, or slows down, the supply rate should stabilise. And then the tech will speak for the value.