What do You Look For in an Altcoin?

[fible1]

Hey guys,
I'm writing a short booklet on how to buy altcoins for the "buy and hold" sort of investor; how to avoid scam coins, signs that a coin has a good base, identifying trolls, gauging a developer, getting community feedback, etc.

I was wondering if some of you guys could tell me what you look for in an investment coin/what steps you take before investing. Booklet should be done in a couple of weeks (I'm half way in); Ill have it professionally edited and then Ill submit it on KDP. I am happy to provide free copies to anyone who posts a lead .

Thanks for taking the time,
Pablo.

[Arrakeen]

Hey guys,
I'm writing a short booklet on how to buy altcoins for the "buy and hold" sort of investor; how to avoid scam coins, signs that a coin has a good base, identifying trolls, gauging a developer, getting community feedback, etc.

I was wondering if some of you guys could tell me what you look for in an investment coin/what steps you take before investing. Booklet should be done in a couple of weeks (I'm half way in); Ill have it professionally edited and then Ill submit it on KDP. I am happy to provide free copies to anyone who posts a lead .

Thanks for taking the time,
Pablo.

This book should only be a few sentences short.  One of which should read, preferably in bold, "Nobody knows what'll happen to your investment."

[fible1]

Hey guys,
I'm writing a short booklet on how to buy altcoins for the "buy and hold" sort of investor; how to avoid scam coins, signs that a coin has a good base, identifying trolls, gauging a developer, getting community feedback, etc.

I was wondering if some of you guys could tell me what you look for in an investment coin/what steps you take before investing. Booklet should be done in a couple of weeks (I'm half way in); Ill have it professionally edited and then Ill submit it on KDP. I am happy to provide free copies to anyone who posts a lead .

Thanks for taking the time,
Pablo.

This book should only be a few sentences short.  One of which should read, preferably in bold, "Nobody knows what'll happen to your investment."

As in any investment, nothing is guaranteed; but unless you really don't know what you are doing, it's not really gambling either. Innovative coins with established developers that are able to rally communities around them have a future as long term (5+ year) investments I think.

Also, it is a book about things to look for in a good prospect, not looking at specific coins.

I'm open to being wrong.

Pablo.

[Arrakeen]

The best altcoins are those with huge amounts of puppet accounts promoting it while talking down other alts.  Flashy, shiny graphics.  Crazy promises of riches.  ICO launches.  No dev communication. 


Basically, you cannot ride on anything when looking for a 'good' altcoin.  There's a 50-50 chance you'll get burnt, or the coin is actually in it for the long haul with sincere devs (very rare to find)

[box0214]

1. community
2. development roadmap and releases to date
3. longevity
4. marketing
5. core devs feedback

was in your same boat awhile back. altcoins are a gabmle that's for sure, same goes for bitcoin in its early stages.

days are done with clone coins that add little to no value to the technology. going forward imo, is the crypto framework platforms we should be looking at. in particular nxt and ethereum. until someone makes use of one of these platforms in a practical everyday use case, it will just be in the shadows until then. many altcoin holders are holding in hopes to cash out big in the future like btc. it can happen, but i feel its not the coin we should be looking at, but the platform and potential companies that position themselves in the decentralized asset realm that is truly going to see the benefits in the next big rise.

[ilovealtcoins]

Personally, I like coins with any kind of innovation over Bitcoin.

May not make it a better investment, but it's cool to see what the community is up to.

[tokeweed]

If I were to buy and hold, an altcoin should have all of these characteristics.

- A high daily trading volume and a really great buy support. 

- A high and growing daily transaction volume.

- An active Github.

- A good, solid (and growing) community of people building useful stuff on it.

- VC and big FI interest on the stuff being built on top.

Sadly, there's no altcoin that I'm willing to buy and hold yet.  It's easy becoming a bagholder in this game.  Hopefully that changes soon.

[Zer0Sum]

Real world use - I like Sia because I use it to pay for decentralized storage, right now - not just as a speculative instrument.

Ya man, that's why it's mired at 4 sats...
Because "decentralized storage" is a classic "solution in search of a problem".

Taking on Amazon/Google with one or two Devs is absurd.

I don't think the OP's "book" is serious...
But the first crypto that actually taps into the massive Deep Web revenue stream will fly...
Based on past torrent site ad revenues that stream is about $200 million/year... plus another $50 million/year for private VPNs, etc.

It will take someone with business experience and BALLS to break out of the "Bitcoin/Alt Ghetto"...
There must be a creative, well-financed Business Plan to entice 1000s of downloads/day from "privacy" sites and forums...
The Google strategy of "give-something-great-away-for-free" is the way to, ultimately, dominate a specific Deep Web niche.

No one needs complex Swiss-Army-Knife platforms... people need simple, ultra-targeted software.

[box0211]

doesn't etheruem fit all your key points?

If I were to buy and hold, an altcoin should have all of these characteristics.

- A high daily trading volume and a really great buy support. 

- A high and growing daily transaction volume.

- An active Github.

- A good, solid (and growing) community of people building useful stuff on it.

- VC and big FI interest on the stuff being built on top.

Sadly, there's no altcoin that I'm willing to buy and hold yet.  It's easy becoming a bagholder in this game.  Hopefully that changes soon.

[tokeweed]

doesn't etheruem fit all your key points?

If I were to buy and hold, an altcoin should have all of these characteristics.

- A high daily trading volume and a really great buy support. 

- A high and growing daily transaction volume.

- An active Github.

- A good, solid (and growing) community of people building useful stuff on it.

- VC and big FI interest on the stuff being built on top.

Sadly, there's no altcoin that I'm willing to buy and hold yet.  It's easy becoming a bagholder in this game.  Hopefully that changes soon.

It's in my watch list.  Still waiting/hoping for it to bottom out.

[~BtcRoll.com~]

I personally dont invest in altcoin, but I'm guessing most people simply look for the most popular coins and how they have been preforming in the market.

[rally]

I have a few altcoins.
I hope one day they will go the same way up as bitcoin.
You never know. Who thought 5 years ago that bitcoin should be where it is now?

[tokeweed]

I have a few altcoins.
I hope one day they will go the same way up as bitcoin.
You never know. Who thought 5 years ago that bitcoin should be where it is now?

That's the argument most of the bagholders had.

[Piston Honda]

wbb and swift

[Spoetnik]

Hey guys,
I'm writing a short booklet on how to buy altcoins for the "buy and hold" sort of investor; how to avoid scam coins, signs that a coin has a good base, identifying trolls, gauging a developer, getting community feedback, etc.

I was wondering if some of you guys could tell me what you look for in an investment coin/what steps you take before investing. Booklet should be done in a couple of weeks (I'm half way in); Ill have it professionally edited and then Ill submit it on KDP. I am happy to provide free copies to anyone who posts a lead .

Thanks for taking the time,
Pablo.

buy and hold ?
I think what you meant was.. Support.
It sounds like you want to make an investors guide on how to siphon money out of the Altcoin scene.. "profit"

identifying trolls ? Seriously ?
Explain to me how even if you found one how it would matter.
The reality is a solid project is immune from Trolling and should be of no concern to a REAL coin supporter.
And i know more about that than most of you here.. i hold all my alt-coins still.. i never dumped for a profit.
I am a supporter are you ?
Go check the history of Jackpot Coin for example.. want to see proof i still have my coins ? (not sure i can prove it though)

You know guy you can't expect much when there has been THOUSANDS of coins pumped out.
You better have one hell of a damn good reason for making another one.
coin no. 7,002 is still coin no. 7,002 no matter how hard you try and justify it.
And the public's opinion on that speaks loud and clear..
they complained about too many coins here and left in large numbers.

You write what you want though i won't stop you..

What steps do i take before investing ?
I ask who made it.
I ask how many other coins have they made.
I ask how it's initial distribution worked.

Everybody chants they hate scam coins but only when they lose money on them  

[catotune]

Great topic - I look for a coin that has:

1. an active developer(s) who frequently posts and responds to questions
2. Many active network connections for the wallet - this implies that there are a variety of real users and that the blockchain might not slow to a crawl and die
3. A bitcointalk thread that is active and has lots of different participants, indicating a large & organically grown community

Good luck with your booklet!

[Spoetnik]

Great topic - I look for a coin that has:

1. an active developer(s) who frequently posts and responds to questions
2. Many active network connections for the wallet - this implies that there are a variety of real users and that the blockchain might not slow to a crawl and die
3. A bitcointalk thread that is active and has lots of different participants, indicating a large & organically grown community

Good luck with your booklet!

Good point many coins have never had an ANN topic by the dev.

Such as CENT or StartCoin

Both were launched else where to keep all Bitcointalk users in the dark (to give early insiders an advantage)

but active developer's wander off..

edit:
actually many coins are not by the dev at all..
many have been paid for by a user who can't code who goes and creates a new account
such as use name "MyNewCoin" then he pays some guy to make MyNewCoin Coin
then get broke bored etc and leaves.. this is usually what happens 90% of the time.

[catotune]

Great topic - I look for a coin that has:

1. an active developer(s) who frequently posts and responds to questions
2. Many active network connections for the wallet - this implies that there are a variety of real users and that the blockchain might not slow to a crawl and die
3. A bitcointalk thread that is active and has lots of different participants, indicating a large & organically grown community

Good luck with your booklet!

Good point many coins have never had an ANN topic by the dev.

Such as CENT or StartCoin

Both were launched else where to keep all Bitcointalk users in the dark (to give early insiders an advantage)

but active developer's wander off..

edit:
actually many coins are not by the dev at all..
many have been paid for by a user who can't code who goes and creates a new account
such as use name "MyNewCoin" then he pays some guy to make MyNewCoin Coin
then get broke bored etc and leaves.. this is usually what happens 90% of the time.

Yes, I'm wary of any coin that doesn't have a bitcointalk presence. Yes there are trolls here, but if you are dedicated to the project, you have to be active where all serious investors look to for information. Thick skin is a must I think.

And yes I'm also wary of one man shows, where the "dev" could get bored or leave at the first sign of a dump. Teams are more stable, although many devs misrepresent their 1 man operation as a team.

[vhong]

Most of us are looking for an altcoin with a solid, honest, reliable and trusted developer with long term commitment to a particular project. But would be difficult to find one because there's no such thing as perfect dev. 

[CryptoSporidium]

read this forum daily for many hours for a month or two, write down the names of users who consistently impress you with thoughtful posts, then check those user's profiles daily to see where they post. Eventually the large pool of hundreds of alts shrinks to about 30 interesting ones. Follow smart people and see where they go.