at the end of the day btc will be the determinator for mining profitability unless some other alt chain grows substantially in its influence.
And explain to me why we need an alt-coin? What's wrong with just simply mining BTC and be happy with that?
Alt coin chains are so stupid.
They are just a temporary bit of variety for miners, and they provide a short-lived bonus to the first miners to point their resources there.
But the fact is that even Bitcoin is not well-established with places to spend them, etc. so what chance does LiteCoin, SolidCoin, ButtCoin, etc. have of becoming a real currency, rather than a huge, unapologetic flash-in-the-pan?
Talk about a currency that exists solely for speculation , or a pyramid scheme -- any of the "alternate" blockchains fit this description.
At least Bitcoin has some measure of popularity and stability, with a bit of an infrastructure.