Why so many alt-coins when they're all the same?

[Stampbit]

Ive been reading alot of alt-coin descriptions and they all seem to be more or less the same as bitcoin, like litecoin, they advertise it as being quicker but if you actually follow that it takes just as much time as bitcoin to have the same transaction security. None of the adopted alt-coins really do anything different or offer anything unique past what bitcoin already does. Can anyone name one coin that has a unique property that bitcoin doesnt have?

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[drakahn]

namecoin has a distributed domain name service
there are other coins that use different algo's
there is a coin with demurage
a coin with proof of stake

there are a few different coins, but yes, a lot of them are just renamed clones

[markm]

Namecoin, devcoin, groupcoin, i0coin, ixcoin, coiledcoin and geistgeld are like free extra bonus points you can pick up pretty much for free while you mine bitcoins (or while you mine terracoins, for that matter, since terracoins presumably as a very close clone of bitcoin is equally able to be used as the primary chain in merged mining).

So although you might not personally see much use for them, they are pretty much free to pick up if you choose to pick them up. If you don't want to, fine. But it is unlikely that they undermine the value of bitcoins so who do you hurt other than yourself by not bothering to pick them up?

-MarkM-

[paul21]

In the spirit of bitcoin, there should be no (central) authority that controls the currency. Likewise, there should be no authority that says there should only be bitcoin. Add to that , bitcoin has its flaws (energy consumption for proof of work, block chain size (gigabytes and growing) and its shortcomings like point of sale confirmation speed.

[Stampbit]

Namecoin, devcoin, groupcoin, i0coin, ixcoin, coiledcoin and geistgeld are like free extra bonus points you can pick up pretty much for free while you mine bitcoins (or while you mine terracoins, for that matter, since terracoins presumably as a very close clone of bitcoin is equally able to be used as the primary chain in merged mining).

So although you might not personally see much use for them, they are pretty much free to pick up if you choose to pick them up. If you don't want to, fine. But it is unlikely that they undermine the value of bitcoins so who do you hurt other than yourself by not bothering to pick them up?

-MarkM-

Users want something different, a bitcoin wihtout volatility and without massive consumption of resources (not that most users are mining, but people dont like the idea of this adding to the environmental problem). None of these alt-coins offer anything unique much less solve any of bitcoin's problems. I see some attempts on here at trying to solve the volatility problem but they remain either unimplemented or they're just really weak attempts at social engineering.

It seems like turning bitcoin into a dns system has been the only real progress made so far, though in what direction.

[willhash4food]

Namecoin, devcoin, groupcoin, i0coin, ixcoin, coiledcoin and geistgeld are like free extra bonus points you can pick up pretty much for free while you mine bitcoins (or while you mine terracoins, for that matter, since terracoins presumably as a very close clone of bitcoin is equally able to be used as the primary chain in merged mining).

So although you might not personally see much use for them, they are pretty much free to pick up if you choose to pick them up. If you don't want to, fine. But it is unlikely that they undermine the value of bitcoins so who do you hurt other than yourself by not bothering to pick them up?

-MarkM-

Users want something different, a bitcoin wihtout volatility and without massive consumption of resources (not that most users are mining, but people dont like the idea of this adding to the environmental problem). None of these alt-coins offer anything unique much less solve any of bitcoin's problems. I see some attempts on here at trying to solve the volatility problem but they remain either unimplemented or they're just really weak attempts at social engineering.

It seems like turning bitcoin into a dns system has been the only real progress made so far, though in what direction.

Since you're complaining that the crypto currency market is too volatile and requires too much energy consumption, it sounds to me like it's not for you.

Try NASDAQ or NYSE.

[d5000]

Users want something different, a bitcoin wihtout volatility and without massive consumption of resources (not that most users are mining, but people dont like the idea of this adding to the environmental problem). None of these alt-coins offer anything unique much less solve any of bitcoin's problems. I see some attempts on here at trying to solve the volatility problem but they remain either unimplemented or they're just really weak attempts at social engineering.

PPCoin is trying exactly this. Volatility, at this stage, is natural for bitcoin and all alt-coins.

[Viceroy]

PPCoin is trying exactly this. Volatility, at this stage, is natural for bitcoin and all alt-coins.

Yea, it's a shame they went with sha-256 though...

[rbdrbd]

PPCoin is trying exactly this. Volatility, at this stage, is natural for bitcoin and all alt-coins.

Yea, it's a shame they went with sha-256 though...

Novacoin is scrypt with POS. It's a shame it was premined though....so I don't mine it b/c of that. It there was a decent scrypt coin, without POS, that had the support of the community, that would be interesting. I am mining feathercoin right now, but it's just a litecoin clone....it appears that it is gaining early support though.

[Stampbit]

Namecoin, devcoin, groupcoin, i0coin, ixcoin, coiledcoin and geistgeld are like free extra bonus points you can pick up pretty much for free while you mine bitcoins (or while you mine terracoins, for that matter, since terracoins presumably as a very close clone of bitcoin is equally able to be used as the primary chain in merged mining).

So although you might not personally see much use for them, they are pretty much free to pick up if you choose to pick them up. If you don't want to, fine. But it is unlikely that they undermine the value of bitcoins so who do you hurt other than yourself by not bothering to pick them up?

-MarkM-

Users want something different, a bitcoin wihtout volatility and without massive consumption of resources (not that most users are mining, but people dont like the idea of this adding to the environmental problem). None of these alt-coins offer anything unique much less solve any of bitcoin's problems. I see some attempts on here at trying to solve the volatility problem but they remain either unimplemented or they're just really weak attempts at social engineering.

It seems like turning bitcoin into a dns system has been the only real progress made so far, though in what direction.

Since you're complaining that the crypto currency market is too volatile and requires too much energy consumption, it sounds to me like it's not for you.

Try NASDAQ or NYSE.

No thanks, i prefer to work exclusively in bags of potatoes, which unlike bitcoins can either be eaten or fermented into alcohol.

[Benny1985]

There are a few big differences that you should note.

Hashing algorithm is the biggest. BTC uses sha256, along with Namecoin, PPCoin, Terracoin, and Freicoin, among others. Its the original hashing algorithm, but also vulnerable to this ASIC arms race. It may make mining very centralized inside of a few key players with the money to acquire ASICs. Comparatively, you have Scrypt-based currencies such as Litecoin, Novacoin, Mincoin, and Feathercoin which are (currently) ASIC and FGPA resistant, with suggestions that ASIC/FGPA systems will not be in the same playing field as sha256-based ASIC/FGPA rigs in regards to efficiency.

That can matter a lot to a currency that is supposed to be decentralized. If you look at the Terracoin mining attacks, you can see why its an issue. Also, you have different proof concepts between BTC and other coins, with Proof of Work and Proof of Stake being the two major ones. PoW is used by most coinage systems, while PPCoin and Novacoin use the alternate proof-of-stake.. I have no idea what it actually does, though.

Then you have the various flairs of what blocks payout and how frequent they become available. One advantage of the faster blocks such as LTC, FC, or TRC is that you can estimate confirmation time much more accurately than BTC. Even if the average confirmation period is 1hr on BTC (or 6 confirms), that number can vary a lot. If you have 24 confirms in that time period, such as LTC, your margin of change is much, much, narrower due to the law of averages.

Then outside of that, you have demurrage, and other concepts that are usually unique to every coin. But the big ones are algo, proof-of-work, and the confirmation times. They tend to create a few major categories of coins. We'll see which one proves to be the best. We need altcoins, because in a free market, the best one wins, not the first one.