WHY SUCH CONTEMPT AND DISPARAGING FOR ALT-COINS?!

[amishmanish]

I have been to some of the cryptocurrency reddits including r/cryptocurrency and r/bitcoin. There is this usual agreement that Alt-coins are Shit-coins and a general show of contempt towards them. I feel this is a disservice to the cause of wealth redistribution touted by Bitcoin enthusiasts.

I see alt-coins as the one possible way that bitcoin can gain mass acceptance and legality. Those who think that "legality" is something bitcoin doesn't need are just kidding themselves. If the governments outlaws it, it will remain the plaything of uber-hackers with the necessary skill to conceal their identities and be used in the deep web for things like drugs/guns/child-porn (aka Silk Road).

The use cases for alt-coins and ICOs are what can gives bitcoin its major value in the long-run. For example, If the blockchain technology and ICOs enables someone in a third-world country to raise easy capital and use it to invest for setting up a small factory/ infrastructure. Being able to network with investors in developed countries, this also brings the option of open exchange of ideas and availability of expertise from the community. The products these third-world entrepreneurs create in turn benefit the community and give more acceptance to Bitcoin.

The big hurdle in this is going to be the greed of the major holders. The major holders are able to perform pump and dumps and every such Alt-project loses its legitimacy afterwards. The big players run off with the money looking for the next shit-coin to suck dry. The banks/ governments have the funds to become the big holders. This is one way they can easily turn bitcoin against itself and destroy its legitimacy. Why isn't there more of a discussion on this?

Sorry if what i have said is just too obvious or already discussed. I started reading about Bitcoin and ICOs about 3 months back and the idealism behind it was exciting. As of now, it seems like its mostly about trading and money. Do we need thought leaders?

[davis196]

There`s no agreement that altcoins are shitcoins.The big and old altcoins like ethereum,monero,litecoin and dogecoin are not shitcoins.The small altcoins created just for pump and dump purposes + all the forked bitcoins (bitcoin unlimited,BCH and bitcoin gold) are shitcoins.
Anyway,you are right that the idealism about mass blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption is gone.
It`s all about making money.

[jseverson]

It's just like how people pretty much assume every ICO they see is a scam. A massive majority of altcoins are pump and dump. just as majority of ICOs are scams. I wouldn't go as far as to call it a "disservice to the cause of wealth redistribution touted by Bitcoin enthusiasts", but rather just a case of a sweeping generalization and maybe discrimination in some cases.

The big hurdle in this is going to be the greed of the major holders. The major holders are able to perform pump and dumps and every such Alt-project loses its legitimacy afterwards. The big players run off with the money looking for the next shit-coin to suck dry. The banks/ governments have the funds to become the big holders. This is one way they can easily turn bitcoin against itself and destroy its legitimacy. Why isn't there more of a discussion on this?

This is a legitimate concern, actually. The way I see it, though, is that Bitcoin is too small at the moment to warrant an allocation of such resources, and that it's just going to get harder as Bitcoin gets bigger. It is a possibility, but hopefully a remote one. There's also the fact that if they want nothing to do with Bitcoin, governments have the power to impose an outright ban which would effectively cripple Bitcoin trading in their countries -- people will likely still be able to trade with each other, but having no exchanges or vendors to accept transactions would complicate things a lot.

[EmmanCryp]

Some altcoins are still valid able and good. It's just that the ICO guyz are doing more harm than good to altcoins

[odolvlobo]

It is easy to dismiss altcoins because most are ultimately worthless and have no reason to exist. While there may be a few viable altcoins out there, they are tainted by all the other crap coins.

The situation for ICOs is similar, but worse. Most of the ICOs are outright scams whose sole purpose is to enrich the promoter. The rest may be legimate attempts but the vast majority of them are doomed to fail. I doubt that more than 1% of the ICOs will succeed.

That is the reality. People bash altcoins and ICOs because it is easy.

[Slow death]

[...]

Last year I invested my money in a coin (altcoins), the coin was listed on yobit and I confess that I was very happy because the price did not stop rising, it was very happy for me, until weeks later yobit forbade to do currency trading in their exchange claiming that people were spamming the yobit chat to raise the price of the currency, immediately the currency price fell to the point where my money was reduced to nothing, can you believe it? I mean, my money was reduced to nothing because of a petty decision

days later I bought other currencies (altcoins) to see if I recovered my lost money, but it was another disgust, because they were coins created by the same dev and this damn dev stayed all day in the chat of yobit to do spam to increase the value of the coin and once again I lost my money


There are many altcoins that I do not understand why they are created and listed in exchange

It is easy to dismiss altcoins because most are ultimately worthless and have no reason to exist.

I agree, someone who creates altcoin with jesus  and trump name, what the heck is this? this destroys the little reputation altcoins have

[Scorpion]

It's because a lot, if not most altcoins are vaporware with no real technology behind it. I guess altcoins that purely function as a currency are doing what they are designed for but for the most part a lot of crypto are coming out with no real substance. I try to find and support crypto that have a real development team behind it, a strong community and of course a real product, platform or service.

[amishmanish]

It's just like how people pretty much assume every ICO they see is a scam. A massive majority of altcoins are pump and dump. just as majority of ICOs are scams. I wouldn't go as far as to call it a "disservice to the cause of wealth redistribution touted by Bitcoin enthusiasts", but rather just a case of a sweeping generalization and maybe discrimination in some cases.

The big hurdle in this is going to be the greed of the major holders. The major holders are able to perform pump and dumps and every such Alt-project loses its legitimacy afterwards. The big players run off with the money looking for the next shit-coin to suck dry. The banks/ governments have the funds to become the big holders. This is one way they can easily turn bitcoin against itself and destroy its legitimacy. Why isn't there more of a discussion on this?

This is a legitimate concern, actually. The way I see it, though, is that Bitcoin is too small at the moment to warrant an allocation of such resources, and that it's just going to get harder as Bitcoin gets bigger. It is a possibility, but hopefully a remote one. There's also the fact that if they want nothing to do with Bitcoin, governments have the power to impose an outright ban which would effectively cripple Bitcoin trading in their countries -- people will likely still be able to trade with each other, but having no exchanges or vendors to accept transactions would complicate things a lot.

I am sorry if i went overboard but the kind of snobbery that some of the old hands tend to show on online forums/ reddit can be really distracting from what the porposed intentions are, that is, decentralized, safe and free access of currency and commerce without the overpowering presence of central banks.
I don't blame the Govt per se because not all politicians are central bank stooges. These private institutions with a lot of money are what can not be trusted to keep your money safe. (Investment banks ably sulported by the Central banks).
I just feel that bitcoin enthusiasts, especially the old hands at crypto should see the altcoins and ICOs for the potential they have and try to support it, rather than talk shit about them all the time..Its definitely becoming too much of a job for anyone to lay down guidelines about these but thank god for this forum. The guidelines for giveaways/Signtaure Camapaigns was particularly impressive..
If enough campaigns follow those guidelines, the signature csmpaigns could become a good way to separate the wheat from the chafe. But only if the senior members only choose the good ones.

I understand these are tough decisions to make but who else, if not this community.

[jseverson]

I just feel that bitcoin enthusiasts, especially the old hands at crypto should see the altcoins and ICOs for the potential they have and try to support it, rather than talk shit about them all the time.

I'm fairly sure most do. The same people who say that altcoins are shitcoins and that ICOs are scams are also the ones most likely to look past that stereotype. If you press them on their statement, they'll just say that most, but not all are, just like majority of the replies in this thread. I, for one, would be more than willing to support legitimate causes, but I'd rather not lend resources of any kind, including word of mouth, to scammers. I'm sure everyone feels the same way. We all know the potential of legitimate cryptocurrencies and ICOs, but it's just so difficult to sift through the scammy garbage. Not speaking out about the reality of the situation would make matters worse, simply because more people will fall for it, and more scammers will be born.

[eternalgloom]

It's because a lot, if not most altcoins are vaporware with no real technology behind it. I guess altcoins that purely function as a currency are doing what they are designed for but for the most part a lot of crypto are coming out with no real substance. I try to find and support crypto that have a real development team behind it, a strong community and of course a real product, platform or service.

Yeah that's the thing, there are new altcoins and ICO's created en masse every day, so it's easy to just lump everything together and say that 'altcoins are scam'.

Most of the older altcoins that still have a lot of marketcap are the most interesting in term of development and project behind it.

[左]

The hate stems from uncertainty. People have money invested in btc and they react defensively.
A lot of alts are already technically superior to bitcoin, who knows what the future brings for some of them.

[amishmanish]

It is easy to dismiss altcoins because most are ultimately worthless and have no reason to exist. While there may be a few viable altcoins out there, they are tainted by all the other crap coins.

The situation for ICOs is similar, but worse. Most of the ICOs are outright scams whose sole purpose is to enrich the promoter. The rest may be legimate attempts but the vast majority of them are doomed to fail. I doubt that more than 1% of the ICOs will succeed.

That is the reality. People bash altcoins and ICOs because it is easy.

Umm..I don't know if there's a convention to address a legendary user.. so i'll just start.
Yeah, a lot of them are worthless. What I want to say is that if Alt-coins and ICO's lose their credibility, it will ultimately be detrimental to the whole ecosystem, including bitcoin acceptance. They lose there credibility all the more when experienced people / Big holders call them shit-coins.
So maybe the community should find a way to correct this.The market will surely introduce self-correction as people become more experienced at judging and the wisdom here reaches far off.
Apologies if I sound like preaching to the choir. Thanks for the response..

[NoiseBoy]

I think it has a lot to do with the "team mentality". You can have two football teams where not a single player is from the town they play in, but people from those towns will feel so passionately about their team that it borders on the irrational. When those teams play, the fans of those teams will feel very real, powerful hatred towards each other. All over a bunch of people who aren't even locals competing to be the best at moving a ball around a field...

It's in our genes, in our evolved tribal natures, and once upon a time served as a survival mechanism. Not it has the consequence of people choosing, say, Team Bitcoin, and becoming so emotionally attached to the bitcoin "team" that they inherently hate anything that seems like competition. Their emotions will be so powerful that they will actually believe they are correct--that literally every altcoin is a shitcoin, that literally every ICO is a scam.

It's sad, but you can't change other people.

You can only guard against the same emotional impulses in yourself.

[Vatimins]

I have been to some of the cryptocurrency reddits including r/cryptocurrency and r/bitcoin. There is this usual agreement that Alt-coins are Shit-coins and a general show of contempt towards them. I feel this is a disservice to the cause of wealth redistribution touted by Bitcoin enthusiasts.

I see alt-coins as the one possible way that bitcoin can gain mass acceptance and legality. Those who think that "legality" is something bitcoin doesn't need are just kidding themselves. If the governments outlaws it, it will remain the plaything of uber-hackers with the necessary skill to conceal their identities and be used in the deep web for things like drugs/guns/child-porn (aka Silk Road).

The use cases for alt-coins and ICOs are what can gives bitcoin its major value in the long-run. For example, If the blockchain technology and ICOs enables someone in a third-world country to raise easy capital and use it to invest for setting up a small factory/ infrastructure. Being able to network with investors in developed countries, this also brings the option of open exchange of ideas and availability of expertise from the community. The products these third-world entrepreneurs create in turn benefit the community and give more acceptance to Bitcoin.

The big hurdle in this is going to be the greed of the major holders. The major holders are able to perform pump and dumps and every such Alt-project loses its legitimacy afterwards. The big players run off with the money looking for the next shit-coin to suck dry. The banks/ governments have the funds to become the big holders. This is one way they can easily turn bitcoin against itself and destroy its legitimacy. Why isn't there more of a discussion on this?

Sorry if what i have said is just too obvious or already discussed. I started reading about Bitcoin and ICOs about 3 months back and the idealism behind it was exciting. As of now, it seems like its mostly about trading and money. Do we need thought leaders?

I feel you man. And I strongly agree with your points. People nowadays label all alternative coins as shitcoins. But we cannot blame them. Because a lot of people really do make shitcoins which are made for scamming or just for the purpose of gaining money. It really is shitty if you ask me. But there are coins out there that are really great and really does contribute not only to the crypto world but also to the world we live in. And it would take me a lot of words to state every good thing some ICOs did or are aiming for.

Sadly, we cannot change it. All we can do is be mature and do what actions we know are right.

[justdimin]

The hate stems from uncertainty. People have money invested in btc and they react defensively.
A lot of alts are already technically superior to bitcoin, who knows what the future brings for some of them.

No one knows what the future brings, but that does not change the fact that most of the ICOs are scam. It is not that ICOs are not good, but how most people have used the avenue to create coins that are shitty (we cannot deny that) and make the whole market just filled with non progressful coins can be so annoying.

Like you said, it is no doubt that some projects are really coming up which might give a great push in the market but until then and no one knows the future.

[左]

The hate stems from uncertainty. People have money invested in btc and they react defensively.
A lot of alts are already technically superior to bitcoin, who knows what the future brings for some of them.

No one knows what the future brings, but that does not change the fact that most of the ICOs are scam. It is not that ICOs are not good, but how most people have used the avenue to create coins that are shitty (we cannot deny that) and make the whole market just filled with non progressful coins can be so annoying.

Like you said, it is no doubt that some projects are really coming up which might give a great push in the market but until then and no one knows the future.

You're right, there are lot's of scams that get people to look more negative at alts and approach them in a negative way.

[StarofBTC]

Some altcoins are still valid able and good. It's just that the ICO guyz are doing more harm than good to altcoins

So many coins have really given some bad names for altcoins since they are just shitcoins mainly good for pumps and dumps which I do not even see any reason why they even exist in the first place. There are so many new altcoins and old ones however with good prospects, however, so many ICOs coming up today are just shitty and most of them will not even last.

[Prodigan786]

I have witnessed lots of coins became nothing after Ico for small time there was huge pump then price dropped like hell some coin even reached 0 . Lots of coins created only for pump and dump purpose once deb get profit then coin value will be nothing.

[thepo1m]

The reason being that most of these Altcoins have no reason for exiting in the first place but in a free market they do and thanks to open source projects you can easily copy a code into your own project, the question now is who is using them, no one, are they making profit, NO

[ludovicvuillier]

The big hurdle in this is going to be the greed of the major holders. The major holders are able to perform pump and dumps and every such Alt-project loses its legitimacy afterwards. The big players run off with the money looking for the next shit-coin to suck dry. The banks/ governments have the funds to become the big holders. This is one way they can easily turn bitcoin against itself and destroy its legitimacy. Why isn't there more of a discussion on this?

This is one of the reasons we built our coin with price stability, so that it wouldn't be open to manipulation of pump and dump.

Regarding the legality and legitimacy, I completely agree with you. It's one of the things we're working on with our project - merging the current financial world with the crypto world.