Inflation rate (coin supply growth) of major alt-coins (UPDATED 2013-06-26)

[d5000]

I was curious about the real inflation rate (=growth of the money supply) of major altcoins, in comparison to BTC. So I created this little "investigation" with the blockchain explorers.

I took all major altcoins which were created more than 30 days ago, because in the case of very young coins the inflation rate would drop significantly in the next weeks (for this reason, BTB and FTC have the highest inflation in the table).

Important: For the next issue in July, I will add the most popular coins of the recent "altcoin wave". I will consider only coins which are on at least 2 exchanges and with stable trade volume. If you want, you can give reasons which altcoin to add. But it will not be a poll, because it would be too easy to manipulate


Here is the list (in %), including an estimate for 365 day-inflation.

(Updated 2013-06-26)

Code:

Rank	Coin	30 day		365 day		Last 30-day	Last Rank
						(projection)

1. 	BTE*# 	0.316		3.8446		0.423			2
2.      BTC	1.166		14.186		1.260			3
3. 	PPC+ 	1.825		22.204		1.662			4
4.	CNC*#	2.588		31.487		0.216			1
5. 	NVC+ 	3.596		43.751		1.896			5
6. 	FRC 	3.802		46.257		4.206			8
7. 	DVC 	4.457		54.2268		4.716			9
8. 	LTC 	4.930		59.9816		4.824			10
9.	NMC	5.126		62.366		3.930			7
10. 	BQC 	9.873		120.1215	9.921			11
11. 	TRC 	10.927		132.945		12.642			12
12. 	BTB*+ 	22.310		271.438		24.348			13
13. 	FTC* 	25.850		314.508		2.922			6

* Young coins with less than 90 days of age.
# Coins with a low block creation rate (BTE: last block 2013-05-31, CNC: about 5 blocks a day). Seems the difficulty is too high for the actual hashrate. In the case of BTE I took the 10 last days of May because there were no blocks in June (dead?)
+ = Coins with Proof-of-Stake (PoS blocks have a very low reward compared to PoW blocks)

Note: The "Last-30-day" data is the 30-day-projection of the last issue from June 6, which only considered 10 days, so it's not entirely comparable.

Raw data and calculations:

Code:

Block	Date			Tx				Total coins

LTC
377791	2013-06-26 07:51:29	2	51.9		769.726	18889054.33222158	102.591	628.014	67.7511%
365833	2013-06-06 07:50:02	3	102.85992842	604.611	18291154.37222158
360041	2013-05-27 07:53:01	4	77.72225458	595.662	18001554.37222158
887499.96 / 18001554.37222158 = 0.049301 = 4.9301 

PPC
55162	2013-06-26 07:49:47	2	452.79		3.551	19411207.534292
51622	2013-06-06 07:49:56	1	431.95	287162.728	19169041.251295
49969	2013-05-27 07:46:53	2	11.42852	3.12	19063279.392969
347928.1413 / 19063279.392969 = 0.0182512218454 = 1.825

DVC
95035	2013-06-26 08:03:39	3	56703.73939588	1112956.137	4747570050	269.126	705.194	
92412	2013-06-06 07:50:41	1	50000		933935.191	4616420050
90983	2013-05-27 07:50:19	1	50000		161536.457	4544970050
202600000 / 4544970050 = 0.0445767513914 = 4.457

TRC
149864	2013-06-26 07:57:04	1	20	5370.192	2997329.85549999
140795	2013-06-06 07:49:23	1	20	21329.264	2815949.85549999
135101	2013-05-27 07:47:26	3	20.3674	23505.217	2702069.85549999
295260 / 2702069.85549999 = 0.109271786368 = 10.927

FRC***

29694	2013-06-26 08:44:11	2	794.45690271	42796.461	21817073.59229203
28993	2013-06-06 07:38:33	8	36108.81603019	25876.102	21312585.55440119
28582	2013-05-27 07:50:07	4	16823.79062205	46204.801	21017829.81493085
799243.7773 / 21017829.81493085 = 0.0380269411418 = 3.802

NVC
28724	2013-06-26 07:55:48	2	10.76		0.044	408761.73367
25131	2013-06-06 07:45:17	2	1.04838		0.03	397068.666061
23392	2013-05-27 07:56:35	2	10.310396	0.026	394571.727885
14190.005785 / 394571.727885 = 0.03596305762 = 3.596

BQC

467023	2013-06-26 07:50:09	1	42		0.543	19614991.2
439112	2013-06-06 07:49:50	5	465.2565143	0.941	18442732
425054	2013-05-27 07:50:53	1	42		0.811	17852307.2
1762684 / 17852307.2 = 0.0987370416749 = 9.873

FTC*

41713	2013-06-26 07:49:37	1	200		97.604	8339950
33457	2013-06-06 08:04:43	50	13385.19007571	94.087	6691450
33134	2013-05-27 07:49:43	3	969.01333213	133.065	6626850
1713100 / 6626850 = 0.258508944672 = 25.850

										
BTE**

18381	2013-06-26 09:53:12	2	5019.00950002	35794.675	919100
18349	2013-06-06 06:23:27	4	2598.74913	35794.675	917500
18323	2013-05-27 07:16:06	32	8382.03671721	35794.675	916200
2900 / 916200 = 0.0031652477625 = 0.316


BTB*
12941	2013-06-26 07:45:04	1	0.18789		5.828	3812.435527
10386	2013-06-06 07:53:58	2	0.197887	10.981	3370.800687
8911	2013-05-27 07:48:13	1	0.172421	10.237	3117.00866
695.426867 / 3117.00866 = 0.223107133427 = 22.310


CNC**
59536	2013-06-26 08:10:05	7	56946.53518323	41.821	5239218
58076	2013-06-06 04:03:02	6	2500.5952416	41.821	5110738
58034	2013-05-27 16:07:47	24	25597.18144108	41.821	5107042
132176 / 5107042 = 0.0258811264916 = 2.588

BTC (for comparison):
2012-06-26 11318500
2012-06-06 11234975
2012-05-27 11187975
130525 / 11187975 = 0.0116665437669 = 1.166

Namecoin
26/06/13 8:13 - Block 118726 = 5936300
06/06/13 7:50 - Block 114420 = 5721000
27/05/13 7:49 - Block 112936 = 5646800
289500 / 5646800 = 0.0512679747822 = 5.126

Sources:
http://cryptocoinexplorer.com
http://blockchain.info (BTC)
http://explorer.litecoin.org (LTC)
http://devtome.com (DVC)
http://explorer.dot-bit.org (NMC)

[bizz]

Great list. Keep us updated in future too.

[d5000]

Thanks. I will see what I can do, perhaps I can write a script to automatically calculate the inflation, because manually it takes its time.

[calian]

Can you show the difference in the Novacoin inflation rate between 0.4.1 and 0.4.2?

[d5000]

I can compare the 10 last days before 2013-05-19 when 0.4.2 was released (I hope date is right?)

Inflation in NVC 0.4.1 seems to have been significantly higher:

Code:

21934	2013-05-19 07:58:32	2	3.534864	0.023	391837.908362
20163	2013-05-09 08:00:22	2	22.64		0.026	387501.904405
								  4336 / 387501 = 0.01118

1,118 % inflation / 10d before 2013-05-19 and 0,632 % / 10d after the update.

[calian]

I can compare the 10 last days before 2013-05-19 when 0.4.2 was released (I hope date is right?)

Inflation in NVC 0.4.1 seems to have been significantly higher:

Code:

21934	2013-05-19 07:58:32	2	3.534864	0.023	391837.908362
20163	2013-05-09 08:00:22	2	22.64		0.026	387501.904405
								  4336 / 387501 = 0.01118

1,118 % inflation / 10d before 2013-05-19 and 0,632 % / 10d after the update.

Coin market cap shows there only being 287,413 NVC right now. Do your numbers here include the 100,000 that were burnt?

[d5000]

Yes, I think they are included. Source is cryptocoinexplorer.com which shows all Novacoins created since the genesis block.

[d5000]

I have added Namecoin. I think the calculation is nearly accurate although the NMC block explorer doesn't show the total NMC amount at every block. Now all major alt-coins are present.

[mebezac]

Thanks for putting this together, really interesting info.

[d5000]

Updated the list to 2013-06-26. Now we have the first real 30-day inflation data. 365-day value is still a simple projection.

Some things I noted:

- BTE is still in a problematic situation as the difficulty seems still way to high for the actual hashrate. So it has still the "lowest inflation", but only because of the problems with the blockchain.
- CNC has improved a bit, but still has few blocks per day.
- FTC has resolved the hi-diff-slowdown and is now the coin with the highest inflation. That is normal because it's the second-youngest coin in the list. Bitbar is a bit less inflationary because of the proof-of-stake design.
- NVC has a significantly higher inflation rate now. That could be related to the higher PoS interest rate implemented in NVC 0.4.2. Interesting to observe how this continues.

The other coins have about the same inflation as in the last issue:
- A low-inflation group with BTC, PPC and (for now) BTE and CNC
- a mid-inflation group with LTC, NMC, FRC and DVC (now NVC could be added to this group)
- a high-inflation group with BQC and the younger coins.

[FreeTrade]

It's really interesting to see all the altcoins have higher inflation rates than BTC.

It occurs to me that 14% inflation rate is already way too high . . . do we really need $360,000 worth of new coins for miners every day?

An altcoin with a low inflation rate would be interesting.

[Fuserleer]

VERY interesting info, especially for us.

Thanks d5000

[jtimon]

Thank you for collecting the data.
After 3 years Freicoin will have the lowest monetary inflation at 0%.
Does anybody knows if there's any coin having its maximum supply issued sooner?

It's really interesting to see all the altcoins have higher inflation rates than BTC.

It occurs to me that 14% inflation rate is already way too high . . . do we really need $360,000 worth of new coins for miners every day?

Of course not. If that were the case btc wouldn't make it without the initial subsidy. That's why we wanted to separate "mining for security" from "mining as issuance mechanism" on Freicoin.
The paperwork for the foundation is still keeping us back, but we hope that many interesting things can be done with the seigniorage instead of "hiring more security than we need".
To me matching donations (say giving away 2% of the value donors have given to the project they've chosen) for crowdfunding projects is the most promising option in my opinion. It will allow the foundation to distribute coins without having to decide how much goes to each project: donors will vote with their pockets.
The main point is...you don't need to turn all the seignoriage into heat for the currency to be profitable to mine or secure. And the challenge is finding new ways of distributing the coins different from mining (although SCIP will make mining less wasteful in the future). We will be able to help cure cancer while securing the network after all.

[FreeTrade]

After 3 years Freicoin will have the lowest monetary inflation at 0%.
Does anybody knows if there's any coin having its maximum supply issued sooner?

Looks like Infinitecoin (misnomer) will have the vast majority of its coins issued after only 6 months.

The paperwork for the foundation is still keeping us back, but we hope that many interesting things can be done with the seigniorage instead of "hiring more security than we need".

Aren't you worried all those Freicoins will have a corrupting influence on the foundation? What keeps it honest?

[cryptrol]

Thanks for the data, it would be nice to have YAC added here, according to http://coinmarketcap.com/ it's the coin with highest market cap of all the latest coins ATM.

[jtimon]

After 3 years Freicoin will have the lowest monetary inflation at 0%.
Does anybody knows if there's any coin having its maximum supply issued sooner?

Looks like Infinitecoin (misnomer) will have the vast majority of its coins issued after only 6 months.

Interesting, I thought it didn't have a cap.

The paperwork for the foundation is still keeping us back, but we hope that many interesting things can be done with the seigniorage instead of "hiring more security than we need".

Aren't you worried all those Freicoins will have a corrupting influence on the foundation? What keeps it honest?

Yes, we're worried and that's why we're working on solutions in which the foundation doesn't take much direct decisions, only deciding which projects are elegible to receive funds, and how much goes to each distribution mechanism. There's a proposal to use proof-of-stake to vote on the later.
Anyway the foundation distribution will be completely transparent (this is possible with blockchain currencies, an state publishing all its expenditures to the detail couldn't be this transparent with fiat): anyone will be able to audit it.
Therefore in the event of foundation corruption it will be quickly known by all users, who will create a hardfork stopping the flow of funds to the foundation and even freezing the funds it has or cancelling some late payments.
In that case, either freicoin will be issued in more than 3 years or the subsidy to miners function will change.

[FreeTrade]

Yes, we're worried and that's why we're working on solutions in which the foundation doesn't take much direct decisions, only deciding which projects are elegible to receive funds, and how much goes to each distribution mechanism. There's a proposal to use proof-of-stake to vote on the later.

Proof-of-stake voting is a move in the right direction IMNSHO. Perhaps you could do away with the foundation altogether and let PoS voting decide where to allocate the funds.

Therefore in the event of foundation corruption it will be quickly known by all users, who will create a hardfork stopping the flow of funds to the foundation

A fork would be messy. Perhaps you could use the PoS voting to elect a Freicoin address to receive the funds. If the owners of the currency believed the foundation to be corrupt, or incompetent or whatever, other organizations could nominate their own Freicoin address, and coin owners could vote for whichever they thought best.

 

[jtimon]

We've explored that possibility, but then I don't see what would prevent people from sending the coins to themselves, much like ppcoin does. Effectively disabling demurrage.
You're welcome to write your own proposal for distribution on this subforum:

http://www.freicoin.org/freicoin-foundation-f15.html

But the proof of stake voting (often reffered to in our forums as "republicoin") needs more development and we want to start with simpler mechanisms like a simple faucet, increasing the donations to crowdfunding projects approved by the foundation, indirectly subsidizing voluntary computing projects (often called "curecoin"), etc.
Of course this is my personal opinion and other people in the community may see things differently. The goal is to experiment with different mechanisms that are reasonable for must of the community.
Anyway, this is getting pretty off-topic so you may want to keep discussing this in freicoin's forum or in one of the several threads dedicated to the foundation here in bitcointalk (or start your own and pm me).

[FreeTrade]

We've explored that possibility, but then I don't see what would prevent people from sending the coins to themselves

I'd recommend run off voting - you'd need to secure 51% higher preferences to target a bounty to yourself. It might be that many users could collaborate to get 51% to support a bounty that simply distributed it to those who voted for it . . but you'd still need 51% higher preferences. And such behaviour would cause the value of the coin to drop . . it wouldn't be in the owners enlightened self interest to do so.

[d5000]

It's really interesting to see all the altcoins have higher inflation rates than BTC.

It occurs to me that 14% inflation rate is already way too high . . . do we really need $360,000 worth of new coins for miners every day?

An altcoin with a low inflation rate would be interesting.

That's only because all altcoins are very young, the oldest surviving one, Namecoin, is from April 2011. Most cryptocoins share the design principle to have a declining inflation. So inflation of the older altcoins in 2-3 years will be significantly lower.

The only way I see to get a low-inflation coin in the first years would be a massive premine or a very fastly descending inflation curve which is essentially the same because both would favour early adopters in a disproportionate way.