Why so many

[andreja1982]

What about 3rd place?  Primecoin, Anoncoin, Feathercoin?

[niothor]

What about 3rd place?  Primecoin, Anoncoin, Feathercoin?

That would be namecoin.
One of the few to actually have something different about it than other copycats.

[TheTribesman]

What about 3rd place?  Primecoin, Anoncoin, Feathercoin?

3rd place appears to be up for grabs. I've heard good and bad things about each of those mentioned. I think BTC/LTC is too far ahead to lose at this point in time.

At the moment Peercoin appears to have a slight lead over the others IMO (due to market cap of 10x the next competitor - Namecoin - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cryptocurrencies).

I must admit that Anoncoin seems interesting and could be a dark horse if it's claims hold up in the long term (it could end up being a subversive black market currency). Using the anonymous icon for marketing is a bit much though, and it could find itself under attack for that!

If too many survive then we could end up with a FOREX type scramble based on pure speculation creating a massive bubble followed by an almighty crash where only 2-3 survivors emerge unscathed.

But anyways, even this post is just pure speculation!

Exciting times indeed!

[RodeoX]

90-99% of alt-coins are worthless. Anyone can create one. Most were created by people experimenting and playing with the bitcoin code. Kinda neat, but not going anywhere.

[honky1492]

I've been reading a lot about cryptocurrencies recently (and researching them). I was wondering why there are so many? Do they all have individual uses? Are they all geographic in nature? There seems to be more than is required for a cybereconomy.

There are so many alternative cryptocurrencies because it is easy to create new one from open source.
The only useable is Bitcoin, with possibility of Namecoin in future. Other coins including Litecoin are just huge speculative bet on Bitcoin success and take some small share out of Bitcoin success

[fudruker]

the reason there are so many is because anyone can make them and they want a cut of the "digital currencies" pie that is all.

[Creative83]

the reason there are so many is because anyone can make them and they want a cut of the "digital currencies" pie that is all.

 

That's true, I should also start thinking about creating my own altcoins as well

[Kiki112]

the same reason why there is so many everything, everyone wants to make their own because  they see   the other one looks good
it's the real world migrated into alt coins  

[andreja1982]

everybody wants a piece of cake

[sgk]

I've been reading a lot about cryptocurrencies recently (and researching them). I was wondering why there are so many?

Welcome to the world of pumping & dumping

[bryant.coleman]

Yes... right now there are too many alt-coins around. But remember that almost all of them are pump-and-dump type, so never invest any money in them. The only coins to be taken seriously are Bitcoin and Litecoin. (May be Namecoin also).

[activebiz]

I guess the opensource nature of bitcoin has some drawbacks.

[niothor]

I guess the opensource nature of bitcoin has some drawbacks.

It has indeed.
There are only 21 000 000  BTC but there can be 21 billions alt coins.

So in a way we're going back to the fiat printing machine.

[RodeoX]

Anyone can create a new "alt-coin" based on bitcoin. And it seems they all do. 
I would highly recommend staying way clear of any alt coins until you completely understand bitcoin.

[marife01]

First post. Looking forward to the new digital economy!

I've been reading a lot about cryptocurrencies recently (and researching them). I was wondering why there are so many? Do they all have individual uses? Are they all geographic in nature? There seems to be more than is required for a cybereconomy.

Lots of cryptocurrencies out there? I think because there is no restriction or limit for creating their own cryptocurrencies. it is also a trend so a lot would want to have their own especially those who can or have the resources.

[eternalgloom]

the reason there are so many is because anyone can make them and they want a cut of the "digital currencies" pie that is all.

 

That's true, I should also start thinking about creating my own altcoins as well

Please don't, there are enough crapcoins already

[bryant.coleman]

It has indeed.
There are only 21 000 000  BTC but there can be 21 billions alt coins.

So in a way we're going back to the fiat printing machine.

I think that for Dogecoin, there is a limit of 100 billion. That might be even worse than the Zimbabwean Dollar. 

For now, I'll stick with Bitcoin (21 million cap) and Litecoin (84 million cap).

[marife01]

It has indeed.
There are only 21 000 000  BTC but there can be 21 billions alt coins.

So in a way we're going back to the fiat printing machine.

I think that for Dogecoin, there is a limit of 100 billion. That might be even worse than the Zimbabwean Dollar. 

For now, I'll stick with Bitcoin (21 million cap) and Litecoin (84 million cap).

I hope Dogecoin will lower their limit and market cap higher.

[Coef]

It has indeed.
There are only 21 000 000  BTC but there can be 21 billions alt coins.

So in a way we're going back to the fiat printing machine.

I think that for Dogecoin, there is a limit of 100 billion. That might be even worse than the Zimbabwean Dollar. 

For now, I'll stick with Bitcoin (21 million cap) and Litecoin (84 million cap).

I hope Dogecoin will lower their limit and market cap higher.

AFAIK, dogecoin has no cap at all.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=361813.0

Block 1-100,000: 0-1,000,000 DogeCoin Reward
Block 100,001 — 200,000: 0-500,000 DogeCoin Reward
Block 200,001 — 300,000: 0-250,000 DogeCoin Reward
Block 300,001 — 400,000: 0-125,000 DogeCoin Reward
Block 400,001 — 500,000: 0-62,500 DogeCoin Reward
Block 500,001 - 600,000: 0-31,250 DogeCoin Reward
Block 600,000+: 10,000 DogeCoin Reward

[sgk]

The only way to stop this clone-coin nonsense is if everyone would just stop mining new crap coins.