Crypto-Mania 

Stopping the Bit-Clones and Searching for Advancement

With the serge in popularity of Bitcoin or BTC thousands of new and not so unique cryptocurrencies have emerged. Just go to BTC-e and you’ll see a hand full of the more popular ones immediately. There are the Lightcoins/LTC and Feathercoins/FTC which are a four and sixteen times the cap of the leading currency respectively. Then there is PP Coin or Peer to Peer Coin which has no end to it’s distribution and Dogecoin, a former joke turned popular due to it’s high distribution rate and the successful aide the Dogecoin community provided to a certain trendy bobsled team. Others such as Namecoin/NMC and Mastercoin /MSC much like LTC and FTC co-exists with Bitcoin rather well and offer different uses but still relies on Bitcoin’s success.

Then there are the thousands of other ones that are springing up every day with nothing more than a new distribution rate from sha256 or scrypt. There doesn’t seem to be anything new about them and no real reason to jump aboard the train. The most innovative coin clone I have seen recently offered an equal mining rate for both sha256 and scrypt miners based on their power rate? I have no idea how they managed it if they even did but it was the only thing that they had to offer besides a new name. So I passed on even checking into the currency and moved along.

So the question becomes what would make for a new cryptocurrency that we can all get behind?

Well we should first check out what BTC and all the others seem to already be offering.

1. Non-centralized (some slightly centralized)
2. Community Proof of Transactions
3. No inflation or community agreed upon inflation
4. No fee for transaction
5. Globally traded
6. No power of trade information given (Credit Card #s)
7. Possibly untraceable with the use of Torr

Then there are the Criticisms that pertain to BTC and it’s clones as compared to a possible alternative.

1. Early adapters have strong holdings and others feel it’s too risky
2. Limited outlets for consumption (stores, sites, etc…)
3. Trading sites hold little to no implicit trust. (Mt Gox)

So how can a new coin address these problems?

I really don’t know but I will say that the garage coin operations are a bit tired. I think that there should be a gathering of minds to construct and release a new cryptocurrency. One that has collaborators that come from places of businesses as well as the initial cryptocurrency creators. (That is if we ever really find them) One that has input from cryptocurrency supporters like Al Gore and Eric Schmidt of Google. There should be a solid foundation set forth by influential people of all respects to design something that gives everyone the same jump to get on it as well as places of business already ready to accept. Yes there may have to be rules set in place for limiting how many coins can come from a single source to stop power mongering. Either way this is just an idea that would have to be discussed in great detail in order to ensure that the average miner would still have a chance to do his/her thing and that there is a want for this new coin.