Pardon my language, but yeah, it’s an actual thing, and it’s 8 NOV. Maybe because it rhymes with Bitcoin or because out of the nearly 20,000 altcoins, some aren’t worth anything. — What Is a Shitcoin? The first time we heard about shitcoins was in 2010 when Gavin Andresen “coined the term” to describe altcoins or any cryptocurrency that wasn’t Bitcoin (BTC). (Guy the Coin Bureau guy said “coined the term” in his video.)