10,000 ‘Shitcoins’ have deeply penetrated the cryptocurrency market and this is a massive problem.

Shitcoins are cryptocurrencies that have little or no value, utility or function.

I do not ascribe to the Maximalists definition that anything other than Bitcoin is a shitcoin and would describe other projects with serious teams and valuable intent as Altcoins.

The idea behind creating shitcoins is to create a coin that is very cheap and promises a lot of returns, whilst aggressively promoting that particular coin. Although there may be speculations about a shitcoin rising, it may not rise in years to come, or ever.

In the end, a lot of people will buy the coin because of the large returns promised and its popularity. Then, due to lack of execution on early promises, and lack of vision for the project, the price of the token will normally tank until it is almost worthless, thus becoming a shitcoin.

There are over 10,000 coins in the cryptocurrency market and this is a massive problem.

For three main reasons.

• Firstly people losing money (that perhaps they can not afford to lose), in pump’n’dumps becoming disenchanted with the whole scene and never investing again.

• Secondly, the media, mainstream and social, labelling all coins as shitcoins and deciding none have any real value or purpose; they are all basically just gambling and/or scams.

• Thirdly, and most importantly, the inevitable regulation by governments will be heavily framed by the previous two issues, leading to more draconian and punitive legislation, served in the ‘publics best interests’, but potentially just as a cover to protect there own centralized and controlling interests.

Shitcoins are ‘fun’ and an expression of free markets, but we should all be really wary of the darker side and the negative consequences.