See How It Gave Way To Over 20,000 Cryptocurrencies

Today marks the 9th anniversary of the launch of the first altcoin, which was then named Mastercoin. This historic event, which occurred on July 31, 2013, is remembered in the community for giving way to over 20,000 cryptocurrencies in the market. Also, being the source of one of the most popular meme words in the bitcoin community: shitcoin.

Let’s start by finding out what this concept is all about. Said the English word that puts “dirt” words together (Stool) and “coins” (coins), is used by the community to derogatory refer to any “useless” cryptocurrencies of real or doubtful origin. Precisely because they believe that it is a financial asset that is worthless, that it was created without purpose or that it looks like it is a copy of other cryptocurrency projects.

Despite this strong negative charge that the bitcoiner community credits, the market is full of so-called shitcoins and they are lauded by many as an investment., This is why some people like to call them “altcoins”, which means “alternative currencies”. Any other cryptocurrency than Bitcoin (BTC) is called as such, which has been the first and most successful in history.

According to CoinMarketCap, there are currently over 20,000 altcoins in the market. Most of them are worth barely tens of thousands of cents. To get a comparative idea, the price of bitcoin is at least 1,300% higher than the rest. However, they are still spreading and are part of what decentralized finance and the Internet offer to users around the world. But do you know how this whole ecosystem got started? So let us tell you.

Mastercoin was the first “Shitcoin” on the market

you can say that The world of altcoin or shitcoin started in 2012 when Seattle computer science graduate JR Willett posted the idea for the Mastercoin project. It proposed to use the bitcoin network as a protocol layer to expand its interactions and functions. In other words, to build a decentralized financial market in bitcoin and expand its monetary possibilities, the cryptocurrency world is taking shape as we see it today.

In addition to posting thoughts, Willett opened a discussion forum on the topic and helped resolve issues with the bitcoin network. thus, His mastercoin plan got a lot of interest from the community And the following year they started raising funds by issuing the first ICO in history. In English this acronym means “initial coin offering”, a phrase that refers to an activity undertaken by a company to finance its projects through an offering of tokens, shares or votes in the future of trading.

Through the ICO, everyone who invested in the project by sending bitcoin to their address received 100x their investment in the platform’s token Mastercoins (MSC) in return. Plus, some of them got an added bonus in the form of a bonus for early adoption.

The project was initially a complete success, achieving a collection of 4,740 BTC. At the time, this figure was equivalent to approximately US$500,000. Considering that the price of bitcoin was around $105 at the time. In this way Mastercoin was launched exactly 9 years ago i.e. on 31st July 2013.

Altcoins have plagued the market since the origin of Mastercoin 9 years ago

The initial demand for mastercoin led to a rapid increase in its price which soon broke down., After investors disagreed with the organization’s policies and the emergence of other cryptocurrencies in the market, its success was short-lived and, gradually, it began to be shelved.

This led to the Mastercoin protocol being renamed OmniLayer in 2015 to refresh its image. Today the OMNI cryptocurrency (formerly MSC) market is trading at USD 1.80, as can be seen in the following graph of its historical behavior. Its maximum price was in early 2013, when it was priced at US$200. In other words, it never experienced its golden age again.

Since then, the biggest breakthrough for altcoins came when Ethereum entered the market in 2014. Its ICO raised $18 million worth of bitcoin in the first 24 hours and has continued to gain market share over the years. Its cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), is the most valuable altcoin today, trading at around US$1,700, despite the fact that in 2017, amid the rise of BTC, many gained popularity and hundreds of ICOs were carried out. .

History has shown that when bitcoin’s value rises, new shitcoins or altcoins usually emerge, and there are many people who take advantage of these events to speculate on them., However, there are many that disappear during the recession and generate huge losses for the community., as expected this crypto winter. Because of this, it is always important to research a coin’s true value and understand its usefulness before investing in any ecosystem project.

Meanwhile, according to the Cryptonoticious calculator, none of the altcoins filling the market has managed to surpass the originator of this ecosystem: Bitcoin, which is trading at US$23,800 at the time of writing this article.