Ok, I know this is a weird thing to ask, but what is a Shitcoin?? That’s a thing now right? So, this question has been on the minds of many people in the cryptocurrency and trading world. We all know Bitcoin and Ethereum are valuable to many, and well established coins, but what about these other coins that have very little to no value? Or do they, and they are just underpriced? What does it mean when something is called “Shitcoin?” So many questions. Let’s dive into the toilet bowl and find out.
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How Shitcoin Started…
The term shitcoin is used in several different ways. One way it’s used by people is to label cryptocurrencies that they hate on. They say things like “Dude, you’re invested in $DOGE? That is a total shitcoin bro!”
It doesn’t even need to have zero value is a coin either, it could just be that the person doesn’t like it. Search Fintwit and you’ll find tweets like: “Stop trying to pump a shitcoin, no one cares about it, bitcoin is the one true coin to rule them all” And so on and so forth.
Alright, so, a coin can be called a shitcoin and actually be priced at a way that reflects some value. But realistically, and practically, a TRUE shitcoin has no utility, and no unique features that make it attractive to buy and hold, or trade. It’s literally akin to a stonks meme. Basically its an “altcoin” or alterative coin that was created for fun, or with good intention to be useful. But the development may failed or been abandoned. Any price fluctuations during this particular coins rise and fall were simply due to speculation or traders just riding the pump and dump.
Are Shitcoins Good Investments?
Haha, really, are we asking that? Sorry, but shitcoins are generally not seen as good investments. If you’re hearing this term spread around, it’s typically negative (duh) but that doesn’t mean that the coin in question might not have a nice run up before a correction. Take a look at $DOGE for example. That coin has zero utility, and no real unique features. and is backed by nothing, Yet, the coin ran up from below a penny to .68 cents. As of July 2021, that is a 1 year change of 5981.54%.
Needleless to say, a shitcoin can be fun to trade, just don’t be left holding the bag. Know that they are generally a good way to lose money, especially if you don’t know how to read a stock chart.
Which Coins Are Shitcoins?
I can’t tell you what to do with your money. That’s what financial advisors are for, and I am not one. Please consult one if that’s what you are looking for. That being said, any coin could be a shitcoin, depending on who you ask. Just like any stock could be a crappy stock to one person, but not to another. The real thing we need to look for is there a long history of established use and acceptance? If that is our barometer, then a lot of coins out there are going to be considered shitcoins.
So, if this is the case, is Bitcoin a shitcoin? Probably not. You can use it on PayPal. Purchase it on SquareCash, and use it to buy things like socks, cars, or pizza. But ONLY from select places in select states or countries. Sadly for many HODLers who bought this year it is taking its sweet time at being adopted by the masses, but that makes sense to me, because the price is subject to wild swings. Who wants to accept bitcoin for something only to have it fall 10% 10 minutes later? Not me and not established institutions and businesses. Price stability, within reason, is needed. Compare other currency charts for reference and then you’ll see what I mean.
Some will say “If you can’t buy the coin on Robinhood, or Coinbase, then the coin is a shitcoin!”
Fair enough. We’d like to thing that these companies have our best interests at heart right? So no stinky coins are going to make it to their exchanges? Well, as of July 2021, you can buy $DOGECOIN there. If you ask 10 different people you stop on the street, some will love it and say it’s going to the moon, others will say its trash. So who’s right? Time will tell.
Is There a List of Actual Shitcoins?
There are hundreds, if not thousands of failed coins. These usually end up being tossed into the shitcoin graveyard. However there are a bunch of memecoins that are out there that people are dabbling with, however, again, I am not recommending you do anything but read the rest of this article and inform yourself. Knowledge is power baby!
- Literally, $SHIT – this index contains an equally weighted basket of 50 cryptocurrencies (calculated in USD on the market listing date). All elements in the index are capped at 30bp divergence from the median. This index was created by FTX. Shitcoin Index Includes: LSK, ICX, ZRX, RVN, BTG, REP, OMG, BTM, THETA, HBAR, BCD, WAVES, SC, GT, NANO, KNC, ENJ, ZEN, VSYS, BTT, CKB, MCO, DGB, KMD, HC, BTS, ZIL, IOST, XVG, AION, AE, STEEM, GNT, MANA, SNT, CHZ, XZC, ARDR, MATIC, REN, LRC, NPXS, ELF, LAMB, POWR, TOMO, GRIN, NULS, ARPA, BEAM. Any one of these could be removed or changed, rebalanced, much like an ETF. I just thought it was funny that there is actually an index that tracks a bunch of potential shitcoins and gathers them in one place.
- According to their website, “The most liquid asset ever” $DIAH – a funny coin with a vibrant Instagram page with a strong community following. They plan to Fork into a reflection token and create a utility coin branch in the future.
- $ASS coin – which stands for “Australian Safe Shepherd”. This is another community driven and “fair launch token” that runs on memes.
- Poop Token – Based on Ethereum, this ERC-20 token built on UMA’s Synthetic Token Builder, to help solve San Francisco’s public-defecation problem.
How It’s Going…
Basically, “shitcoins” is a slang term thrown around loosely to put down cryptos that may or may not deserve to be put down. That’s all subject to your opinion, and you know what they say about opinions…
The current state of the world of cryptos is similar to any other industry undergoing dramatic change, quickly. There are the early adopters who are first on the scene and set the trends. Then there are the masses who come in after the water is the right temperature and reward those early adopters for holding. Then reality hits when the hype fades. Is this really cool? Should we be buying this stock, coin, or anything else for that matter? Humans are social herd animals and we tend to move in and out of stocks or cryptocurrencies in packs.
Again, just don’t be left holding a bag of something you don’t understand. So if you’re going to buy any shitcoin, that’s on you, don’t do it unless you know every little thing about it and don’t do it with any capital that you can’t afford to lose. Your neighbor, or brother or boss might think its a good idea, but is it really?
We’re only 11 years in since bitcoin became a thing, and for many of those years, it traded in the fraction of a cent range. So, is the next bitcoin hiding in a pile of proverbial doo-doo? Perhaps. Will you find the right one and hold it all the way to the moon 10 years from now? Probably not. Remember the guy who sold his 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas?
Anyway, just be careful and don’t step in…you know. Anything that doesn’t smell right. But keep in mind that your success rate goes up when you understand the meaning of dd. A little research goes a long way, a lot of research goes further. If you’re looking for help, look no further than our free courses which show you how to trade the markets based on charts, not emotions.
