From PandaCoin to SlothCoin: Welcome to the Crypto Zoo

Chris Lee

In a world where cryptocurrencies are creating some frenetic buying, selling and collecting, it is a little-known fact that there are over 1000 types of currencies on offer – and this number is growing almost daily. The purveyors of these interesting assets are getting increasingly creative with their offerings and, regardless of how ridiculous some appear to be, they attract plenty of investors willing to take a punt. ‘Altcoins’ come in a variety of forms and base their offerings on anything from celebrities to animals. Join FXTM Senior Staff Writer Samantha Robb as she takes you for a walk through the cryptocurrency zoo.

Pandacoin (PND)

Released on Valentine’s Day 2015, the Pandacoin team entered the fray with an image of the furry animal chewing a bamboo stalk while listing the crypto’s USPs. Forked from Litecoin and following similar specifications, Pandacoin’s goal was to make cryptocurrencies available to the mass market, keeping them easy to use, buy and understand. While it’s taken a while for PND to find its footing, it reached a market cap of $23,059,091 by January 2018.

Catcoin (CAT)

Advertised as ‘the Scryptcat version of Bitcoin’ it married two of the internet’s favourite things: cryptocurrencies and cats. The cute factor weighed in Catcoin’s favour on its release in January 2014 and drove it to some impressive highs, but the buzz died down fairly quickly. Regardless, Catcoin’s followers are still purring along, climbing up new scratching posts on the quarterly charts but sitting on a current value of $0.06.

Bunnycoin (BUN)

After being abandoned by its original creator and development team, the bunny hopped back onto the scene armed with a message to ‘spread love, peace, happiness and economic freedom worldwide’. Bunnycoin is not just your run-of-the-mill altcoin – it now has a greater purpose. The new team in control claims that 10% of all newly-mined Bunnycoins will be donated to a charity chosen by the coin’s community. While the vote swung in favour of a Mexican orphanage, there has been no confirmation that the donation was ever made. Bunnycoin is currently trading at $0.000041.

TrueFlip

Branded with a blue dolphin wearing a top hat and spectacles, TrueFlip is another quirky addition to the ever-growing cryptocurrency fold. Most cryptocurrencies seek to ‘bring the money back to the people’; TrueFlip went a step further and incorporated a lottery system. TrueFlip is ‘an international, anonymous Blockchain lottery’ that has found tremendous momentum since its launch. TrueFlip’s goal is to become the most popular and transparent Blockchain lottery, offering the biggest jackpot in the world. Most of today’s lotteries are centralised or organised by governments and lack transparency. TrueFlip aims to solve these issues by providing a decentralised, fair and audit-friendly lottery platform. It is currently trading at $ 0.8052

Slothcoin (SLOT)

While interesting, Slothcoin did not make it out of the gates – unsurprising given its namesake. It was a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that was created for ‘having fun and revolutionising cryptocurrencies’. Unfortunately, it joined many others in the crypto-cemetery without reaching its goal of mining ’92 billion SLOT by 2021’.

NeuCoin

Finally we have NeuCoin. Sporting a blue squirrel as its logo, it was not as agile as its namesake- it had a very short and not so sweet lifespan.  The coin went live in September 2015, but by November 2016 it cashed in its chips. The ICO focused its attention on tipping and micropayments. The coin gathered a million dollars from angel investors In April 2015, and presold 100 million NeuCoins to future users, in exchange for 4,000 Bitcoins. Clearly aimed at Gen Z, they paid the price targeting a group known for its fast changing allegiances. It did garner a lot of attention when launched but now it has taken its place in the crypto pet cemetery.

While these cryptos have some interesting aspects, they are not investments that you would want to take your money out of savings for. Healthy doses of caution and scepticism would serve you well if you are considering adding them to your portfolio.

For more information about trading cryptocurrencies, visit FXTM at www.forextime.com

Disclaimer: This written/visual material is comprised of personal opinions and ideas. The content should not be construed as containing any type of investment advice and/or a solicitation for any transactions. It does not imply an obligation to purchase investment services, nor does it guarantee or predict future performance. FXTM, its affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees do not guarantee the accuracy, validity, timeliness or completeness of any information or data made available and assume no liability for any loss arising from any investment based on the same.

Risk Warning: There is a high level of risk involved with trading leveraged products such as forex and CFDs. You should not risk more than you can afford to lose. You should not trade unless you fully understand the true extent of your exposure to the risk of loss. When trading, you must always take into consideration your level of experience. If the risks involved seem unclear to you, please seek independent financial advice.


Chris Lee

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