Origin Dictionary / OD-038
Altcoin
A coin priced at a fraction of a cent is not necessarily cheap.
01Dictionary Meaning
Altcoin is a common label for a cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin, covering assets with widely different designs and purposes.
02What People Think
"If it reaches Bitcoin's price, I'll be rich."
03What’s Underneath
Unit price leaves out how many units exist. A token with a very large supply can have a low price per token while already carrying a substantial total market value.
Future issuance and scheduled releases can change the amount available to sell. Utility, holder rights and the depth of the market matter as well.
Comparing two coins by the price of one unit is like comparing companies by the price of one share while ignoring how many shares each company has.
04The Game
What is the total valuation, how can supply change, and what would need to support the value implied by the hoped-for price?
05One Line
A small unit price can hide a large valuation.
Explore M3 Library
M3Crypto Investor Consciousness
Look beyond the price printed beside a token.
Altcoin is market usage, not a uniform technical or legal classification.
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