What advantages do new cryptocurrencies claim?

[Stephen Tashi]

New cryptocurrencies are being created. What advantages can a new cryptocurrency claim that aren't already features of older cryptocurrencies?

 

[DavidSnider]

The big one these days seems to be finding alternatives to proof of work which require lots of energy.

 

[BWV]

People sometimes falsely claim cryptocurrencies are volatile, when in fact they are extremely stable - it is only with their introduction have we learned how volatile are the prices of every else in the economy. Just the other day the value of my house, car and stock portfolio (denominated in Bitcoin) increased by 30% then fell by about the same amount

 

[russ_watters]

People sometimes falsely claim cryptocurrencies are volatile, when in fact they are extremely stable - it is only with their introduction have we learned how volatile are the prices of every else in the economy. Just the other day the value of my house, car and stock portfolio (denominated in Bitcoin) increased by 30% then fell by about the same amount

You are joking, right?

 

[fluidistic]

You are joking, right?

I think he's partially joking. Some cryptocurrencies are called stablecoins for a reason, they (try to) follow states-backed up currencies. (USDT, BUSD, USDC, etc.). They are volatile but not that much, I think.

 

[fluidistic]

The big one these days seems to be finding alternatives to proof of work which require lots of energy.

I think there is a lot more going on than that (see Polkadot... although, 2016 can be barely considered new in the cryptocurrency world!). Over my head to give an answer to the OP.

 

[BWV]

More seriously, Bitcoin consumes around 129TW of electricity relative to a market cap of around $1T. at 10 cents/kWh that would be an annual electric bill of around $13B , or 1.3% of the market cap. Of course most of the Bitcoin power consumption comes from lower cost sources - hydro and geo in the west, with the majority coming from aging coal plants in China. Combine this with the fact that Bitcoin is the enabling technology for ransom ware and other criminal activities I cannot imagine that governments will tolerate it for long.

 

[Leo Liu]

People sometimes falsely claim cryptocurrencies are volatile, when in fact they are extremely stable - it is only with their introduction have we learned how volatile are the prices of every else in the economy. Just the other day the value of my house, car and stock portfolio (denominated in Bitcoin) increased by 30% then fell by about the same amount

The frame of reference you used is non-inertial. Took me a second to realized it.