When Congressman Warren Davidson used the word “shitcoin” in Congress last month, he meant it as a derogatory term for any cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin. But little did he know that it would lead to a massive spike in searches for the term and that, just a few weeks later, there would be a dedicated Ethereum-based token with the very name.
True to its name, the token is a waste of space. It has no special features and its only purpose, as per its founder “Shitoshi Nakamoto,” is to make people laugh. So, arguably it could be known as one of the most honest token projects there is. (At least it’s not offering “multidimensional encryption technology” like a recent project that got booed off stage at security conference Black Hat.)
But despite its lackluster attributes and brutally honest depiction of its own self-worth, “the shitcoin” became a bit of an overnight star.
One week after launch, the foul-smelling coin briefly became the ninth biggest dapp on dapp analytic site State of the Dapps—which is either a testament to its Guerilla marketing abilities or a damning indictment on the popularity of similar dapps that aspire to more gravitas. In just a few weeks, its 4,000 users have made more than 20,000 transactions carrying a total value of 29 ether, worth $5,500. But since such highs, it has dropped to 16th place and transaction numbers are falling.
“ShitCoin is here to provide a pure shitcoin experience for all users,” reads its description on State of the Dapps.
Yet, true to its name, shitcoin’s dapp doesn’t even exist. The link just sends you to its website.
What it does have is a whopping great supply, a total of one trillion tokens, which, according to the founder, makes it somewhat better than Ethereum and Bitcoin—which are destined to have just 21 million and 100 million respectively.
And, like any hyped-up, speculative ERC-20 token, it has an ambitious roadmap. In the short term it aims to reach a $100 million market cap. By late 2020, it aspires to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and reach parity with the US dollar. And the end goal? Per its website, “Integrate USD as [a] sidechain. Absorb US and global economies.” Sounds feasible.
So exactly how did this project—with no hope of ever surviving—get its 15 minutes of fame? Well, according to its depraved pseudonymous creator, the trick is to tweet a little and shitpost on anonymous online forum 4chan. Plus a little help from Congress goes a long way, of course.