For a long time, altcoins have been referred to as shitcoins.

It's like their alternate name.

But in reality, they are two different things.

An altcoin is any cryptocurrency that isn't Bitcoin. It's as simple as that.

So Lisk, BAT, Monero, WSX, BNB, Tezos, LTC, BCH are all altcoins. 

Shit coins on the other hand are cryptocurrencies created for pump and dump schemes.

(PS: I have handily created a guide on how to profit from pumps and dumps here.)

They aren't created to have any real value. They are just created to make their creators rich, and to scam people out of their money.

Ok. Now we know the difference. Why this post?

Because a friend of mine was recently a victim of a pump and dump scam. Yes, they still happen.

He joined this telegram group of a bunch of people claiming that their cryptocurrency was the solution to Bitcoins problems. Of courses these messages kept on coming for months, and when the pump happened, the creators dumped and disappeared.

The thing is, my friend thought that the shitcoin was an altcoin. Since he didn't know the difference, he got scammed.

So how do you know the difference?

Well, here are a few bullet points that you can use to discern.

- Check Coinmarketcap: if the coin isn't listed on Coinmarketcap, or on major exchanges, it definitely is a shitcoin. They usually might develop an exchange for such purposes(in the case of KICK) or go to an obscure low volume exchange to hide out. 

- Major projects won't spam your telegram: Have you ever been contacted by the team behind bitcoin? Or the team behind BAT? Probably not. If they're looking for attention, it's a shit coin.

- The trading volume is stupid low: I understand a trading volume of 300000 dollars for an up and coming coin. But 1000 dollars of volume? Sounds fishy to me. The thing is these scams are only able to bait in a few people at a time. These people don't have a ton of money to spend anyway, so they buy $2 or $5 units of the stuff. This makes the volume foolishly low.

Generally, if you can't find any team or information about the coin, you should be aware that it's a sketchy project. And you should be ready to say no.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and stay safe!