As we all know, Bitcoin was born on January 3, 2009, and two years later, altcoins began to emerge: ltc2011, xrp2012, doge2013, eth2015, etc. It was not easy for Chinese people to buy them at that time. USDT was released at the end of 2014. We all have to buy Bitcoin before we can enter altcoins.

Today, altcoins are listed on multiple tier-one exchanges (Binance, Huobi, OKX, Gate, etc.). Times have changed. Ten years ago, if an altcoin was listed on a tier-one exchange, it would have been news at the time.

However, today, any altcoin listed. You should be skeptical first, and even suspect that most of the altcoins (more than 10,000) are cheating you out of your money. They will take your assets from you at all costs, cheat you in every possible way and not worry about legal responsibility. Their ultimate goal of listing is to plunder. More importantly, they will keep you away from the greatest treasure: Bitcoin.

The success of Ethereum, the most powerful altcoin since 2011, has provided us with a roadmap for how to discover the treasure. But this is exactly what we are looking for, nothing fancy and complicated, a simple guide:

Always look for altcoins that are different enough,

If altcoins were copies of Bitcoin, they wouldn’t be different enough to warrant your attention, especially your money. Litecoin, released in 2011, was the second digital currency to come out, and while it’s still standing, it can’t even come close to being the runner-up today: Ethereum. Ethereum was released in 2015 and quickly rose to prominence. Why? Because it was different enough from Bitcoin to be its own thing. The emergence of tokens, DeFI, and NFTs on Ethereum is a great example of this.

Ethereum's market cap is almost half of Bitcoin's. This is a huge success in itself, and Ethereum has been defending its position since 2016. Meanwhile, Litecoin ranks behind the top ten in terms of coin market cap. There is nothing wrong with Litecoin, but if you are pursuing the next super treasure, then you should reject Litecoin first, not to deny that it is not good enough. We come to this market with profit as the ultimate goal.

What altcoins are out there today that are significantly different from Bitcoin and Ethereum? If it's a cheap copy, then the verdict should be a hard pass. If it's trying to innovate and copy Bitcoin and Ethereum, it's still a tough one. Look for altcoins that are different enough to stand out on their own merits. Anything else is just a copy. This will filter out those 10,000+ altcoins quickly.

If you see an altcoin promising 100x faster transactions than Ethereum, instant network consensus, and near zero fees, know that there is a catch = it is centralized. A centralized "blockchain network" managed by a few servers is no different than Amazon Web Services and the exact opposite of Bitcoin. You can also compare it to XRP or EOS. This is just one example, there are many others.

Bitcoin is the perfect balance of decentralization, speed, network security, and low fees. This balance is also known as the blockchain trilemma. Be aware of the price you pay in exchange for that speed or scalability.

Almost all altcoins were created with one purpose, to take your money away from the real innovators: Bitcoin and Ethereum. In return, they give you a quick high (pump and dump) and then most people die. This cycle repeats every four years to coincide with the Bitcoin halving.

Ethereum is so successful that its initial design limited its growth (high transaction fees). Centralization for the sake of speed could be fatal to this cryptocurrency in the long run. This centralization is also the reason why Ethereum Classic (ETC) exists. Time will tell who will end and replace Ethereum, the largest altcoin. Don't say it's impossible, nothing is absolute, just like you who follow and like, you will become a multi-millionaire in the future.