I think that's what a lot of these alternate cryptocurrencies are doing. People get in early and hope that there are enough fools who get in late to sell their

I think that's what a lot of these alternate cryptocurrencies are doing. People get in early and hope that there are enough fools who get in late to sell their massive holdings to them. Then these same people try to do the same to other people down the line. Eventually, it becomes clear that there are no more people to buy into the alternate currency, and the entire thing shits the bed. I'm not sure where you draw the line between a "currency" like this and Bitcoin, but I think it's important to look at what the bulk of transactions are for. Bitcoin, despite rampant speculation, is still used for some things - avoiding Paypal, drug transactions, etc. Litecoin is more on the speculation side, but still has a fair amount of use. Dogecoin has its use on Reddit. But a lot of these other coins are only for speculation, and it's basically gambling to put money into them and hope that you get out before everyone goes "Well, that's all, folks! We're done here!"