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The Worst 5 Tokens in History
There have been some really bad cryptocurrency tokens that have existed. But what are the seven worst tokens in history? In order to make this list, you had to do something exceptionally bad or noteworthy. Real effort had to go into making these projects a complete and total failure. Some of the worst cryptocurrencies had some of the greatest successes in terms of monetary reward, but often at the expense of later investors. This is not to say that all bad tokens are pyramid or ponzi schemes. They are also pump and dumps, copycat projects, and complete vapourware. Spoiler Alert; one of the worst tokens in history is HotDog token.
The Useless Ethereum Project
This particular project and its token, (UEP) emerged during the 2017 as an ironic encapsulation of the times. This project was inspired by the sheer volume of absolutely scammy projects that were promising the world and delivering nothing. There was one exception, the EUP was 100% transparent with its intentions. In a very strong mocking tone, one quote from the site summarizes the whole project.
“There are no “whitepapers,” no “products,” and no “experts.” It’s just you, me, your hard-earned Ether, and my shopping list.” – Useless Ethereum Project
This is transparently the worst token in existence, and the creator knows it. Despite this, the Useless Ethereum Project raised over $40,000 worth of Ether in 3 days. Wow.
BitConnect
If you have never heard of BitConnect, you need to. This one was a full blown pyramid scheme on the blockchain. To start, check out this YouTube video of the founder at a BitConnect promotional event. BitConnect was a token within the top 20 most valuable cryptocurrencies during a brief time in 2017. After receiving notices from various world governments to prove its legitimacy, the owners closed the operations of the company in 2018. The value of bitConnect (BCC) dropped from more than $500 to less than $1. The scheme had several problems, only one of which was its centralization.
Bitcoin Forks in General
There have been dozens of forks of Bitcoin, only a couple of which have any legitimacy as a project. After all, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is, and has been a top 5 cryptocurrency since the fork in August 2017. In general, bitcoin forks are sometimes well intended, and other times a parody of sorts. Take Bitcoin Post-Quantum for example, it is created for a day when quantum computing may break aspects of bitcoin. They’ve made a version of bitcoin that is quantum proof. Then there is Bitcoin God, a charity based bitcoin that doesn’t seem to be an active project anymore. Many of the bitcoin fork projects are abandoned, and therefore we must include the entire category in the list of worst tokens.
DeFi Food Projects
Yes, that title is correct. During 2020, the phenomenon of DeFi absolutely exploded. For some strange reason, a large number of the protocols are named after foods. From Sushi Swap, to HotDog Swap, to Walnut Finance (WTF). Each one of them offers basically exactly the same thing as the original DeFi Protocols. They’re all typically based on UniSwap, Compound, or YFI. While the later three are actually successful projects, bringing something unique to the Ethereum DeFi space, the copycat projects are simply just trying to capitalize on FOMO, and hype. Here at CryptoVantage, we appreciate real, novel innovations. Simply copying someone else’s smart contract does not get you any bonus points. It’s for this reason that we lump Spaghetti (PASTA), SODA Token (SODA), and most other food related DeFi projects into one of the worst tokens in history.
Envion (ENV)
This last one is near and dear to my heart, because it is a project I invested in. This one is actually a bit of a best case scenario situation when it comes to bad investments. Even though I ended up getting some of my investment back, it still gets a spot in the list of worst tokens because the whole project was quite the train wreck. Envion was a cloud mining project that aimed to deploy shipping containers filled with miners next to green energy farms. Sounds sort of cool right? Use the excess energy generated from green energy sources as a power supply for computers that mine cryptocurrencies. Then, split the profits with the participants of the crowd sale. If the project was actually executed successfully, then maybe this token would not be on this list. The management and administration of the project was simply not there.
The ICO was run out of Germany in late 2017 when the crackdown on ICO’s was just getting started. The founders of the project did not register the sale, or conduct it in a legally permissible manner. Therefore, the founders were forced to return the funds to the participants of the crowd sale. This was actually done in a fairly smooth manner, albeit 2 years after the investment was made. At the end of the day, ENV is a dead project that was never really going anywhere from the start. For these reasons, it gets a spot as one of the worst tokens in history.
Learn Something From Bad Tokens
We must all learn to be grateful for these terrible tokens. Without them, we would not be able to learn valuable lessons about investing. You always hear the same recommendations from seasoned investors. Don’t put in any more money than you’re willing to lose. Research the founding team. Make sure the idea actually makes sense before investing a dollar. Know how the money is going to be used. When it comes right down to it, some of us (me included) needed to make some of these mistakes first hand. The best way to learn a lesson is to experience the pain first hand. Then it is up to you to not repeat the same mistakes in the future. Albert Einstein said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. So please, Ethereum community, no more food tokens.
