I don’t know anything about cryptocurrencies. My exploration of bitcoin two years ago ended quickly when I learned that mining them with my own hardware would cost more in electricity than what I would earn. But as with so many things, stick a werewolf on it and you have my attention.
Lycancoin is one of three “cryptidcurrencies” (there are vampire and zombie variants) created primarily because the developer‘s young daughter “loves all things monster (especially zombies, werewolves and vampires) and we thought it would be fun.” It’s based on Litecoin, and you can view the source code on GitHub. All three cryptidcurrencies can be mined with dedicated applications for OS X, Windows and Ubuntu.
According to NEWSBTC, Lycancoin
has reached 264 BTC on Cryptsy, and it can make a 100 percent profiting trade for crypto traders, as it is trading between four and 32 satoshis at this time.
That sounds… good?
The developer has also created a gamification WordPress plug-in that allows visitors to WordPress web sites (like the one you’re reading right now) to earn points that can be turned into Lycancoins, Zombiecoins or Vampirecoins. I’m not racing to install that plug-in on Werewolf News, but the developer has set up a proof of concept on what looks like his or her own site, cryptid news portal Monstrum Athenaeum.
Lycancoin and its monstrous brethren seem like fun experiments in programming, community-building and cryptocurrencies. If you mine any of them or you think there’s more I should know about cryptocurrencies, let me know about it on Twitter – I’d be interested to learn more!