Recently I was asked to compile a list of the strangest crypto-currencies I could find. I had no idea what I was in store for. Here are the Top 5 strangest altcoins I could find. Let the countdown begin!

5. Unobtanium (UNO)

UNO is a term for fictional engineering and scientific thought that describes an extremely rare and costly material. Conceptual Unobtanium is the full term; UNO is the short hand version given to this alt-coin by its followers. The UNO community, which is small but regarded as extremely loyal, refers to the coin in kilograms. Currently, only four exchanges are dealing in UNO. A rather small number of UNO coins are to be mined: 250,000 over the course of 300 years. UNO is mined right alongside bitcoin. By doing this it makes the process more secure, and it mines three times faster than bitcoin.

4. Potato Coin (Spuds)

This coin stands out among the rest, not so much for being weird, but for the ambitious idea behind it. First and foremost, the name is out of the norm for sure, even for weird crypto-coins. It’s creators chose the potato because it is a staple source of food in the area where this coin is going to be dispersed. Now for the really cool part. The main idea behind Potato Coin is to help improve the conditions in Africa for the farmers. It will also try to reduce their dependency on the normal fiat currency of the area. So far, 85 percent of the initial pre-mine is done, and going to an African Trust, as well as directly to the farmers themselves. A latin inscription adorns Potato Coin’s logo and translates to “Potato is light, potato is life, potato is love.” That’s weird to say the least, but the entire idea behind this coin is awesome.

3. Coinye (West)

If anyone has ever gotten too much attention by the media, in my opinion, its Mr. West. Apparently the creators of Coinye West feel completely different. In spite of a cease-and-desist letter filed by West’s legal team, the coin was released in 2014. The coin is still being released, but a few changes have been made. The South Park cartoon Kanye fish was substituted for the original Kanye head, and “West” was dropped from its name. The creators admit that other than the name and South Park reference, Kanye had nothing to do with the coin. They did mention on the website that they were avidly seeking Mr. West’s approval at the time. Turns out, though, that West didn’t approve, and sued the alt coin into ruin six short months after its release. It’s still trading on some exchanges, going by the ticker “COYE/KOI”.

2. NyanCoin (NYAN)

When I first heard of NYAN, I thought this would most certainly be number one on the list, but further research depicted a different story. NYAN came out in 2014, and despite its more than off- putting name and logo, it caught on surprisingly well with miners. It was released as the “first officially licensed cryptocurrency”. Creators named the coin after the viral YouTube video titled NyanCat that was uploaded in 2011, and has received over 100 million hits. In my few short years dealing with crypto currency, and cyber security, everything about this coin screams, “scam!” That obviously isn’t the case, though. It is mostly a reference to the 8-bit’esque website design and graphics. The coin has a substantial following still, and a dedicated sub-reddit. Anyone can get started with NYAN by simply going to the site and downloading the software.

1. Wankcoin (WKC)

This is the oddest crypto-coin I came across. It’s most certainly the strangest name so far. Wankcoin is the brain child of porno junkies with consciences. If you couldn’t tell, it was created as a way for porn enthusiasts to buy and trade NSFW porn anonymously. While it’s not the only coin of its kind, with this purpose it stands out from the rest because of its name. Everything about this coin makes me laugh. Any slogan for Wankcoin you ask? Well, it just so happens to be “Bank While You Wank!”. One thing I’ve noticed about the Wankcoin site is the ability to mine Wankcoin by watching porn, and apparently the more you “wank” the more you mine. It uses the same algorithm as Bitcoin, SHA-256.  Of all the alternative crypto-currencies I’ve looked into, this one takes the cake. Just imagine it…nevermind, don’t imagine it.

Well, there you have it–some of the weirdest alt-coins I could find. This, of course, is only a small list of what’s out there, so if you have a little extra change and want to do something strange with it, you might as well pick one (hopefully not number one) and see where it takes you.

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