Cryptocurrencies are often open-sourced code repositories which can be effectively copied and modified by anyone in the world. This is one of the many reasons why there are so many clones of existing cryptocurrencies these days. Ethereum has received yet another clone, which goes by the name of EthereumDARK. There’s a similar knock-off involving Bitcoin, although that currency is mainly considered to be a pump-and-dump altcoin these days.

EthereumDARK is Another Clone Coin

No one should confuse Ethereum with EthereumDARK by any means. There is only one Ethereum, although Ethereum Classic shouldn’t be overlooked. Those two currencies share a large portion of the blockchain, having split into different ecosystems due to ideological differences. We documented this particular split some time ago, and it still holds up today. Any other currency which claims to have any ties to Ethereum has nothing to do with either of these established altcoins; that much is rather evident.

But it was everyone’s surprise to learn there is a new coin on the block which uses the Ethereum name. EthereumDARK is an altcoin originally announced on Bitcointalk over a month ago. Although this currency seemed to draw an initial response from the community, it hasn’t been mentioned in most circles all that often. Judging by the name alone, EthereumDARK has no real purpose whatsoever, and simply aims to ride the coattails of the world’s largest altcoin by market cap.

Under the hood, EthereumDARK also brings nothing new to the table whatsoever. Its hybrid PoW/PoS approach has been used by many different altcoins in the past, although there is a larger focus on the proof of stake aspect for the time being. Moreover, contrary to how Ethereum originally came to be, there will not be an ICO for EthereumDARK, which shows that this is an entirely new blockchain that we are dealing with. Anyone who once believed this project was linked to Ethereum will know by now that this altcoin stands on its own entirely.

What is pretty remarkable is how this currency uses the Ethereum name, removes the ICO part, and uses a premine instead. While premines are not uncommon in the world of altcoins, the question certainly exists as to why EthereumDARK would need one. According to the original post, the money will be used for the currency’s development, marketing, giveaways, bounties, and so on. These are pretty common tactics which indicate the developers will try to push the price of EthereumDARK up as high as possible and then simply unload their premine before moving on to a new project.

While it is commendable to see some form of roadmap on the thread right now, no one should be harboring high expectations whatsoever. It does appear there will be some smart contract functionality integration, but that isn’t exactly innovative these days. Moreover, the currency will focus on anonymity and privacy, but it remains unclear how this goal would be achieved. More information will be released once smart contracts are introduced, although the latter milestone has no official timeline either right now.

Additionally, EthereumDARK will integrate cross-chain atomic swapping at some point. While this new concept of decentralized value exchange between various blockchains is only now gaining traction, it remains to be seen if this new altcoin will reap the benefits of the technology. More specifically, it is not easy to integrate such solutions whatsoever, as we are only now seeing the first results of years of work and research in this regard. EthereumDARK appears to be a pump-and-dump altcoin for all intents and purposes, but maybe the developers will surprise us all in the end.