Bittrex sent out an announcement to its users that it will be removing three dozen coins from its platform on Sunday the 15th of February. Pointing to the fact that they have “flagged and warned on these wallets for at least 30 days,” Bittrex will make no exceptions for funds remaining at time of execution.

Infanticide Against Netcoin

While no reasoning is provided, for some of the coins all-out abandonment may be the case, with the “broken blockchains” being cited as a reason refunds will be unavailable anyway you slice it. Fair enough, on those coins. But two of the coins that made it to the guillotine are surely unexpected by those who are paying attention to the Altcoin world.

One, Netcoin, which has seen a recent resurgence in development, usage, and value, trading around 200 Satoshi at rival exchange Cryptsy at time of writing. In fact, if you’ve had your ear to the ground in the past two weeks and haven’t heard the call of the good ship Netcoin debarking for the moon, well, let’s just say that boarding passes aren’t getting cheaper in the foreseeable future.

Another, Anoncoin, scheduled for the chopping block in November, consistently trades over the 50,000 Satoshi mark. The stated reason for its removal was “wallet issues,” so conceivably the developers could patch their way back onto the exchange.

However, the motive for these two particular removals can’t have anything to do with their utility or value – they each have (still) growing communities around them and comparatively feature-rich applications bolstering them.

The Line to the Gallows

The vast majority of the other coins being removed could be generally considered less than notable. Some of them have been superseded by competitor coins in the same space, such as XXX, which shares a market with coins like SXC, TIT, and TTC. Others, as previously mentioned, are simply broken and abandoned, likely what is referred to as “pump and dump” schemes from start to finish. The following is the complete list.

ANC / AnonCoin

AXR / Axron

BIG / BigBullion

BURN / BurnerCoin

CHCC / CHCCoin

DCN / DeepCoin

DEAF / DeafDollars

DIME / DimeCoin

DSB / DarkShibe

FLEX / FlexibleCoin

FRSH / FreshCoin

GANJA / GanjaCoin

GB / GreenBacks

GLOW / GlowCoin

HIC / HawaiiCoin

LKNX / InkwayCoin

MCL / MiracleCoin

MOB / MobCoin

NET / NetCoin

NMB / Nimbus

NOPE / NopeCoin

NUD / NewUniversalDollar

PYRA / PyramidsCoin

REKT / RektCoin

RUBLE / Ruble

SHADE / ShadeCoin

TAC / TalkCoin

TECH / TechCoin

UROD / UroDark

VAULT / VaultCoin

VIK / VikingCoin

VLTY / VolatilityCoin

VOOT / VootCoin

WWC / WorldWideCoin

XBOT / SocialXBot

XXX / XXXCoin

De-Centralization Scores Another Win

Moments like these are when advocates of total decentralization, such as Bitcoin Foundation candidate Cody Wilson, gain traction. After all, on a decentralized exchange, you can sell what you want for as long as you want. The platform’s only role is to facilitate the connection between the buying and selling party, similar to the way the BitTorrent protocol connects file sharers.

While there is no arbiter of quality and this in itself may inhibit actual trading, the risk of losing money because a trusted third-party no longer values your currency doesn’t exist; which, in hindsight, was a part of Satoshi’s mission when he kicked this whole cryptocurrency boom off back in 2008. (Wasn’t it?)

Again, the coins mentioned will be removed from Bittrex completely on Sunday, February 15th, 2015, and no funds in their wallets will be recoverable after that point.

Illustration courtesy of Pixabay.