If you even remotely consider yourself a student of economics and marketing..

You’ll want to keep a close eye on Earthcoin, as it fleshes itself out in this already over crowded market crypto-coin market.

Earthcoin is the latest of many alt coins to be released in the past few months, and despite a somewhat rocky start, it’s starting to show it’s strength: good marketing. If Doge has taught us anything – it’s that innovation simply is not needed in order to launch a successful crypto-coin.

Thousands of new users are flooding into crypto as we speak.. in other words.. the window of opportunity is still wide open, and if Earthcoin continues to build momentum, it may just become a long-term contender.

These latest coins are launching into a more matured marketplace than many that have come before them, and that makes for another interesting and vital component of this story.. A more mature marketplace means more people willing to buy young, unproven coins based on previous events in the market, and future predictions of how it will all play out.

But does Earthcoin have what it takes to compete in this explosive alt coin market?

Houston, We have a Problem..

If you followed the Earthcoin launch thread, then you know that the launch got off to quite the rough start. Everything from accusations of the Earthcoin client download containing trojans or other infectious malware, to the insane hash rate increase for many would-be early miners. Earthcoins were extremely difficult to mine almost instantaneously, causing many people to question the legitimacy of the entire coin, not just the launch.

Combine that with the fact that some questions were raised regarding the fact that Earthcoin was premined and some doubts are simply unavoidable. If you’re unfamiliar with the crypto world – The “premine” is basically the portion of the pie (coins) the developers and promotional team keep for themselves.

Seeing as how I doubt Earthcoin is the last alt coin launch we’re going to bear witness to, it seems pertinent to spend a bit of time exploring these and other factors that determine the success or failure of such coin launches.

So.. Is The Wallet Download Safe?

In a word: Yes.

The warnings of possible trojans being in the download, found peppered throughout the launch thread, turned out to be complete false alarms. Not that there’s anything wrong with being cautious in a situation like that, because you certainly should be.. but in this particular case, there was absolutely nothing to worry about. We’ve downloaded the Earthcoin client multiple times, on multiple computers, and have had no problems whatsoever.

So have at it.

About That Premine..

The premine can certainly play a crucial role in how the coin behaves once it’s released onto the market, and eventually, the exchanges.. If you have one person or entity that holds a large percentage of the coins, then there’s the potential for said coin holder to be able to manipulate market prices.

Perhaps more importantly, it also means that the team that supports the coin, it’s infrastructure, and community behind it, no longer hold much incentive to keep doing so on the same level that had previously been set and became “standard”. Which leaves us with a bit of a catch 22.. In that you may actually want the team behind a coin to hold enough stake in the coin to keep them totally invested in the project.

In fact, there are many alt coins that have climbed very high up in the crypto ranks despite having a premine that would make Earthcoin’s seem minuscule in comparison, so while some may not like a premined coin – That certainly doesn’t mean it’s chances of success are lowered. If the development and promotional team didn’t premine at all.. there simply wouldn’t be enough incentive to see the coin through to success. If used correctly, on the other hand, it could theoretically help a coin gain exposure in this crowded marketplace.

For the most part, the folks behind Earthcoin seem to be handling their stash of coins in a manner that’s congruent with the long-term success of Earthcoin. How you feel about how the premine is handled is up to you, but we’ll just end this segment by saying that Earthcoin is FAR from being the first premined coin, and something tells us it won’t be the last.

What Earthcoin Has To Offer.

Depending on your perspective, you may think that for any new alt coin to succeed at this point that it simply must offer something innovative and different. Let’s talk a little bit about Earthcoin’s features, and which, if any, separate it from the pack.

Litecoin’s Long Lost Relative.

Earthcoin is a scrypt coin descendant of Litecoin. So they both use scrypt as a proof of work. This is known in crypto circles for it’s faster confirmation times, and is one of the main battle cries of Litecoiner’s everywhere, us included. We’ve long been fans of Litecoin around here, and thus fully approve of Earthcoin’s heritage.

If you’re looking for innovation here, then it would have to be the confirmation times… Earthcoin claims to have much faster transaction times than Litecoin – So, That’s a positive. Just a speedier, scrypt coin based on the tried and true Litecoin software.

Admittedly, that’s nothing revolutionary but it does imply a solid foundation from which the Earthcoin team can build assets up around.

Block Rewards That Mimic The Cycles of The Earth.

This is where Earthcoin attempts to differentiate itself, somewhat. As humans, we’re all used to working in different seasons.. now crypto-coin mining is no different. The block rewards system is modeled after the seasonal rotation of the Earth moving around the sun.. an interesting concept, if you’re into mining. Earthcoin uses a sine curve to gradually adjust the amount a block pays out in increments of two thousand coins. These release of these coins fluctuates up and down in yearly cycles. Thus mimicking the earth’s seasonal orbit. Block payouts start off at 10,000 coins – then over the next three months it gradually works it’s way up to 12,000 – then back down to 10,000 in the next three months, then down to 8k in three more months… and so on, and so forth.

There are, of course, quite a few more details about the payout system, but that should give you the basic gist of things. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll see exactly how miners feel about Earthcoin’s unique spin on the block rewards. If you want to read more extensively about the block payouts, just scroll up and hop through the link to the Earthcoin launch thread.

A Great Name That Seems Inevitable In Hindsight.

Earthcoin. In hindsight, the name seems just as inevitable as Worldcoin. Inevitable because it’s a damn good name.

While it isn’t certain just how far an alt can ride on it’s name, we’re guessing it’s a fairly significant advantage, and at this stage of the game.. you need every advantage you can get. Let us not forget just how valuable a simple dot com registration could become simply because of the words it contained. It got damn ridiculous.

That said, I highly doubt that a good name is enough to keep a new coin afloat on it’s own, and that’s where the Earthcoin team shows that this isn’t something you need to worry about with Earthcoin, they certainly have a plan to be more than just a pretty logo, and great name.

Exceptional Marketing and Promotion.

The name definitely isn’t the only thing the devs got right. One thing that Earthcoin seems to have in it’s favor in spades is great marketing. Not that it’s a bad thing, quite the opposite, actually. Everything from the multitude of polished logos and graphics, to the generous giveaways.. Earthcoin is getting a lot of things right in the few short days of existence.

That’s, of course, not at all to say that it will be a success, only that it’s pretty obvious that there’s a very concerted, and so far very effective marketing and promotional effort being put forth by the people behind EAC. Interestingly, one of the many critiques of Litecoin has been that it’s lack of a focused community around it.. Without such an asset, many seem to believe that Litecoin lacks a “business plan”.. Now, don’t get us wrong, we’re big Litecoin bulls.. but it does seem somewhat lacking in the promotional department. Many on the BitcoinTalk thread are speculating that Earthcoin could potentially position itself as “Litecoin with a business plan”.

Of course, properly executing an effective large-scale marketing campaign is something that wouldn’t be cheap. Entire infrastructures need to be built in short order for a new alt to really see some sustained growth. If the dev team were to use the proceeds from the premine, to continue the type of promotion we’ve seen from the launch thus far, then Earthcoin may actually parlay itself into a success.

This, of course, assumes that the team behind Earthcoin genuinely has long term plans to support and fund the infrastructure and community development. If the premined coins were used in the right way.. then it’s potentially a coin with a very large advertising budget, and as someone experienced in online advertising, that sounds like a potentially good thing. It’s going to be interesting to see how much success the Earthcoin team can garner being somewhat of a late-comer.

That being said.. CoinTrader is in no way vouching for the intents and merit of the team behind Earthcoin – We’re simply aknowledging that so far, their efforts have been impressive and if they keep it up – It’ll be interesting to see what 2014 holds for this coin. Here’s just a sample of the level of polish we’re talking about here, and I’d venture to guess that there’s more to come:

InCryptEx: The Exchange That Could Set Earthcoin Apart From The Rest.

Recently, the Earthcoin team announced that they had plans to open up an EAC/USD exchange.. Well, we didn’t have to wait too long before they started trickling out the details.

Soon after that, it was announced that InCryptEx would indeed become a reality. Wow, that was fast. First thoughts are that if InCryptEx is built and released while given the same attention to detail that Earthcoin has been given, this could mean absolutely big things for this coin.

The burgeoning crypto market is hungry for a proper exchange, and if the EAC team can fill that demand and position Earthcoin properly.. then this could be the single biggest advantage that Earthcoin could ever ask for. It’s still too early to tell, but InCryptoEx could just give EAC the edge that it needs to thrive in the crypto markets.

The Longevity and Future Value of Earthcoin.

That’s a question that can’t really be answered, unfortunately. One can always speculate though.. That is, after all, the name of the crypto game!

as I followed along in the launch thread, I’ll admit to being somewhat anticipatory of Earthcoin’s failure. But now.. just a few short days later, Earthcoin is considered by many to be one of the most successful launches in recent memory.

Crypto being such a new breed and all – it can be fairly difficult to analyze something like this, but I think Earthcoin launched right on the heels of Dogecoin, the most successful coin launch to date, and that alone definitely has and will continue to play a role in how far Earthcoin can climb up the CoinMarketCap ladder.

The question is: Was the good timing intentional, or just a stroke of luck? I think if you consider the amount of polish put on the rest of the launch, odds are that the timing is simply the result of well executed marketing. The Earthcoin has team made several statements about launching early.. and it seems likely that the timing was calculated and may actually have paid off.

Regardless of whether it was luck or not.. Good timing = good marketing, and never underestimate the importance of good timing! If you started a tech company in the nineties, or schemed on Adsense in it’s hey day, then you know damn well the importance of timing.

Many speculate that the alt market might well be the next big financial/tech bubble, and the first real bull market since.. If that is indeed the case, then a good name, professional marketing, a unique mining rewards system, and a pretty logo may be all you need to launch your own successful, multi-million dollar digital currency.

Honestly, this seems an inevitable revelation in the evolution of cryptocurrency.. Given the somewhat low barrier to entry and all. This means that these next few months will be quite interesting watching as dozens of new alt coins launch.. All attempting to capitalize on the birth of the cryptocurrency markets.

Undoubtedly, most will fail, but some will succeed, and Earthcoin may have just launched while the market was hot enough to bolster any contender that has a solid game plan in order..

I suppose, we’ll see.. Thank god I have front row seats.

Want To Get Started With FREE Earthcoins?

If you’re like many people who land on this site, then you may be interested in cryptocurrency but not quite sure how to get your fiat into the market. Or many of you may not even have bank accounts yet, which makes it even more difficult to get started.. No worries.. CoinTrader has you covered!

All you have to do is hop on over to the official Earthcoin website and download the client for your specific operating system. After it downloads, open it up and wait a few minutes for it to sync.. Then simply head on over to the “receive” tab where you’ll find the address for your Earthcoin wallet. After that, simply follow us on either Twitter or Google+, and then leave a comment with your Earthcoin wallet address, and we’ll hook you up.. Also, be sure to check the balance your of your Earthcoin wallet at the Earthcoin block explorer. We’ll be giving out anywhere from 100-1000 Earthcoins to each participant. So don’t miss out. Follow us on Twitter, and G+ then leave your Earthcoin wallet address in the comments section below: