It is easy to imagine a situation in which your average user wants to create their own cryptocurrency. You just wake up one day and realise that work is not the same without your own coin out there. However, after some contemplation on how great it would be, a simple question come to one’s mind — how do I do that? Well, there are different options to choose from and this article is, hopefully, going to help you find the right way.

First of all, one has to choose if they want to create a coin or a token. Both of those are types of cryptocurrencies, but the difference is that coins (like Bitcoin, Namecoin of infamous Dogecoin) are operating their own blockchains (records of transactions made) when tokens rely on other networks to verify transactions and store them.

Most popular way to create a token is to run an Initial Coin Offering (later — ICO) which is a crowd sale exchange for already existing coins. Creating an ICO is available for pretty much anyone, but the Security and Exchange Commission is cracking down on ICOs and warns investors not to buy launched tokens blindly to avoid fraud. After selling the idea of a new project, it is important for a newcomer to make a token that actually works.

This next step requires a bit of technical knowledge or help from your understanding friend/advisor. Coins use their own blockchains, so, logically, in order to create a new coin it is

also essential to build a new blockchain or modify one that already exists. Modifying something that’s already out there requires serious coding skills, so for the ones who do not know much about the world of coding it is easier to fork a blockchain by taking an open-source code, making a couple changes and launching a new blockchain with a different name. Regardless of the fact that this way is easier, some understanding on modifications made is still essential, but the Internet is full of tutorials for that.

If both of the ways mentioned above seem way too complicated, there are launching platforms for new coins. In short, the creating service will do all the technical work and leave you with a finished product. The base price for the service is about 0.25 BTC and all the user needs to do is enter the parameters. Creating a token is faster and cheaper than attempting to create a coin, as tokens can represent any asset and to not require building and maintaining a blockchain. There are plenty of walkthroughs for creating tokens and launching ICOs out there, too. As an addition to general simplicity, token contracts have no penalty for “playing” with them. If not creating an ICO, the process of creating a token is not regulated by anything except the user’s common sense.

Taking a step further and creating a coin needs more attention and ability to maintain the product (this is what teams of developers and advisors are also for).

To sum up the points above, the technical part of creating a cryptocurrency is not that hard. The challenges lie in maintaining, giving the value for other people to mine and sell and promoting a new currency. Plenty of cryptocurrencies end up unsuccessful because of poor work of managers and developers, lack of demand or questionable legality. However, is the interest in there and you are passionate to start your own crypto-journey, why not to try?

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