Why Are There So Many Cryptocurrencies?

Honestly? I don't know. But let's take a swing at it.

At the time of writing, there are over 20,000 cryptocurrencies listed across public databases and exchanges. By the time you finish reading this, there might be more. Most are dead. Many never lived.

So why do they keep showing up? Here are a few answers:

Because anyone can make one.

Creating a tokenA digital asset built on an existing blockchain, often representing utility or value today is easier than setting up an LLC. A few lines of code, a logo, a Medium post . . . boom, you're a "founder." EthereumA decentralized blockchain platform that enables smart contracts and decentralized applications made that possible. Hype made it contagious.

And now? You've got an exciting project, a fresh dAppAn application that operates on a blockchain instead of a centralized server, maybe even a problem no one knew existed, but you're solving it. All that's left is to build a 'community,' drop a roadmap and a whitepaperA document outlining the technical details and purpose of a blockchain project, and pray for exit liquidityLate buyers providing liquidity for insiders to sell holdings at inflated prices.

That worked in 2020.

Now it's just tech-flavored storytelling, and not a very good one most of the time.

Because tokens = equity + marketing.

A tokenA digital asset built on an existing blockchain, often representing utility or value isn't just a product. It's part funding tool, part hype engine. No VCs, no banks, no regulators, as long as it's not exchangeable or tradeable (yet). It might look like a startup IPO'ing on day one. But it's not. And forgetting that is where the trouble starts.

Because we're still early.

This is what a gold rush looks like: lots of noise, lots of nonsense, and a few gems buried deep. Not every coin needs to survive, but some already have, and others will reshape entire industries.

Because status is programmable now.

Not every tokenA digital asset built on an existing blockchain, often representing utility or value wants to be money. Some want to be clout. Access. Governance. In-game flex. We've never had programmable identity assets before. Now we do.

Because pump and dump isn't illegal (yet).

If anyone tried launching a stock IPO the way people launch crypto coins, they'd be tucked away for a long vacation — and not at the Four Seasons. Regulators are closing in, slowly expanding securities laws to cover tokenA digital asset built on an existing blockchain, often representing utility or value markets.

FBI Just Ran a Full-On Fake Token to Catch the Manipulators

In late 2024, the FBI did something unusually crypto-native: They launched their own tokenA digital asset built on an existing blockchain, often representing utility or value - a fake project called NextFundAI - as part of an undercover sting known as Operation Token Mirrors. They built a realistic token ecosystem. Legit-looking site. Pitched it as a "security token." Then waited. Behind the scenes? Not founders. Federal agents, tracking every wash trade, every pump, every backchannel Telegram deal.

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"We want the buys to look like more buyers. That's the idea." — Saitama team, coordinating fake trades on Telegram

Over the course of the sting:

• $25 million in crypto was seized
• 18 individuals and entities were charged
• Several bots and market-making firms were shut down
• Executives from Saitama, Robo Inu, Gotbit, CLS Global, and ZM Quant were indicted or arrested

These firms weren't just juicing prices. They were engineering fake liquidityThe ease with which an asset can be bought or sold without affecting its price using wash tradingBuying and selling the same asset to create false volume appearance bots, multi-walletA tool for storing, sending, and receiving cryptocurrencies loops, and Telegram playbooks - classic pump-and-dump tactics dressed in Web3Next generation internet powered by blockchain enabling user ownership of data and digital assets clothing. These weren't amateur scammers. They were market makers.

Meanwhile, their tokens, the "decentralised" ones, were quietly being rigged to lure in retail. All while preaching innovation.

And the twist?

The day the FBI announced the sting, someone launched a copycat tokenA digital asset built on an existing blockchain, often representing utility or value, "NexFund", and rugA scam where developers abandon a project after collecting investor funds-pulled it for $127K in ETHA decentralized blockchain platform that enables smart contracts and decentralized applications. Because even when law enforcement builds a fake coin, someone still tries to front-run the grift.

This was the first criminal case targeting crypto market makers for wash tradingBuying and selling the same asset to create false volume appearance, and the DOJ didn't treat it as some new grey-area innovation. They called it what it is: securities fraud. Four defendants have already pleaded guilty. One's cooperating. This isn't theory. It's done.

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"We have to make [the other buyers] lose money in order to make profit." — A market maker, caught on record

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"We've been doing this for many clients." — CLS trader, mid-pitch as recorded

Pump-it GIFs were circulating while prices were being gamed. Literally.

How did they do it?

• Dashboards for clients to set daily wash volume targets
• Trading bots to simulate natural volume
• WalletA tool for storing, sending, and receiving cryptocurrencies networks to hide self-trades
• Coordinated order books across BitMart, LBank, XT.com
• At least 60 tokens manipulated using these tactics

This wasn't some backroom Telegram pump room. This was institutionalised deception - wrapped in dashboards and pitch decks. The FBI's response? Build a fake tokenA digital asset built on an existing blockchain, often representing utility or value. Infiltrate the system. Catch everything on record. Now the Wild West isn't so lawless anymore.

So… why are there so many?

Because crypto is part money, part internet, part human nature. And when you mix tech + capital + ego, you don't get fewer tokens. You get thousands.

Choose wisely.

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