So, I'm curious about the value of altcoins.
Let's say I were to create an altcoin, and get some people to use it... how would I calculate the value of the coin? Is this determined by exchanges? Or by how much money people give in exchange for X amount of the coin? I'm a bit confused by this. I've tried researching it, but nothing's really helped.
Thanks in advance!
The price is found when offer and bid intersect. Exchanges are platforms that facilitate the management and visibility of these, but less efficient markets work as well.
The price is what you can get for it in exchange. You cannot dictate the price except by providing your own offers/bids.
Your altcoin is supposed to be money and has no intrinsic value. If you ask "how much money people give in exchange for X amount of the coin?" it does not create trust at all, it signals that you are interested in short-term $ exchange rate profit, not in fostering a new economy (which is why Bitcoin exchange rate is so high). In both cases, however, purely unpredictable.
To my knowledge, the more people adopt it and trade with it, the more value it has.
If you could impose your will on others, forcing them to use your altcoin, the value is equivalent to a local government's currency.
If your altcoin implementation is perfect, Bitcoin pioneers, those who saw the potential of Bitcoin before public accept it, might sell their Bitcoin for your altcoin. At that time, the value should be similar to today's Bitcoin.
