bitcoin holders started to diversify into some of the many other crypto-currencies, or “alt. coins”, to emerge in recent years. 比特币持有者就已经开始多元化到其他的加密货币，或者近年来出现的“山寨币”。

　　CoinMarketCap, a website, lists more than 800, from ArcticCoin, an obscure Russian currency, to ZCoin, which boasts added privacy. CoinMarketCap这个网站列出了超过800种货币，从ArcticCoin—一个不起眼的俄罗斯货币，到自称拓宽隐私的Zcoin。

　　The latest beneficiary is Ripple, which saw its market value explode from $2bn early this month to over $13bn. 最新的受益人是Ripple，它见证了其市场价值由本月早期的20亿美元，骤增至超过130亿美元。

　　Ethereum, which issues “ether”, has jumped from $700m in January to $8.6bn. 以太坊，一个发行以太币的平台，已从一月的7亿美元跃升至86亿美元。

　　Ethereum's surge in turn helped inflate another bubble. 以太坊的激增反过来助长另一个泡沫。

　　Feeling richer, holders of ether started investing in what have come to be called initial coin offerings. 这种感觉更深，以太的持有人初始投资被称为ICO（ICO也是一种'公开发行'，只是把所发行的标的物由证券变成了数字加密货币）。

　　Startups sell “tokens”, sub-currencies of sorts, which exist on top of Ethereum. 初创公司出售“代币”，各种各样的子货币存在于以太坊内。

　　A total of 38 such ICOs have already been launched this year, raising more than $150m, according to Smith+Crown, a research firm. 通过一家研究公司Smith+Crown得知，今年共推出了38个这样的ICO，募集资金超过1.5亿美元。

　　This has lured even more money into crypto-currencies. 这诱使更多的资金涌入加密货币行列中。

　　Some of the gains have found their way back into bitcoin and alt.coins. 部分获益已经以其自己的方式回到比特币和山寨币。

　　Trading between crypto-currencies has grown tenfold to $2bn on average a day, says Erik Voorhees, the founder of ShapeShift, a crypto-to-crypto exchange. ShapeShift（一家进行加密密码交换的公司）的创始人Erik Voorhees指出，虚拟货币的交易平均每天增长10倍，达到20亿美元。

　　The question is not if but when the market will turn. 问题不在于市场何时会转向。

　　Even crypto-aficionados may run for the exits should bitcoin bifurcate or if one of the ICOs, which are completely unregulated, goes badly wrong—if issuers, for example, abscond with the money. 即便加密者可能因为比特币分叉而退出，又或者如果一个完全不受监管的ICOs系统出现严重错误，比如发行方携款潜逃。

　　Prices will also suffer should regulators start clamping down on such offerings. 如果监管机构开始取缔这些产品，价格也将受到冲击。

　　On the other hand, although it is now easy to buy crypto-currencies for real cash, selling big amounts can be hard—as the woes of Bitfinex and others show. 另一方面，根据Bitfinex和其他方面显示，尽管现在很容易用真实货币购买加密货币，出售大量加密货币是困难的。

　　This makes sudden outflows unlikely. 这使得突然流出不太可能。

　　And the price surges have shown how the crypto-currency system is no longer just about bitcoin. 而价格飙升已经显示了加密货币系统不再只是关于比特币。

　　Although it is still the biggest kid on the blockchain and functions, in effect, as a crypto-reserve currency, it now makes up under half the combined market capitalisation of all crypto-currencies. 它是一个算法上的最大欺骗。实际上，作为一个加密的储备货币，现在总市值的一半被加密。

　　Come a crash, they may not all fall. 即使崩溃，它们也可能不会完全下降。