BADCOIN HISTORY
It started as a podcast token. Then it became a blockchain.
Badcoin began as a BitShares token distributed to the Bad Crypto Podcast community before becoming its own mineable, multi-algorithm blockchain. The project has changed shape more than once, but the history never disappeared.
2017
A token for a podcast community.
Badcoin did not begin with a mining rig, a whitepaper, or a suspiciously polished roadmap.
It began as a token created on the BitShares platform for listeners of The Bad Crypto Podcast. Travis Wright and Joel Comm used BADCOIN as a community giveaway: a strange little reward for participating in an equally strange corner of the early crypto world.
More than two billion BADCOIN tokens were distributed to podcast listeners and fans.
2018–2019
From token to its own chain.
The next step was an independent cryptocurrency that people could mine, even with older or less powerful computers.
The new blockchain was created with a premine intended to support a one-for-one swap from the earlier BitShares BADCOIN token to BAD on the independent chain.
In 2019, Badcoin was introduced as a mineable, multi-algorithm proof-of-work blockchain.
Badcoin began as a token, but the Badcoin being maintained today is the independent blockchain that came next.
FIVE WAYS TO BE BAD
Built for more than one kind of miner.
A familiar proof-of-work family associated with Bitcoin-style mining.
A widely used mining algorithm with deep roots in early altcoin mining.
A separate mining path that helped broaden Badcoin beyond one hardware type.
Another proof-of-work route included to diversify participation.
A CPU-oriented path that fits Badcoin’s original “bad computers” personality.
Instead of forcing all miners into one lane, Badcoin used five proof-of-work algorithms so different kinds of computers and miners could contribute to the same chain.
THE QUIET YEARS
The chain stayed. Most of the project faded.
After its original launch period, Badcoin’s public activity slowed.
Websites aged. Instructions and download links became outdated. Public tools disappeared or stopped reflecting the actual state of the network. Community activity faded, and the project became increasingly difficult for a new visitor to understand.
Some historical material also referred to organizations, plans, and services that no longer represent the current project.
What remained was the blockchain, its transaction history, its open-source code, and a community that had not entirely let it go.
THE COMMUNITY REVIVAL
Not discovered. Continued.
Badcoin did not need to be discovered from scratch. Some people never fully left it behind.
The current revival grew from that persistence: checking what still worked, identifying what had broken, preserving the chain’s real history, and rebuilding the public systems around it.
The goal is not to pretend Badcoin was always polished, active, or easy to understand. The goal is to preserve what was real, replace what no longer works, and document the difference.
- Cleaning up and modernizing Badcoin Core
- Restoring explorer and API access
- Rebuilding pool infrastructure
- Updating websites and documentation
- Making current project status visible
- Reconnecting the community
- Separating verified history from outdated claims and abandoned plans
NOW
Rebuilding in public.
The revival is open-source and community-driven.
Current development, releases, infrastructure repairs, mining work, explorer work, pool work, and public documentation are being handled in the open.
Some old tools and instructions may still exist elsewhere on the internet, but historical material should not be assumed current simply because it remains online.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
Badcoin has already lived more than one life.
- A BitShares token distributed to a podcast community
- An independent five-algorithm proof-of-work blockchain
- A project that gradually fell quiet
- A community revival rebuilding the chain’s public infrastructure
What happens next is not guaranteed.
The goal is simpler than that: preserve the chain, restore reliable access to it, tell its history honestly, and give people a way to follow or contribute to the work.
No fake comeback story. No imaginary corporation. Just a weird old blockchain that some people decided was still worth saving.
Historical material may not reflect current software, releases, services, roles, organizations, or affiliations.