Meaning:
“山寨” means “copycat,” and “币” means “coin.” This term, the Chinese equivalent for “Altcoin,” is the short form of “Bitcoin alternative,” referring to any other crypto asset other than Bitcoin. Similar to Bitcoin, Altcoins are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology, a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. According to CoinMarketCap statistics, there are over 15,000 types of cryptocurrency by December 2021, with Bitcoin comprising over 40 percent of the total market value, followed by Ethereum (20 percent up); the rest are Altcoins.
Example:
A: 我想投资一点山寨币。你觉得怎么样？
Wǒ xiǎng tóuzī yīdiǎn shānzhàibì。Nǐ juéde zěnmeyàng？
I’d like to invest some money in Altcoins. What do you say?
B: 这个我不懂，你还是谨慎一点儿好。
Zhè ge wǒ bùdǒng，nǐ háishì jǐnshèn yīdiǎn r hǎo。
I’m no expert at cryptocurrency. You’d better play it safe.