Elon Musk continues to tweet about altcoins like baby dogecoin””but investors should tread very carefully

Elon Musk continues to tweet about altcoins like baby dogecoin””but investors should tread very carefully

As bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, became more mainstream this year, the number of altcoins, or alternative digital coins, such as XRP and polkadot, in the market began to increase rapidly as well. Some have garnered more attention than others. Dogecoin, for example, is a meme-inspired altcoin that began as a joke in 2013, but . To , it's now cryptocurrencies by market value and hit an all-time high of . This is the result of a number of factors, including like billionaire Elon Musk. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO has been a of dogecoin , but has also tweeted about other altcoins, . Though it's not clear whether Musk's support is serious, his tweets mentioning these altcoins have . Seeing this may tempt investors to take part in the action, but experts warn to be especially careful when investing in altcoins. Although cryptocurrency can be a very volatile and speculative investment in general, experts say altcoins can be even more so. "Risk can be measured in a variety of different ways," Meltem Demirors, CoinShares chief strategy officer, tells CNBC Make It. But "many of these assets are much more risky than bitcoin and ethereum." Here's what you