Good question @vve732

We could have launched it as a new coin but that would be misleading when our code base is based off of Bitcoin. Not only that, all the similarities in goals between the two. At the same time, we want to create a fork, rather than waiting for original Bitcoin to achieve features that we like. A new coin also would isolate the existing holders of Bitcoin, because they get no benefit. We want to engage and involve as many people as we can, not isolate them