You also wouldn't get -100% from BTC . Kidding aside (not really tbf), I think it depends on how much risk you're willing to take. I've never heard of Namecoin before but if you think it's a good project, then go. I'd say split up the $1k if that's pretty big for you though, just to mitigate that -100% I said earlier. In this case you're probably shorting anyway, so even if you pull out early when you profit, if the project really has the chance of making that 1000% return, it's never really going to be late. You might get a bit less, but it's still a lot more compared to nothing.