When you talk about cryptocurrency the main focus is on Bitcoin, it is the most popular and most adopted cryptocurrency. No altcoins comes close to it's market cap and that makes it their king. Bitcoin success is the reason why many people look into altcoins (alternative cryptocurrency). If Bitcoin had failed I doubt that any altcoins would have had the potentials to make cryptocurrency popular. That is the reason why I say that altcoins survive under the reputation of Bitcoin.

It is a pity that a lot of shitcoins have flooded the crypto market and a lot of naive investors are being scammed. Everybody that wants to invest in cryptocurrency should try and gain some knowledge about the space. Bitcoin is different from altcoins it cannot scam anybody because it is decentralized, even Satoshi it's creator cannot control it. Bitcoin is still holding the beacon that makes cryptocurrency relevant while many scam projects are leveraging on it's legacy to attract victims.

If not for the reputation that Bitcoin has built over the years as a store of value, memecoins scams would have dragged crypto reputation into the mud. Memecoins are no different from Ponzi schemes, left for then alone cryptocurrency would have collapsed. But thanks to Bitcoin reputable, the name cryptocurrency still holds value.