There's already an alternative cryptocurrency (out of the 100+ that are out there) called Bottlecaps, which is accepted on several exchanges :)
The real investment of the moment is Dogecoin, the value is up 80% in a week, and 750% over the past month or so. In terms of market capitalisation, it is currently in 3rd place behind Litecoin, and may catch it in the coming month or two. The average block reward (the amount of new coins given out when a block containing transaction data is successfully 'mined') is due to be halved by around the weekend, so the supply of new coins will fall, possibly driving the price up further - it depends how much of the current rise is driven by speculators expecting the price to double at the weekend, which it likely won't, IMO the bigger change will be in the mining difficulty falling in response as people switch to other coins. *
* None of the above constitutes financial advice in any shape or form whatsoever, etc. etc.