Hi steemers,

Blockchain is an interesting technology, but the critter's market is full of "absolute scams". This time it says ... the encyclopedia (really??)

Blockchain technology is an interesting phenomenon and "will stay with us for a while", but the critter's market is full of "cheat". After the controversy over bitcoins triggered by statements by some well-known Wall Street bankers, a new warning about the dangers associated with the uncontrolled spread of digital financial instruments comes this time from outside the financial community.

The last excellent opinion on the subject is that of Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, who called the so-called Initial Coin Offerings "Absolute Scams".

Blockchain interesting, but mindful of the scams

Interviewed by Cnbc, the inventor of the world's most famous encyclopedia was said to be against the widespread practice that start-ups raise money by issuing new criptovalutes, the so-called "Initial Coin Initials", and where those who participate pay with bitcoin or ethereum, the two most popular digital coins in circulation - a kind of crowdfunding, but all made with digital money, according to data from Coinschedule's specialized site this year generated a $ 2.4 billion market.

Wales has warned investors to participate in these forms of funding. "I think blockchain is a very interesting technology," he explains, "but there are a lot of these ICOs that in my opinion are absolute scams, and people should be very distrustful of the things that are happening in this market."

Prudence is needed, especially since the Ico, which has not been subject to any form of regulation, does not guarantee protection for those who invest in the event of fraud or loss of money. So much so that the first countermeasures in some countries have already come. The latest decision on this matter came just last week from the South Korean Financial Services Commission, which on the sidelines of the measures already taken in China at the beginning of September announced the next stop on the issue of new digital tokens.

An asset that divides

In Wales's opinion, however, the ever-increasing attention paid by the general public to the bitcoin family has been highlighted, following the exponential growth of the last year's market: in August, the total market value of exchanged cryptovalues

reached a record $ 160 billion, opening up a lively debate in the investment world and forcing them to position on some of Wall Street's most famous financiers. Last month, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's statement, made bitcoin a "fraud" that "will not work" and compared it to "Dutch tulips" referring to a well-known bubble episode speculative in Holland in the seventeenth century.

On the other side, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein has recently shown that he has a much less guarded approach to the cryptovalute market, entrusting a tweet, in a sort of high-pitched reflection on bitcoin, the message that "we are still reflecting on it" and has not yet decided whether to support it or reject it. Not surprisingly, the Wall Stret Journal has reported earlier this week that Goldman Sachs was thinking of launching a trading platform on bitcoin and other cryptovalutes.

And you, what do you think about the statement of WIKIPEDIA? 

Happy steeming,

Francesco