Status Raises Millions (So Far) But Leaves Buyers Waiting

An Ethereum-based messaging app held an initial coin offering yesterday, drawing in more than $50m worth of Ether – as well as broad complaints from would-be investors. The sale quickly ran into headwinds as users began sending transactions to the announced smart contract address before it began.

That backlog accelerated as more users tried to purchase tokens, triggering reports of failed transactions and accusations that the sale itself was flawed from the start. But it wasn't just the network itself that got bogged down, according to posts on social media. Wallet service MyEtherWallet saw a big uptick and Etherscan had to switch traffic to a backup site