ICO cryptocurrency market with big trouble ahead?
ICO - Initial Coin Offering
Initial coin offerings allow companies to raise money by issuing their own token.
$1.5 Billion has been raised from ICOs only in January this year. $5 Billion was raised in 2017.
SEC going after ICO
The Securities and Exchange Commission is going after the initial coin offerings market, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reported Wednesday that the SEC issued "scores of subpoenas and information requests" to folks associated with initial coin offering projects. The Journal cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The SEC declined to comment to the WSJ.
A better investors protection?
"There should be no misunderstanding about the law," Clayton said in prepared remarks. "When investors are offered and sold securities - which to date ICOs have largely been - they are entitled to the benefits of state and federal securities laws and sellers and other market participants must follow these laws."
To regulate, or not to regulate
- Government regulation is heresy for libertarian investors attracted by the promise that cryptocurrencies will end the tyranny of the inflation tax and government’s fiat money monopoly.
- Some prefer the anonymity of cryptocurrency for illegal transactions
- With every new blockchain glitch and exchange hack, pragmatic cryptocurrency investors see a need for investor protections through regulations.
There are compelling reasons why cryptocurrency investors might prefer a little more government oversight. Traditional financial products benefit from government programs that protect investors against market manipulation schemes and fraudulent losses.
What's your view?
Please share your opinion with us. Should cryptocurrencies be regulated as other traded financial products like shares, FX fiat currencies, properties, or would be better for blockchains to manage themselves through free market forces?
ICO is done, the time has come for DAICO and platforms the go beyond DAICO in protecting investors. 2018 is the last year we see ICOs. Once more investors will learn about more secure investmnets in new cryptocurrency projects they will never agree on ICO model again.
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@cryptohumster/how-not-to-step-on-a-landmine-while-investing-in-ico-comparative-analysis-of-new-platforms
Interesting view and a good article you wrote there. Thanks for your comment and sharing. The reality is blockchain environment is rapidly changing and regulators simply cannot keep up. So should they even try? I think they should to protect the most vulnerable. At the end of the day, some less computer literate users still fall victims of old fashioned scammers tricks, there are still loads of people falling for the 'your uncle died and left you millions of dollars inheritance in Africa' email scams. The same applies to blockchain because scammers use basically the same social engineering tricks as they have used before.