Initial Coin Offerings have raised $200 million dollars in 2017.Here is a short list of recent ICOs, and their fundraising results:So what is an ICO?ICO’s are an old phenomenon in the blockchain space with a new brand name.The word ICO is merely a synonym for an ‘unlicensed security’.ICOs are released to investors under a pretense of venture equity, but with the specific purpose of circumventing SEC authority and control.ICO fundraisers leverage the confusion around ‘blockchain technology’ to swindle uninformed consumers with false promises, dubious claims, and dishonest terms related to their ‘high yield’ investment opportunities.‘Tokens’ have preexisted blockchain by decades, and are in widespread use in incumbent data systems.The only new ‘development’ that is causing the rise in these platforms, is the lack of SEC action in response to increasingly aggressive fundraiser claims.Clearly Bitcoin was the precursor.Bitcoin’s success was an unplanned experiment which culminated in a massive bubble during 2013.

But as Bitcoin’s market cap growth stalled in 2014, Venture capitalists began early attempts at recreating the manic euphoria of the Bitcoin movement in the years prior.David Johnston (Factom) and Ethereum promoters led much of that discussion, with many of today’s fundraising buzzwords coined in various papers and guides that they promoted.Over time, more established, and vocal Venture Capitalists began to chime in.Fast forward to today, and these ICOs are effectively pitching the security as the common man’s ticket to Silicon Valley success.If the ICO term sounds eerily similar to “IPO” well, that’s no coincidence.In the minds of impressionable and inexperienced, an ICO is an IPO.ICO proponents will of course state otherwise, but the difference between these terms is increasingly cosmetic.The common narrative amongst investors is surprisingly simple: Great fortunes were made in Bitcoin, this is your chance to get in on Bitcoin riches.And this narrative is so ingrained in the minds of investors that websites exist to strengthen and quantify the claim.For the ICOs that have already run their course, victims will not speak out.

They believe that either they themselves are fully responsible for their loss, or that they would not be able to exit their meager positions by doing so.There is no ICO success story.Like all ponzis, ICOs are nearly guaranteed to be profitable until the time at which capital inflow has ceased.The success stories merely exist amongst the lucky, or those with insider information on when to pull out of the schemes.The ICO industry will get as big as the SEC decides it should be.bitcoin kurs heuteThough I’m sure that recent high profile actions were a fine use of its resources, such scandals have now been dwarfed by the growth of the ICO market.bitcoin nyc meetupMy assumption is that reputational damage to the SEC will grow commensurate with this market.Ridicule of the SEC’s authority is already common amongst investors, and will spread to fundraisers themselves.bill gates bitcoin quote

Such disdain is already at so great a level that this Texas company would appear to be recreating the original Howey Test, but with the word ‘blockchain’ in their prospectus.So-called ‘Blockchain’ securities have become a return of the South Seas Bubble, the fallout for which will eventually become a burden to American citizens and taxpayers.bitcoin anwendungenAn ‘ICO’ is merely a label that’s been assigned to the current state of a securities regulation vacuum.bitcoin cotizacion hoyThere’s nothing ‘blockchain’ about tokens.Dear SEC: ICO’s and Tokens are killing innovation.buy litecoin mastercardTerms Smart Contract Escrow — The Token Crowdsale is based on Ethereum Smart Contracts which automatically govern all Token Crowdsale process.litecoin in inr

Contracts are uploaded to the blockchain.During the Token Crowdsale it’s impossible to interfere with this process.It also works as an escrow.What that means for ETH is that the smart contract automatically sends ETB tokens to investors.Other famous projects which have used the same escrow system are golem, vDice, and melonport.litecoin future priceSmart contract protection from hacking: Ethbits Token Crowdsale uses officially tested/ released Ethereum Foundation contracts.swtor bitcoinWe also build our contracts on that.However, Token Crowdsale contracts are relatively simple, so there are not so many points at which it can be hacked.Moreover, we are carrying out significant contract testing prior to the Token Crowdsale, and our contracts will be audited by First Blood’s IT advisor — Mikko Ohtamaa.Similar contracts have been used by other successful ICOs, such as golem, vDice, melonport.

Early investor protection — Token Crowdsale minimum goal.We set milestone 1 as a minimum Token Crowdsale goal of 750 000 ETB tokens sold (7500ETH).If this minimum goal is not reached, the ETH is automatically returned to investors.This process is guided by a Smart Contract, and it also protects early investors in the event the project does not raise sufficient funds for development.Unsold token burning — The Token Crowdsale sells 4 000 000 ETB tokens.Unsold tokens are automatically burned by the Ethereum Smart Contract.Investors are thereby protected from possible token devaluation, for example, in the event that half of the tokens were not sold, and a development team was in a position to devalue the token.team gets 14 % of ETB tokens sold.Tokens are automatically locked for 9 months by a Smart Contract.The 14% is broken up with 10% to be used for driving Ethbits iTrade and 4% will be held by the core team for legal costs.Instant Bounty participant pay-outs has the value of 6% of all the tokens sold which will be distributed at the same time as token distribution (2 weeks after Crowdsale end date) What if I do not understand Smart Contracts and I cannot be sure that all the points mentioned above are actually programmed into the contract?

Actually contracts are not that long, and we will release a medium post explaining which line is responsible for which of the above functions.Our contracts will also be audited by a 3rd party to confirm that all the investor protection functions mentioned above are actually programmed into the contract.3rd party contract audit: here by Mikko Ohtamaa First Blood's IT advisor.Profit sharing tokens risk NOT appearing on large exchanges.That’s why our project does not offer a profit sharing token or deal with exchanges beforehand.Project communication after Token Crowdsale: Following the Token Crowdsale, weekly project updates will be issued via newsletter/ twitter/ blog and other channels.In this way the blockchain community and investors can see the direction of the project.Constant project communication also raises the value of the token and helps the project to grow even more.Cryptocurrency value jumps around quite often and there is a risk of ETH price going down.Therefore, to protect raised funds from unpredictable pricing, the fund will be diversified into several different assets.