China’s central bank has declared that initial coin offerings are illegal and should be halted immediately. More than $1.8 billion has been raised through the 135 initial coin offerings listed at CoinSchedule in 2017. The Chinese committee has prepared a list of 60 exchanges which will be subject to inspection and a report.
In the U.S., the SEC has issued official warnings around the risks of ICOs, also known as token sales.
About 10 percent of all money raised in ethereum-based ICOs has been stolen by cybercriminals, according to a recent estimate by Chainalysis. By August, cybercrime losses had tallied $225 million, the digital currency analysts wrote. And that doesn’t take into account all the money flowing into tokens that weren’t stolen, but simply funded scams or projects with no future.
Some ICOs, backed by viable business models, could be worth quite a lot.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
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