> Who invests in these ICOs? Mostly idiots. or people who think they can pump the price and flip it to a greater fool before the "founders" exit scam everyone.

> Who invests in these ICOs? Mostly idiots. or people who think they can pump the price and flip it to a greater fool before the "founders" exit scam everyone. > How do ICOs reach these people? Reddit forums, Ads on crypto-currency related sites (ie: coindesk.com, etc...) and on Facebook etc... > What is the legal status of ICOs? SEC says[0] if you operate your ICO like a securities offering then your tokens are securities and you are subject to applicable federal laws. [0] https://www.sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-and-bulletins/ib_coinofferings https://www.sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-and-bulletins/ib_co... > Are there any case studies regarding how successful ICOs take place? No idea, most ICOs I'm aware of are hugely problematic and on the grey side of ethics at best. If the founders are pre-mining/keeping a large portion of the coins for themselves I would stay way far away. Bitcoin by contrast wasn't an ICO the only way someone got Bitcoin was by mining it.