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All big ICO's are through Switzerland and only allow accredited US purchasers if they allow US at all. SEC will kill the next decade of technology companies and

All big ICO's are through Switzerland and only allow accredited US purchasers if they allow US at all. SEC will kill the next decade of technology companies and let the EU take it over unless they issue clear guidance like the Swiss. You can apply to FINMA for $15k CHF and go through a standard process to be a verified token. Would love that in USA. After Brexit, expect more ICO's in the UK as well (Funfair is a good example) as they try to do anything possible to boost their economy. Fact: crypto currency will be a mechanism for fundraising startups. Either deal with it or stick your fingers in your ears.

wmf 9y ago
You make it sound like VCs and CoinList don't exist.
- seibelj 9y ago
  I am well aware, but YC is extremely anti-ICO as is HN, so I am trying to communicate reality to the general commenters here.
  - omarchowdhury 9y ago
    You'd think HN would be pro-ICO, but there's too many people here with sunk costs in the VC paradigm.
    - QAPereo 9y ago
      To which this quasi-legal shitshow of a shell game is the solution?!
      - omarchowdhury 9y ago
        Compare the time to liquidity and global access between VC investments and tokens, and you'll see its the beginning of a solution. But you all would rather see it trampled before being optimized for the benefit of all, for some reason.
        QAPereo 9y ago
        I see one benefit coming with a hoard of downsides, and nothing like an attempt or desire to fix those downsides, which in fact play like financial upsides to the ICO providers and high-level players with money to lose.
        CryptoPunk 9y ago
        You can't compare benefits and downsides like that. The single benefit could dwarf all of the downsides by several orders of magnitude. As for the downsides, these will gradually diminish through inherent market dynamics, like rising collective knowledge within the cryptocurrency investment community, the emergence of reputable services that aid token buyers in vetting token options, etc.
        QAPereo 9y ago
        You can't compare benefits and downsides like that. The single benefit could dwarf all of the downsides by several orders of magnitude. There's that malignant utopianism again... "All of the pain is OK because we're building Jerusalem!" No thanks.
        CryptoPunk 9y ago
        >"All of the pain is OK" If the benefit alleviates more pain than what's being caused by the technology, why not? I don't know if you know this, but the internet also created many classes of problems that had never existed. You can't simply shut down any new technology or way of living because it's associated with problems. It's not utopianism to make an objective comparison of pros and cons. What's utopianism is to assume that it's possible for a new technology to not introduce new problems. Also, my main point was about how you're assessing the net effect of cryptocurrency. Benefits and drawbacks aren't uniform units that can be weighed by their count. The individual benefits/drawbacks need to be measured in terms of their impact. One giant benefit/drawback can far outweigh numerous small drawbacks/benefits. Also, no one is forcing anyone to use cryptocurrency, and unless someone is a ward of the state, there is no justification for removing market options from them, let alone through the drastic measure of prosecuting anyone who offers that option to the public at large on the market, in the name of protecting them from their own bad judgment.
    - seibelj 9y ago
      VC isn't against ICO, VC has a very important part to play in the ICO system in terms of due diligence and "stamp of approval". I know many prominent VC's who are serious about tokens, but usually they are spinning out new funds without the LP agreements they currently have. The scary thing to the current system is that entrepreneurs are getting more power. The bullshit common in fundraising (i.e. last minute changes that threaten to blow up the raise, unreasonable asks from capital, multi-month full-time fundraising, I can go on...) will become abnormal as raising money gets easier.
      - nikcub 9y ago
        People forget that VCs also raise money. Setting up a venture fund that is backed by an ICO token would be a good way to give public accredited investors access to the private market.
matt4077 9y ago
Fact: Switzerland is not in the EU. Deal with it[0]. [0]: It's ok. Everyone does.
karmasimida 9y ago
> SEC will kill the next decade of technology companies and let the EU take it over unless they issue clear guidance like the Swiss If you don't bother to elaborate, I will just call it as hyperbole.
s17n 9y ago
The only advantage that crypto currency has as a means for raising capital is that it is currently unregulated. When that changes, there is no reason not to just use dollars.

wmf 9y ago

You make it sound like VCs and CoinList don't exist.

seibelj 9y ago
I am well aware, but YC is extremely anti-ICO as is HN, so I am trying to communicate reality to the general commenters here.
- omarchowdhury 9y ago
  You'd think HN would be pro-ICO, but there's too many people here with sunk costs in the VC paradigm.
  - QAPereo 9y ago
    To which this quasi-legal shitshow of a shell game is the solution?!
    - omarchowdhury 9y ago
      Compare the time to liquidity and global access between VC investments and tokens, and you'll see its the beginning of a solution. But you all would rather see it trampled before being optimized for the benefit of all, for some reason.
      - QAPereo 9y ago
        I see one benefit coming with a hoard of downsides, and nothing like an attempt or desire to fix those downsides, which in fact play like financial upsides to the ICO providers and high-level players with money to lose.
        CryptoPunk 9y ago
        You can't compare benefits and downsides like that. The single benefit could dwarf all of the downsides by several orders of magnitude. As for the downsides, these will gradually diminish through inherent market dynamics, like rising collective knowledge within the cryptocurrency investment community, the emergence of reputable services that aid token buyers in vetting token options, etc.
        QAPereo 9y ago
        You can't compare benefits and downsides like that. The single benefit could dwarf all of the downsides by several orders of magnitude. There's that malignant utopianism again... "All of the pain is OK because we're building Jerusalem!" No thanks.
        CryptoPunk 9y ago
        >"All of the pain is OK" If the benefit alleviates more pain than what's being caused by the technology, why not? I don't know if you know this, but the internet also created many classes of problems that had never existed. You can't simply shut down any new technology or way of living because it's associated with problems. It's not utopianism to make an objective comparison of pros and cons. What's utopianism is to assume that it's possible for a new technology to not introduce new problems. Also, my main point was about how you're assessing the net effect of cryptocurrency. Benefits and drawbacks aren't uniform units that can be weighed by their count. The individual benefits/drawbacks need to be measured in terms of their impact. One giant benefit/drawback can far outweigh numerous small drawbacks/benefits. Also, no one is forcing anyone to use cryptocurrency, and unless someone is a ward of the state, there is no justification for removing market options from them, let alone through the drastic measure of prosecuting anyone who offers that option to the public at large on the market, in the name of protecting them from their own bad judgment.
  - seibelj 9y ago
    VC isn't against ICO, VC has a very important part to play in the ICO system in terms of due diligence and "stamp of approval". I know many prominent VC's who are serious about tokens, but usually they are spinning out new funds without the LP agreements they currently have. The scary thing to the current system is that entrepreneurs are getting more power. The bullshit common in fundraising (i.e. last minute changes that threaten to blow up the raise, unreasonable asks from capital, multi-month full-time fundraising, I can go on...) will become abnormal as raising money gets easier.
    - nikcub 9y ago
      People forget that VCs also raise money. Setting up a venture fund that is backed by an ICO token would be a good way to give public accredited investors access to the private market.

matt4077 9y ago

Fact: Switzerland is not in the EU. Deal with it[0]. [0]: It's ok. Everyone does.

karmasimida 9y ago

> SEC will kill the next decade of technology companies and let the EU take it over unless they issue clear guidance like the Swiss If you don't bother to elaborate, I will just call it as hyperbole.

s17n 9y ago

The only advantage that crypto currency has as a means for raising capital is that it is currently unregulated. When that changes, there is no reason not to just use dollars.