Deciphering Token Sales
A Look At The $2 Billion ICO Landscape
And whichsoever way thou goest, may fortune follow — Jules Verne, Journey To The Center of The Earth
On September 11, the People’s Bank of China announced a freeze on raising capital through ICO’s. For years, the Venture Capital industry invested in businesses that navigated uncharted waters. Today, a unique form of Venture Capital finds itself in uncharted waters with Initial Coin Offerings (ICO’s) receiving differing treatment by regulators across the world. Many experts warn against using the term ‘ICO’ and choose to use the words ‘Token Sales’ instead. This article traces the history of ICO’s and describes the current state of play. As to the future, it will be an interesting journey. Destination Unknown.
Unlikely Origins
In the early days of arcade gaming, the use of coins in slot machines to power up the game was common. In 2004, however, Blizzard Entertainment released a game titled World of Warcraft (WoW).
As per wikipedia: “As characters progress in World of Warcraft and take on some of the toughest challenges, many of the rewards received are bound to that character and cannot be traded, generating a market for the trading of accounts with…
