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Comment by aaron-lebo | Hacker News Reader

Investing in token sales shouldn’t just have the potential for profit, it should also be simple, understandable, and enjoyable. It’s time to take token sales mainstream.

- coinlist homepage

Because there isn't enough speculation in the space already. Wonder when this bubble pops?

The pitch must have been something like "did you know that there are over 800 coins listed on Coin Market Cap and that 795 of them are nothing more than vehicles for speculation. What if...what if we created a platform which allowed us to launch the next line of speculation?"

The person in the meeting who asked about practical use and societal benefit got overruled pretty quickly because all the VCs saw was $$$.

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Also, this isn't taking token sales mainstream, token sales are already mainstream. This is making token sales available to the privileged (accredited investors) before they are available to the public.

On the plus side, token sales are actually mainstream - so companies will actually be able to choose this hacked together version of the old public securities model and controlling their own destiny via DAOs and, well, simply setting up shop outside of the US. Choice is a good thing for companies, and it's a clever compromise - but if the only way VCs can invest is with hacks like this, I'm not feeling bullish on America's chance of participating in this new economy.

I don't know how you consider token sales mainstream. I wrote a post explaining how difficult it is to participate in a token sale. www.arilewis.com/blog/2017/5/15/my-mom-cant-buy-an-ico

It's very plausible that there could be a bubble, but just to give some context, the cryptocurrency market is valued at $68 billion dollars. The Bloomberg US Internet Index went from $2.948 trillion at its peak to $1.193 trillion. We are nowhere those types of valuations.

Sure, but the internet at its peak was providing _real_ goods and services, not just a _financial_ service.

Yes! A VC telling us that bypassing VCs and enabling people to invest in what they want directly is bad. News at 11.

But no, you see, they are worried about SEC compliance. Aren't you glad VCs are looking out for your interests?

@aaron-lebo: How will liquidation work for tokens offered during ICO at forums like CoinList? Will the concept same as 1. shutdown 2. M&A 3. IPO of offering companies ?

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