I tried doing a video on this, 3 times, and every time I decided that I was going to upset too many people. I could not help but stick a long tirade into my video about how much I dislike Asian projects.
China banning ICO's in a lot of ways is doing us all a favor. At least 50% of the projects launching from there are scams. The other 49% are honest junk coins. The other 1% might have something to them, but I have yet to personally see it (OmiseGo).
China banning ICO's then takes a plethora of shitcoins off the market, projects that will not even launch now. Projects that I do not have to cover when the irrational Asian market bids them up to 10 billion based on a speculation it might be amazing, when it is just a new generation copy-cat coin launched with some Asian text on their webpage.
If they bothered to innovate, I might like their stuff. I have not seen it yet.
A lot of people I see circulating the FUD at this point, here is what I am thinking about that...
Was the only reason we owned crypto to begin with, is because of the Chinese market permitting ICO's? I am sure there are many people out there who traded it just for that reason. This is not why I got into crypto, nor what I think gives crypto its value. The last thing I want is to be covering some Chinese asset bubble which has been dumped into junkcoins because their economy forces them to invest.
The other point is that this pull back was the most predictable one I have seen. People were expecting it. Then after the pull back has already begun, it is accelerated by the China announcement. The pull back was due anyway. Is the market crashing because of the China announcement, or is the market crashing because it was going to crash anyway? China just made it faster, but it was going to happen anyway.
And this all said, the Chinese can still buy Ethereum, Bitcoin, ect. The coins I would rather be covering anyway. They can still launch Chinese cryptos too, they just can not do ICO's. It is a limitation we already have in the USA, and we have done quite well in crypto in-spite of this.
Also, I saw an article about "What if the US bans ICO's too!?" [paraphrasing]. ICO's are already 100% illegal in the US. They were banned before they were invented, it is called the Howey Test. If the Howey Test does not work, we have FinCen for certain types of situations. Some states have other laws. Anytime you raise capital in the US, by issuing a publicly trade-able token, you run a fair risk of violating the law.
You are dead right. The Chinese decision is not the initial catalyst for this selloff. When the US made the similar decision there was little more than a blip on the chart. This is just selling follow through from the technical interim top made at $5K.
I've also been frustrated to see so many poor ICOs coming out. I remember looking at the Binance whitepaper and it just looked like another Poloniex so I publically panned it. To me it was nothing new or innovative, just a Chinese version of something already done. Then I had to watch the thing skyrocket with egg on my face.
It is down 45% today (78% from it's peak on Aug 23) according to CMC. I feel a little vindicated but also sorry for the poor sods who bought at the top.
Right...this is great for the scene, cleans a lot of the bad weeds from the grass!!! Together with the SEC regulations in the US I hope this helps to prevent the bubble that was already forming
I too haven't invested in Asian coins because I do not understand them. The only one I've invested in is OMG because of their track record previously and their mission. This was the only Asian token I was comfortable touching. (see: https://cointelegraph.com/news/omisego-unfazed-by-chinas-ico-ban)
I will disagree with you when you say that the US has banned ICO's and "we have done quite well". I think I understand what you're getting at, but the US is losing talent and business opportunities due to these restrictions. Yes, the US crypto folks have flexed well despite the restrictions, but I wouldn't suggest that the US is a burgeoning place of crypto investment right now (it's no where near the levels it could be). I fear that the longer the US waits to allow crypto to be more ubiquitous with capital raises, the more talent we will lose to the likes of Europe, Russia, and other so-called crypto safe havens.
Oh, yes, I totally agree about us losing what could be done in the US. My politics is, I would prefer none of it banned and let people fend for themselves to make their own mistakes.
Seems to be what happens with the US cryptos that launch, if they want to do an ICO, they launch elsewhere to get around the restrictions. I am not sure how block.one is operating, whether they are outside the US or inside the US. The EOS issuance itself may very well fall under crowdfunding, at least that seems to be how it was all worded and established in their docs. Recently, I was reading a news article about how equity crowdfunding was made legal in the US.
What I meant about doing well is, the ban doesn't prevent cryptos from soaring... we figure ways around the regs to get the projects launched anyway. A bit inconvenient for some to have to move outside the US to launch a project, but some people are willing.
True!
Great post. Agree on all fronts. Upvoting, following and resteeming. For insights I published on the Chinese ban and impact on the markets: https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@thoughtchain/why-today-is-the-perfect-storm-for-bitcoin @thoughtchain
The Chinese are very good copy cats. When they see something successful they will try to copy it. The time is right for the government to step in before the inferior ICOs get out of hand. The ICOs are inferior because the companies behind them are also inferior. However not all companies are inferior and there are many great companies out there and the government sees right through this to protect this infant industry.
Meh, I bought 2000 EOS today. Dan is the man :-D
LOL
Is kind of good. I'm bitter sweet about the idea of some projects going bellow ICO price but it's a great opportunity.
Thanks, I needed that! If reality doesn't come crashing down upon us, we get a sharp slap in the face instead. Either way you have to sober up.
A good thing is fine but a gravy train always gets abused by the unaware. Sooner or later the process is to select what really works.
However I think people are actually highly intelligent and very fast learners. Not while they are hypnotized of course but when they finally come to know they, and no one else, will pay for their mistakes.
Does an Invisible Hand really steer our ship?
Yeah, I get what you mean. If in the US, we had all grown up with a libertarian government and politics, where citizens fend for themselves in their economic decision making, very likely people would have no problem with the concept of government not holding their hand. It used to work like this in the US. The term "snake oil salesman" exists for a reason. They weren't thrown into jail back then because there was no FDA, and so society created a term for people who come around trying to sell a scam product with huge promises that can't deliver.
It gets taught through the generations, though, and the generations we have today have largely had the government holding their hand with everything their entire life. While people could learn, I expect this trend to continue instead.
Great points. It's like you read my mind, or the minds of most of those who aren't purely motivated by greed and the quick ICO buck. I think this event was excellent for shaking out many weak hands AND providing a necessary education for new investors about the crazy volatility of these markets. Most people are used to green arrows and don't understand that corrections are needed to build stronger bases. I was thrilled for this news and dip, and used it wisely.
after reading your opinion i think it was a good move indeed !!
I couldn't agree more, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that the majority of these ICO's land somewhere between pipe dreams and outright scams. The sooner people see that and stop pouring stupid amounts of money in the better. Otherwise we just move from "bitcoin is only used by criminals" to "all crypto is a scam"
It also make me happy, I didn't participate in any ico but I see that there are a lot of scammy projects, this why for me ICO = hyip
Nice to read this informative article. Thanks for sharing.
its a very helpful post, thank you :)
They need to regulate cryptocurrencies to minimize the risk going out of control. Much more people invest into those digital assets from day to day.
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