No, there aren't. Real money has never been cheaper than it is now. Never in human history. USD, Euros, JPY, etc. Super cheaper. Low single digits to borrow. Anyone doing an 'ICO' is trying to cash out at your expense, big time.
- Government spending/borrowing bubble
- Education Loans bubble
- Housing bubble (at least in CA, but also worldwide to some degree)
- Bit coin, Ethereum, Coin bubble
- Stock market looks a bit frothy too - all the leading technical indicators show things won't be too rosy for the next 10 years.
Did I miss any?
As strange as it sounds, this is indeed the case.
The cost of money is measured in $ per $ (or actually currency per currency) which is a percentage also known as interest rate.
There are no known records of any time in history where interest rates were negative. Sure, only banks can "get" these but they will do and hand them to the next by investing in his asset.
The sentiment on HN is that ICO promoters/startups are all scammer. My company, Pipeline Network is going to launch our ICO soon. We would be more than happy to get some guide/mentorship from the YC community.
Calling them all scams will not stop the next ICO from getting bigger. Note to blockchain-denialists: there are 10s of billions of capital, a deep enough pool for thousands of ICOs.
Slinging mud will also not help make ICOs any safer, nor protect financial systems outside of blockchains from collateral damage should firms fail.
But yeah, the whole concept is stupid and the only reason it is getting any traction is because the traditional financial system is just as bad, and there is way to much free cash in the hands of "investors" who can't even tie their own shoe laces.
In which way is this different that "regular" crowd funding, which doesn't have as bad a reputation as ICO ?
Personally, i'd rather raise "real money", than cyrptocurrencies. The reason why it's easier for those companies to raise millions through cryptocurrencies than regular money raising tools, is probably because there's a bubble.
I seriously doubt the ICO market is going to be ready for prime time until a few years from now.
There is a huge amount of instantly-deployable capital in Ethereum and Bitcoin, held by individuals now seeking ways to put it to work. Many technologists will naturally make use of this energy, but so will BS artists and people under the influence of hubris.
I am making this appeal because it is irresponsible to stand by and watch so much financial energy be directed at projects without appropriate constraint. Many firms funded by ICOs (or soon to be) have qualified leaders and developers and are developing great ideas, but IMO many are also raising too much money for their own good.
What may be needed to guide these rockets to their full potential are maturity, mentorship, and the careful application of jurisprudence and principles of accounting.