You can sell securities to anybody, including (presumably) children. You simply have to register them with the SEC and follow the disclosure rules all the other thousands of publicly traded companies have to follow.

Heck, after the JOBS Act, it got even easier to do this under Reg A+, which allows for a lightweight IPO for raises under 50MM --- which describes most ICOs.

What's happening in this thread is simply special pleading for a particular type of enterprise to be exempt from those rules.

It's mindboggling how people are perfectly OK with raising 50-200 million dollars with an ICO, when they don't have a team, or a working product, but they can't possibly afford the expense and hassle of compliance, auditing and disclosure.

There are two things here:

* It's not OK to raise 200M with no team and product;

* Compliance only creates obstructions, not protection.

RegA+ companies don't require SEC proxy statements, director and 10% stockholder reporting, SOX independent audits, SOX internal controls documentations, or SOX CEO certification. Pretty much all they're required to do is create a quarterly audited financial report. How is that "obstruction, not protection"? What kind of company that ordinary people should invest in can't produce an audited financial report? Charities and nonprofits product audited financials!

Thanks for bringing this up. I didn't realize just how lax the rules regarding being a Regulation A Plus company are.

You don't need to be an accredited investor to invest in one. You just need to limit your investment to no more then 10% of your salary, or net worth, whichever is greater.

There are currently over 150 Reg A+ companies in the United States. I am eagerly waiting for people lambasting how the accredited investor rule keeps out little people... To explain why little people aren't falling head over heels to invest in RegA+ corps.

Reg A+ is indeed easier than an IPO. I've seen some companies doing that, and it's 1 year pushback, to say at least.

One year is an insanely long time these days!

Except the majority (let's say 99%) of all adults have zero financial literacy

Yet they are expected already to operate as if they do. What's one more thing?