I have mixed feelings about ICOs. Back then, they were the only way I could get tokens. I participated in their bounty campaigns, with the goal of later exchanging for BTC or ETH. So at least I was able to make a slight profit from the ones that made it to an exchange (spoiler alert, most of them never did, and the ones that did never reached the moon ... lol). I just remember people were throwing pretty much everything into the blockchain, and writing the craziest white papers. I gotta admit I was fascinated by some of those projects, and really believed in them (I was so young and innocent back then).

But, at least it gave me access to crypto, which considering the increase in the past couple years, I am happy about (even though I recently hit a snag with one of those ICOs and I am trying to recover my funds from their useless wallet).

If you are/were a Choise.com user, and are facing issues with your account, the following message was sent today.


Notice to Choise.com clients: Required documents submission

Dear Choise.com Client,

Please be informed that on April 01, 2025, an entry regarding the commencement of the liquidation process of UAB Choise Services (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”) was made in the Republic of Lithuania’s Register of Legal Entities.

In this regard, so that the Company can settle its outstanding obligations to you; namely the disbursement of crypto-assets held on your accounts, we hereby notify you of the requirement to complete a fresh Know Your Customer (KYC) process and submit the documents and information specified in this letter.

Next Steps

Clients must complete the KYC process and submit documents specified in this Letter between April 17, 2025 and  July 20, 2025.

Following successful verification and review of all submitted documents, a letter containing further instructions regarding the settlement of obligations will be sent to you within fourteen (14) calendar days.

Required Actions

To ensure the security of all funds, every client that requests a withdrawal is required to:

1. Log into their Choise.com account and complete the KYC assessment (this is required even if the Client has completed such an assessment in the past). This will in turn require the upload of

personal identity documents e.g. passport and
proof of address that is not older than 1 month e.g. a bank statement or utility bill
To obtain further information on the KYC procedure, please go to https://choise.com/help/360005402299/360020565760.

2. Provide evidence of Source of Funds (SOF) where those funds exceed EUR 1,000 (for balances below this sum, this step can be ignored). In particular, the client is required to provide documentation evidencing the lawful origin of funds transferred to the Company.
Acceptable SOF documents include, but are not limited to: bank statements, income certificates, tax declarations, employer-issued income confirmations, trading history, etc.
All such documents must be in English and bear the official seal and signature of the issuing institution and submitted by the client via email to requests@choise.com.
Upon verification and successful processing of the submitted documents, we will provide you with the Application Form for the disbursement of crypto-assets.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our support team at requests@choise.com.

We truly appreciate your trust and support throughout the years, and we will do our best to make this transition as smooth as possible for you.

Best regards,
The Choise.com Team

Long time since I visited the bitcointalk forum. Was glad to see you Contraband still working with the ETN team.  Will be sure to check some of the updates. Take care everyone!

Some news posted today on their FB:

"Electroneum is now the WORLD’S FIRST KYC-compliant #cryptocurrency.
Check out FinTech Finance’s write up of the news here: https://www.fintech.finance/01-news/electroneum-becomes-worlds-first-kyc-compliant-cryptocurrency/

The article discusses how we are "breaking new ground in the cryptocurrency world”, our partnership with Yoti, who will be helping us speed up KYC registration, and how KYC will benefit Electroneum.

Once you’ve finished reading, head over to our Electroneum Community Forum to share your thoughts on the piece and our KYC plans – and to catch up on all things ETN: community.electrouneum.com"
(FB post link: https://www.facebook.com/electroneum/posts/2102998913295409)

And this one is from yesterday (for those wondering, currently #46, not sure what the number was yesterday):

"ETN is back in CoinMarketCap’s Top 50 cryptocurrencies!

Check out Blockchain News’ awesome piece on our milestone here: http://wu.to/aOshui

The article goes in-depth into how we “roared back” into the top 50 and covers our Instant Payment Integration success stories and KYC plans.

Have a read then head over to the ETN Community Forum to discuss it and the latest ETN news and updates: community.electroneum.com"
(FB post link: https://www.facebook.com/electroneum/posts/2102647829997184)

Glad to see the price increase in ETN after taking another small break from crypto. I was checking Electroneum's FB page today and saw many updates regarding Instant payments. Living in South America it will probably take a while before this becomes adopted by stores and such, but at least I do hope this gets integrated into more everyday websites / online stores.

This was posted earlier today on their FB: https://www.facebook.com/electroneum/posts/2098517617076872

"Here’s a world’s first for you!

Check out this awesome video from Matthew Cremer showing the first ever crypto instant payment integration with Magento - one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms. Which currency? ETN of course!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naL-2OKDQN0

How exciting to see us integrated with SUCH a huge name in the world of e-commerce – and to watch Matthew make purchases on desktop and mobile! Thanks for sending the video in, Matthew.

You can catch up with the latest instant payment videos and all things Electroneum on our ETN Community Forum: community.electroneum.com

Don’t forget to keep sending us your ETN Instant Payment videos – we’ll share them on here and on all our social channels!"

As I have been away for a few days, I just learned about the new KYC implementation. Although it took me by surprise, after watching the video it made a bit more sense. In summary, it is required for many of the partnerships / MOUs (as "lawyers don't like the anonymity of crypto"). Soft-launch began on the 10th of this month and it will be optional during the first 30 days, but after 30 days it will be mandatory (will be split into two tiers). If you want more info, be sure to watch the video.

"On our latest video, #Electroneum CEO Richard Ells talks about KYC (Know Your Customer) and our newest partner, @GetYoti, who we’re working with to deliver it. Check it out here:https://www.facebook.com/electroneum/videos/516919168748902/"

For those asking for more exchanges, be sure to vote for this new exchange opportunity: OKEX exchange. This was posted early on the 30th on Electroneum's FB page:

"New Exchange Opportunity.

OKEX Exchange (The 2nd biggest exchange in the world) is hosting a community coin vote, and we need our incredible community's voting power!

(Deadline is on September 5th 2018 at 23:59pm)

We’re putting the power of change into your hands, to get ETN listed on a monster exchange. Voting is free and only takes a moment of your time, see below for more details.

1️⃣ Join OKEX telegram chat: https://t.me/okexofficial_en
2️⃣ Click on the pinned message
3️⃣ Scroll down to the very bottom of the list, and Vote for Electroneum! (on the grey button)

#Blockchain #ETN #vote"
(FB Post link: https://www.facebook.com/electroneum/posts/2086089471653020)

They also posted a bit more info regarding the ETN forum:

"The ETN team are excited to announce the launch of our new Electroneum forum! A place where our community can chat, listen, learn and debate all things ETN – and where we’ll be posting ETN content and news.

The forum represents a social and inquisitive hubbub where you, our community, can integrate with team members and fellow community members alike. Whether it’s posting fan art; debating tech, educating yourself or just absorbing the culture, you’ll love what we have to offer with our latest platform.

Earn badges and contribute your opinion!
Go ahead and log in to: community.electroneum.com

We can’t wait to see you there!

(Make sure upon logging in, to change your forum username and avatar in settings to something more personal, to distinguish yourself)

Team ETN"
(FB post link: https://www.facebook.com/electroneum/posts/2086322914963009)

Not just ICO investors, but ICOs a well. Around this time last year, you could see many more ICOs taking place (I know there is less online advertising due to the ad bans, but still). However, I don't think the fall of ICOs is because of the lack of investors, but because people are being more careful with where they invest their money. Sure, the way the market has been going is a factor, but also many ICOs proved to be scams, others have been postponed, some haven't made it to a legit exchange yet, and others failed to launch / meet the goals detailed in their roadmap. At the end of the day you invest to make a profit, and if most ICOs from the past year have failed to stay above ICO price then people are less likely to invest in upcoming projects. 

As long as it was a good project with a solid team that is still working towards their goals, of course it has the potential to rise. Unfortunately, the current situation of the market is not helping already established alts, so it is reasonable new alts will have a hard time yielding a profit. At this time, patience is key (in the beginning my portfolio had a combination of short and long-term investments, and now I have decided long-term will be the best for the time being).

Although it has been slowly increasing since mid-August (with a minor dip here and there), I wouldn't call it stable just yet. About a month ago we were in the USD 8200 range, so even if it has been somewhat "stable" for the past 2 weeks, it could just as easily drop to USD 5K (if I am not mistaken, something similar happened in June / July, although I know you can't really compare).
I do hope the market is in the recovery process though.

I don't think it will drop much more, but I also doubt it will reach USD 20K like it almost did last year. Last year there were so many ICOs happening, and so many people investing left and right that it certainly helped drive the price and the bull run. After many ICOs proved to be scams or failed to deliver, people have become more careful with where they invest.
I was hoping that by July / August it would be closer to USD 10K, but unfortunately, that didn't happen ... hopefully, it will get closer to USD 10K by the end of the year.

I got into crypto thinking of it as an investment, so hodling is my choice (not because I am dreaming of lambos, but because I think the market will recover in the future and will be able to make a decent profit at least). Due to the way the market has been behaving my short-term investments are becoming more medium to long-term, but I prefer that than selling at a loss. As long as you never invest more than you can afford to lose, you should be fine with hodling.

I have always seen Bitcoin more as an investment than a currency (as a long-term investment to be more precise), and based on both definitions, BTC is clearly an investment. I think some people call it a bubble or don't see it as an investment because they haven't taken the time to learn about and don't understand it.

Good advice (losing keys is never a good idea), and with the way the market has been behaving I have also decided to stop checking the market on a daily basis and stick to long-term hodling for my portfolio. Who knows, maybe in a few months crypto will surprise us again. 

He is entitled to his opinion, just like the people who are sure BTC will be 100k, both are extreme opinions. Some people think of bitcoin as useless because there are not many places where you can actually spend it, and it would be great if you could (BTC or some other alt) ... would give crypto a more solid purpose/value (especially for those who don't understand the benefits of blockchain technology).

Price manipulation is always a possibility, and I do hope you are right and the price starts recovering soon. Although I was lucky to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptos almost a year ago, and the price is slightly higher than when I invested, it sucks to be on the red constantly. But if there is anything crypto has taught me is that patience is key.

To me, it is risky either way (existing product or no product), and when I decide to invest in a project, even if I take the time to research, I am aware there is always the chance of losing. Of course it gives you more confidence if there is already an existing product or prototype. Unfortunately, with digital goods sometimes it can be hard to tell if they will be as efficient when they are officially launched (having a beta test is not the same as having millions of users accessing a platform), or they might be worried someone will try to copy the idea (not that we don't already see plenty of ICOs offering the same). Having a product also doesn't guarantee they won't scam you later on (it can just be a more elaborate scam).

I have mixed feelings about KYC. On one hand it takes away the "pseudonymity / anonymity" of crypto, and I don't like the idea of sharing confidential info with strangers, but on the other hand it helps reduce the possibility of bounty hunters trying to take advantage of campaigns using multiple accounts, in a way it makes the campaign seem more legit. However, I do agree that KYC should be announced at the beginning of the campaign, or at the latest within the first couple weeks). When they add that requirement towards the end, or just before counting stakes I feel like it is a way to cheat on participants and not pay everyone.

Biggest mistake was definitely trying to purchase a token directly from a forum member, after I missed the ICO by a few days. After a few messages, I just sent my BTC to that user, and never received my alts. This happened when I was first getting started and was hoping to find my very own "next BTC", and thought this coin would be it. Back then I had no clue how rankings worked or escrow or anything. Fortunately I did listen to the whole "never invest more than you can afford to lose", and did not lose a whole lot.

Will continue to hold, even if the price falls below the price I purchased at. I don't want to sell for minimal profit, and I have hope that in a few months or next year the market will recover. When I started investing in crypto I saw it (and continue to see it) as a long term investment, and only used money I had set for non important things (entertainment, eating out, etc.), so for the time being all is well.