Are scam ICOs going to draw the attention of governments?

[secusuch]

it's not the matter whether the Government should be at the driver's seat but rather how far the long arm of law could reach as regards misuse of cryptocurrencies
and enforcement of ICO-related obligations.

Government must not do everything for us, are we children? We need less government in our lives. The purpose of government have been abused by crooks. This forum is not supervised nor run by government yet it's functioning very well. I'd rather have software and robots run things than so called government.
Crypto is about to take over the World yet it's is not regulated by government but by softwares and smart stakeholders

[European Central Bank]

Government must not do everything for us, are we children? We need less government in our lives. The purpose of government have been abused by crooks. This forum is not supervised nor run by government yet it's functioning very well. I'd rather have software and robots run things than so called government.
Crypto is about to take over the World yet it's is not regulated by government but by softwares and smart stakeholders

you may feel that way.

they don't. they're here to justify their salaries and protect their position. they'll destroy anyone and anything who gets in the way of that. with that reasoning it's inevitable that they're gonna come down heavy soon.

[rdix]

I agree with the previous posts about governments not being able to stop cryptocurrencies, but they can definitely make them harder to use in certain countries.

In the US, the SEC is making noise about regulating ICO's at some point: https://news.bitcoin.com/sec-eyes-initial-coin-offerings-for-regulatory-oversight/

Already more than one Altcoin company has said they won't offer coins to US citizens during the initial sale, because the legal implications aren't clear. For example: https://www.bitquence.com/global-remittance-and-transactions/bitquence-token-sale-not-available-in-the-u-s/

It will just take one really high-profile ICO scam to get the US regulatory authorities to act more strongly.

[evermarkets]

I think it was the SEC that came out and said that we need to be self-regulating; the best way to do that and grow the entire ecosystem is for sale participants to be choosy with their funding to projects with real potential from accountable individuals. 

I've seen a lot of ICOs where the team members are based abroad and details are very difficult to verify -- and then inevitably vanish after the ICO completes.  That these continue to get funded is, I feel, an injustice to later legitimate projects.  I spend at least an hour doing research before taking part in any token sale, several hours on some, and in legitimate project there's always plenty to read and learn.

My opinion is that the primary way of validation should be similar to how VCs operate: the quality of the team behind the project, and how their background pertains to the kind of project they want to do.  Prior work experience, contacts in the industry, etc., are all important.  Amibitious projects, in my mind, are not something we should shy away from, as the next big thing can often be easily doubted at the beginning, and even the most successful businesses morph and change from humble beginnings.

[secusuch]

https://news.bitcoin.com/russian-bankers-push-to-legalize-cryptocurrency/   something is as well stirring up in Russia though I doubt that "legalize" will mitigate the risk rather than multiply it

I agree with the previous posts about governments not being able to stop cryptocurrencies, but they can definitely make them harder to use in certain countries.

In the US, the SEC is making noise about regulating ICO's at some point: https://news.bitcoin.com/sec-eyes-initial-coin-offerings-for-regulatory-oversight/

Already more than one Altcoin company has said they won't offer coins to US citizens during the initial sale, because the legal implications aren't clear. For example: https://www.bitquence.com/global-remittance-and-transactions/bitquence-token-sale-not-available-in-the-u-s/

It will just take one really high-profile ICO scam to get the US regulatory authorities to act more strongly.

[secusuch]

as a follow up, another news piece worth paying attention to:
http://www.iflr.com/Article/3721543/Asian-regulators-differ-on-framework-for-bitcoin-operators.html  So, Japan is already creating regulatory hurdles for digital asset traders

[Marma Kalari]

I am sure that the government will take some measures to counter these activities because of the amount of money they are able to raise within a short period of time and the loss people are encountering if it is a scam,is it possible for them to counter it,i am not sure about that.

[secusuch]

I wonder how exactly the state will hold accountable the people behind the scam scheme - personally or in the name of the legal entity and whether reimbursement could be legally imposed before the asset dilutes. Otherwise what's the sense of even initiating such talks on a state level?...

[CrowdFunder]

The problem is that the ICOs are always modelled such that the investment is actually a donation and that makes it harder for the government to intervene even if they wanted to. Case in point you can find plenty of scams on kickstarter or gofundme as well but these sites are still operating and directly in fiat.

I don't think the government will involve itself unless there is a clear cut case of a known person intentionally misleading people and running off.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Many governments don't give a shit about protecting their citizens from scam. All ICOs will move to these jurisdictions.

Yeah, but the United States does.  We're full up with regulations that aim to protect us from every little thing. So it is indeed surprising that there seems to be nothing about altcoins or cryptocurrency scam stuff in general.  I get that the government isn't your parent, but they certainly know how to regulate things to the nth degree.  Somehow I think we're due for some regulation, but I'm not hoping for it.

Look at how the US gov't regulates markets.  They won't even allow banks to fail organically, or even some hedge funds.  They do all sorts of crap like that but they're dead silent about crypto.  Kind of makes you think...

[Golftech]

The problem is that the ICOs are always modelled such that the investment is actually a donation and that makes it harder for the government to intervene even if they wanted to. Case in point you can find plenty of scams on kickstarter or gofundme as well but these sites are still operating and directly in fiat.

I don't think the government will involve itself unless there is a clear cut case of a known person intentionally misleading people and running off.

that's the problem there's no strong evidence that those investors can bring their case into any government bodies as they are not oblige joining but its their own decision risking their money thinking that it will rise up its really a gamble and we don't need the interference of the government with our mistake we should be more furious and researchful before we make our moves.

[gangstabit]

Americans are technically not allowed to contribute. Plus USA is not the only country on the planet. I guess there will be some pushback at some point. I don't see what governments could do.

[secusuch]

and what do you think about usage of altcoins in business-to-state relations, such as public procurement etc?

Americans are technically not allowed to contribute. Plus USA is not the only country on the planet. I guess there will be some pushback at some point. I don't see what governments could do.

[secusuch]

perhaps offtopic but IMF is definitely turning the eyes on cross-border transactions in crypto:

http://www.coindesk.com/imf-explores-icos-central-bank-coins-new-blockchain-note/

[greply]

I don't think the government will involve itself unless there is a clear cut case of a known person intentionally misleading people and running off.

Agreed. Unless there is blatant fraud (and a clear cut case like you said) I don't see the them investing time and money into pursuing it. There is such minimal legal precedent when it comes to anything crypto that I can imagine that as a prosecutor it's almost impossible to predict how a court would rule if the case is as ambiguous as most ICOs.

[secusuch]

we are speaking of common law countries?

[Haladay]

With the massive rise of ICOs over the last few months, some of which have been straight up scams and ponzi schemes, will this expedite the entrance of governments into the world of crypto in the name of consumer protection?

They already did, don't worry about this. And scam icos will cause lots of problems for ico contributors as well.

[Armstand]

With the massive rise of ICOs over the last few months, some of which have been straight up scams and ponzi schemes, will this expedite the entrance of governments into the world of crypto in the name of consumer protection?

They already did, don't worry about this. And scam icos will cause lots of problems for ico contributors as well.

Government might already have knowledge on it since its money related and they can benefit from it, they might only studying now and soon they make actions, icos were really prone to scam like pyramiding and making duplicate sites of potential successful ico, we need to be careful.

[xuan87]

I think because the government hasn't​ decided that crypto currencies is legal or not, so the government won't take any action yet, the government now still in supervised and review about crypto currencies,but I do believe one day it could be the reason for the government to make a regulation about it or even banned crypto currencies

[Zadicar]

With the massive rise of ICOs over the last few months, some of which have been straight up scams and ponzi schemes, will this expedite the entrance of governments into the world of crypto in the name of consumer protection?

Government wont really bother at all that they would able to protect its citizens when they are being scammed by those scam ICO's out there since government doesnt really care about when it comes to cryptocurrency crowdfunding and they will surely think off that its your responsibility since its your choice to join those then you should really face consequences when things go wrong.