Hedge Funds Flip ICOs, Leaving Other Investors Holding the Bag

[GetBABB]

Hedge funds are proving to be first among equals when it comes to digital token sales by technology startups, receiving preferential discounts and terms and then often cashing out.

While legal, the manoeuvre is drawing comparisons to some of the eyebrow-raising practices that took place during the IPO heyday of the 1990s, when many preferred investors would quickly resell shares for big profits.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-03/hedge-funds-flip-icos-leaving-other-investors-holding-the-bag

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[buwaytress]

That's why the method of conducting ICO token sales system itself can be a huge red flag. It used to be that pre-mining and large holdings by devs that would put people off. Now we've got the pre-ICO and huge early investment click and bait, perfectly explained by lopsided bonuses. Pre-ICOs used to be a legitimate way of funding marketing. Projects realised you won't find the very best promoters and/or workers if you're paying them solely in your tokens, which have absolutely zero proven value. So you hold pre-ICOs to raise funds to pay staff and promoters, fund a serious marketing plan that'll buff up your actual ICO.

It gets a tad suspicious to me when a pre-ICO sells out in 10 minutes. Count in the massive bonus (and the bulk bonus too!) and you've got an already wealthy investor get cheap coins. If you're a hedge manager with 100s of Bitcoin to burn... even a 5% profit on immediate dumping after listing is attractive. And why not? It lets you partner up with yet another ICO.

Brilliant too, since it's great marketing in itself, and encourages speculators on the sidelines to commit.