How altcoins (tokens) are valued?

[Fizpok]

Hi,
My question is about ICOs, not about Ethereum itself.
Say, a company issues shares (like Microsoft). They are linked to price of company assets via rules and regulations, right? Share holders have right of vote, they receive dividends that are fully controllable by accounting that a public company MUST make public according to the law.
So the price of a share can be calculated, give or take.

Now the question. Am I correct assuming that a token issued via ICO is not related to a company issuing it, and the company has no obligations whatsoever to pay anything? Like... there are exchanges, buying and selling tokens, and price of those tokens moves up an down according to company news, but the relation is just the hype. No obligations to pay dividends, no nothing...

Or am I missing something?

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[SureLockLoans]

Normally the airdrop ones are predetermined by the developers and if people invest then it's great and if they don't its a big waste of time. But after that initial time its based on supply and demand.

[Fizpok]

So there is no obligation to pay any dividends, or to distribute leftovers if the company goes broke?

[ikilledcobain]

So there is no obligation to pay any dividends, or to distribute leftovers if the company goes broke?

Nope. If the company goes belly up, then I'm afraid you've lost your initial investment. The rewards are hefty, but so are the risks.

[ranga71]

You're missing nothing. It's an incredibly speculative and risky market with no real regulation to hold companies accountable to it's investors. At the moment, it's most similar to giving a person some money to help start his company. In exchange you get a "share" that you can go trade with other people.

[Fizpok]

Sorry, but I still do not get it. What are the "hefty rewards" if company is under no obligations? Only price expectations?
So if I want to create a revolutionary... I don't know... vacuum cleaner... I go ICO, get money, create a product... But I don't have to pay anything to token holders, correct?
Then why would tokens be priced on exchanges?