This is why ICO s suck.
They are basically the old stock market scam where a few people get in early and they use the retail investor not as a co-investor but rather as their exit strategy.
The beauty of original coin mining was everyone got in at the beginning at the ground floor and had an equal chance to participate in the rise before the hype or success of the coin.
There was little risk to early participants other than their electricity.
Furthermore because it was mining there was no legal snag with "accredited buyers" or international laws for the most part and even the poorest person could get a piece of the initial action and appreciation of the coin.
Founders kept a premine and saw their equity rise as the coin was adopted.
Coins got up and running to some degree and then founders made improvements that everyone saw as they were rolled out.
Also if a coin is at mining stage then it is in some form of functionality and not complete pie in the sky.
ICO's have turned that on its head. Now ICO'S have changed the game and many people who would have created mined coins or at least done airdrops are now going to ICO'S which are high risk for investors because you are trading something of current value for just a wild ass guess of speculative value on some new thing that doesn’t exist.
I am always looking for new coins to mine but f#$% ICO'S.
I have never been a fan of regulation but if SEC is going to do it I think they should only regulate ICO's and not mined or airdrop launches because in a mined or airdrop launch the early "investor" is actually not an investor but an active participant in making the value of the coin.
People should be able to do what they want but ICOs are stupid.
Find early coin announcements and mine. Then when others are selling coins and trading coins the value will have some relationship to actual real world use and participation by a number of people involved at that time and buyers and sellers will be able to stage their own entry and exit points at points on an adoption curve rather than on blind speculation at a hype plateau just before an ICO.
