The first ICO unicorns are here

&gt; The OMG token sale, which raised $25 million, took place in July and initially one OMG token was worth around $0.27. Today, the value is at more than $11, giving a return of more than 40X to anyone who bought in at the ICO stage.<p>&gt; Another startling fact to note is that neither company has an actual product in the market right now. Although that is common with ICOs because investors buy into a product roadmap that will developed with the funds raised via the token sale.<p>No, don&#x27;t worry, this isn&#x27;t a bubble. We&#x27;re just experiencing a speculative soapy-water sphere situation.

Wow, they are <i>exactly</i> replicating the mechanism that fleeced so many retail buyers of stock in the dot.com bubble. It never occurred to me you could take that experience and monetize it so effectively. I suppose I shouldn&#x27;t be surprised after I saw what the Mortgage industry did to student loans after they didn&#x27;t get as much money out of sub-prime mortgages as they had forecast.

This is a bit off topic, but bear with me: so far, nearly every comment in this thread has contained some degree cynicism toward cryptocurrency-related funding. Why does HN have such a distaste for cryptocurrencies? Why can&#x27;t we just have an intelligent conversation about this new technology? Why do we have all the negativity and downvotes for any remotely positive comments related to cryptocurrencies?<p>This is super interesting technology, regardless of your prejudices, and just complaining about it being a &quot;bubble&quot; doesn&#x27;t add any value to the conversation.

&gt; initially one OMG token was worth around $0.27. Today, the value is at more than $11, giving a return of more than 40X to anyone who bought in at the ICO stage.<p>You too can become a millionaire from these penny stocks.

All we&#x27;re missing now is a Super Bowl ad for ICO complete with a cute sock puppet mascot named Ether.

Is it unfounded to see ICOs as a form of unregulated gambling? I&#x27;m thinking particularly in terms of legal consequences for US-based entities offering ICOs. Can entities like the IRS or SEC punish companies or individuals that offer ICOs?

There are likely some ulterior motives behind the way cryptocurrency is currently being covered. If you have sway in a news organization, it would be quite lucrative to invest in some crypto-related companies, and then encourage all stories written about cryptocurrency to take a positive view. The persuasion works best when it&#x27;s hidden, like a story about a teenager becoming rich by buying into bitcoin early. This is fine, but only if all such stories come with a disclosure. Otherwise it&#x27;s an ethically challenging position to be in, like the rating agencies who kept quiet to avoid losing their clients during 2008.

This is now a pretty long comment chain, and not a single comment so far about asset liquidity and start-up valuations.<p>So, the infinity:1 ratio of &quot;bubble!&quot; to &quot;econ 101&quot; doesn&#x27;t speak well to the thinking going on here.

I wonder how many people are making 5 years salary in a month or two getting in on these ICOs?!

This should end well.