Initial Coin Offerings. A Primer. The First Response of Regulatory Authorities

Abstract

In recent decades, financial markets have undergone many significant transformations. Recently, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) emerged as a disruptive trend as part of the broader ecosystem of the so-called Fintech and blockchain. ICOs are a revolutionary tool for capital formation, and are contributing to disintermediate financial markets. After a brief analysis on what ICOs are, how they work and how they evolved, this paper focuses on the first responses implemented by regulatory authorities (in particular securities regulators), highlighting their criticalities and the potential alternatives. This paper is with a view to promoting a more functional approach of the regulatory authorities, which are challenged like never before by the urgency of the regulatory issues emerging from the exponential growth of technology.

Keywords: ICOs, Venture Capitals, Banking disintermediation, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Ethereum

JEL Classification: K20, K23, K32, L43, L5, O31, O32