Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs): Risks, Regulation, and Accountability

Abstract

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) provide rapid access to capital for new ventures, but suffer from drawbacks relating to non-regulation, considerable risk, and non-accountability, which has created controversy and raised questions about the mechanisms for regulation in an era of emergent cryptocurrencies. This discussion paper provides a timely review of the regulatory and other risks that ICOs pose for participants, which thereby situates ICOs in the underexplored domain of accountability.

Keywords: Initial Coin Offering, ICO, Cryptocurrency, Regulation, Blockchain, Bitcoin