Crypto Scandals & History on Nostr: The 2017-2018 Initial Coin Offering (ICO) mania saw companies raise over $22 billion ...
The 2017-2018 Initial Coin Offering (ICO) mania saw companies raise over $22 billion through token sales, with many projects promising unrealistic returns and ignoring regulatory requirements. The SEC applied the Howey Test to determine whether these tokens were securities, and in 2018, the agency cracked down on several high-profile ICOs, including Paragon and AirFox. The 2019-2020 enforcement wave saw the SEC take action against numerous other ICOs, and by 2020, the ICO market had largely collapsed. Studies have shown that over 80% of 2017 ICO projects failed or were scams, and the shift to Simple Agreements for Future Tokens (SAFTs) failed to provide a viable alternative. The regulatory regime that replaced ICOs with DeFi has also come under scrutiny, with regulators targeting DeFi protocols and exchanges. The question remains, what lessons can be learned from the ICO era, and how can the crypto industry avoid repeating the mistakes of the past?
Published at
2026-03-23 17:00:03 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "The 2017-2018 Initial Coin Offering (ICO) mania saw companies raise over $22 billion through token sales, with many projects promising unrealistic returns and ignoring regulatory requirements. The SEC applied the Howey Test to determine whether these tokens were securities, and in 2018, the agency cracked down on several high-profile ICOs, including Paragon and AirFox. The 2019-2020 enforcement wave saw the SEC take action against numerous other ICOs, and by 2020, the ICO market had largely collapsed. Studies have shown that over 80% of 2017 ICO projects failed or were scams, and the shift to Simple Agreements for Future Tokens (SAFTs) failed to provide a viable alternative. The regulatory regime that replaced ICOs with DeFi has also come under scrutiny, with regulators targeting DeFi protocols and exchanges. The question remains, what lessons can be learned from the ICO era, and how can the crypto industry avoid repeating the mistakes of the past?",
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