Financial Times — Crypto Currency Offerings Spur Speculation Frenzy

Source: Financial Times
Published: May 14, 2017

Initial coin offerings appeal to people who have a lot less competence to evaluate what they’re investing in?

Most organisations have their share of IT workers who slip under the radar. But what is that quiet tech guy really up to when he should be fixing the server?

He might be pursuing a new career, speculating in crypto currencies. In virtual terms at least, he could soon be earning 20 times his annual salary as he joins the latest online investing craze that has shades of dotcom exuberance.

Using digital money loaned on an online exchange, IT staff at mainly financial services companies are betting on “alt-coins” during working hours.

An investment of just a few thousand dollars a month ago in a newly fashionable currency called Muse is now worth close to $500,000. Last week alone the price rose 278 per cent. At the current trajectory, the IT guy will be a dollar-millionaire by Thursday.

Except these are not real-world dollars. This is virtual money, one of the many variants on bitcoin — the original crypto currency that has been around for more than eight years. But there is a speculative frenzy for a new line of investment in the crypto market through initial coin offerings (ICOs).

Aping the real-world process of floating a company on a stock market, this crypto version involves a group publishing a business plan — commonly known as a white paper — and then promoting the sale to speculators through internet forums. The ICOs raise money in existing crypto currencies, mostly bitcoin and another popular token called Ether.

Read @ Financial Times