Here’s «great» news from China where government is quite remarkable in many regards. Recently Beijing declared security token offerings (STOs) illegal. Unlike ICO where a company raises funds by selling tokens to the public, an STO gives holders the ability to share the profits of a company through dividends.
“The ICO (initial coin offering) model is getting left behind for a new concept called STO. I want to issue a warning to anyone considering running an STO in Beijing,” Huo Xuewen, chief of Beijing’s Municipal Bureau of Finance said. “Don’t do it in Beijing – it is illegal. You can only engage in such activities with the approval from the government.”
Now that the ICO mania is gradually dying out, blockchain startups are seeking new ways to secure funding; and it seems the STO is cropping up as the solution. The move towards STOs does grant more rights to holders, but it is concerning that a year after raising billions of dollars in ICOs, companies are now seeking even more funding. Indeed, mainstream crowdfunding platforms like Indiegogo are also getting in on the STO action (though their offerings might not always be open to everyone). Hopefully, it goes better than their botched foray into ICOs.
What do you guys think about this move from Beijing – what signal does it send the crypto world?