I've received a number of PMs and emails asking why Good Karma doesn't do an ICO.
Although I basically invented the ICO in early 2014 (for the old Karmacoin) in the Karmashares distribution called "share points" and bonus periods, I shut it down because of advice I received from my lawyer.
Yeah. It's a great idea. But...
You'll notice that most legitimate ICOs today do not allow anyone that lives or resides in the US to join in the distribution. What's not being considered is that
the people running the ICO should not be US residents or citizens, either. Which do you think is worse? Being a US citizen and buying into an ICO for the equivalent of $100 or being a US citizen and
running an ICO and receiving tens or even $100+ million dollars?
For example, from EOS' FAQ:
Why can’t U.S. citizens, residents or entities purchase EOS Tokens?
It was decided that U.S. citizens, residents and entities should be excluded from purchasing EOS Tokens in the token distribution because of some of the logistical challenges associated with differing regulations in the many states of the United States of America. block.one does not believe that the distribution of EOS Tokens or the EOS Tokens themselves are securities, commodities, swaps on either securities or commodities, or similar financial instruments. The EOS Tokens are not designed for investment or speculative purposes and should not be considered as a type of investment. Nevertheless, U.S. citizens, residents and entities should not purchase or attempt to purchase EOS Tokens.https://www.eos.io/faq.htmlIt's one of the reasons why EOS is based in the Cayman Islands. Many of the people running EOS are US citizens. I'm sure they've thought of the risks involved and have had counsel on it, but in my opinion shouldn't even have considered it. Someone like Dan Larimer could have easily raised enough funds from venture capitalists, so I'm not sure why they thought it was worth the risk of SEC fines, or worse.
Changing the name of something does not change its legality. Giving people a share of profits or ownership of an entity could still be considered a security or equity derivative according to the SEC. This is not something to mess around with or think, "well, everyone else is doing it so that makes it okay."
So, I won't even consider an ICO until the SEC changes their guidance in favor of ICOs.
While people are going gung-ho over something I came up with a few years ago, I am working on the
next big thing that is designed to put far more value in your pocket than any ICO could realize. (Nothing to do with the SEC, however.) And everyone who holds Good Karma will be very, very glad they considered it.
And, no, I won't explain what it is yet or do a whitepaper that lays it all out for someone else to develop first ;-)