到了 2017 年的现在，正在读文章的你恐怕已经对比特币不再陌生了。
By 2017 now, you're reading articles that are no longer unknown to Bitcoin.
随着比特币的暴涨、暴跌和越来越严苛的监管，越来越多的投资者开始把目光投向了另外一个新兴领域——ICO。
As Bitcoin's , regulation /a>, an increasing number of investors began to look at another emerging area - ICO.
简单点说，ICO 其实就是比特币世界的 IPO 。和普通 IPO 销售股份不同的是，他们销售的是自己的代币 ?(Token) 。实际上，这种形式更像是 Kickstarter 上的众筹。创业公司通过向投资人讲解自己公司的计划，通过兑换代币的形式，来筹集资金。
In short, the ICO is actually the IPO of the Bitcoin world. Unlike ordinary IPO sales shares, they sell their own tokens? Token.
读到这儿，你可能会问，为什么要销售代币，而不是其他东西？
When you read this, you might ask, why do you sell tokens instead of something else?
因为这些创业公司的产品、服务往往是基于区块链技术。区块链技术，简单点说，就是一个巨大的账本。参与这个技术的所有人都将会拥有这个账本的副本，但所有对账本的修改都需要经过系统中的大部分人认定才行。
Because the products and services of these start-ups are often based on block chain technology. Block chain technology, to put it simply, is a huge book of accounts. Everyone involved in this technology will have a copy of the book, but all reconciliations will have to be modified by the majority of the people in the system.
（区块链技术的其中一个应用——比特币，图片来自：Vide）
而区块链最为成功的应用，就是发行代币。对于这些初创公司来说，发售代币有一个好处：激励用户使用他们的服务。因为他们发售的代币除了用于和其他加密货币交易外，剩下的就只有用于他们自己内部。这样一来，发售代币既可以激励用户使用他们的服务，同时作为公司，也收到了相应的投资作为回报，可谓是双赢。
The most successful application of block chains is the issuance of tokens. For these start-ups, there is a benefit in issuing tokens: to motivate users to use their services. They sell the tokens only for their own internal use, in addition to other encrypted currency transactions.
那么，这些代币又是从哪儿来的呢？就目前而言，有两种应用最为广泛的来源：
So where do these tokens come from? For the moment, there are two most widely used sources:
一种是基于算法，通过计算获得，也就是俗称的 “挖矿”。但随着加密货币领域 “马太效应” 的越发严重，现在大部分的计算力量已经被排名靠前的机密货币（比如比特币）所垄断。因此，已经很少有初创公司会选择这种方式发行他们的代币了。
One is based on algorithms, which are derived by calculation, commonly known as “mining”. But as the “Mathere effect” in the crypto-currency area becomes more acute, much of the computing power is now monopolized by the top-ranked secret currency (e.g. Bitcoin). So few start-ups have chosen to issue their tokens in this way.
（这些密密麻麻的机器，就是用来为了赚取比特币设立的，图源：FreeWechat）
另一种则是通过 “预挖”，也就是把未来可能出产的代币总量加以预先划分：50%~70% 的代币用于融资、销售，而剩下的部分通常则是由开发团队保留，作为团队运营的支出和对用户的额外激励。
The other is through “pre-digging”, whereby the total amount of money that may be produced in the future is predetermined: 50 to 70 per cent of the money is used for financing, sales, while the remainder is usually retained by the development team as the cost of operating the team and as an additional incentive for users.
现在的状况就是，越来越多的大公司开始拥抱区块链技术。这些都进一步推动了人们对区块链技术的未来的盲目乐观。
The situation is that more and more major companies begin to embrace block chain technology. These have furthered the blind optimism about the future of block chain technology.
而随着以以太坊 (Ethereum)?为代表的基于区块链技术的分布式计算平台的出现，让 ICO 的门槛进一步降低。现在，通过该平台，只需要短短几分钟，就可以创建出一个新的代币。
And with the emergence of a distributed computing platform, represented by Etheeum, based on block chain technology, the ICO threshold is further lowered. Now, through this platform, a new token can be created in a few minutes.
（以太坊提供的图形化工具让创建代币变得轻而易举，图源：Ethereum Blog）
一方面是对新技术的盲目乐观，一方面则是基于区块链技术的创业项目的井喷，这让很多没有赶上比特币浪潮的投资者们开始把目光转向了 ICO。这些都进一步推动了 ICO 的疯狂。
On the one hand, the blind optimism about new technologies and, on the other hand, the blow-out of entrepreneurial projects based on block-chain technologies have led many investors who have not caught up with the Bitcoin tide to turn their eyes to the ICO. These have furthered the ICO’s madness.
就拿最近的出名的 ICO 项目来说，一个名为 FUCK 的代币想要接管人们对内容的赞赏方式，在 30 分钟内筹款 3 万美元。
For the most recent ICO project, a token called FUCK seeks to take over the content appreciation by raising $30,000 in 30 minutes.
一个还在 Alpha 阶段、功能及其阳春的聊天工具 Status 在短短几分钟内成功筹款 4 千 400 万美元。
A chat tool at Alpha stage, functionality and its spring PressOne 的受追捧度则更令人诧异，只通过大 V 站台和网站说明，就成功筹款 2 亿美元。
The popularity of the domestic PressOne is even more surprising, with $200 million successfully raised through Big V stations and websites alone.
（在以太坊，排名前 9 的项目总市值已经超过了 7 亿美元，图源：TrustNodes）
根据苏宁金融研究院的统计，现在国内 ICO 项目的筹集资金大多集中在 4000 万到 8000 万之间。通过 “画饼”，轻轻松松就能拿到那么大一笔不受监管的资金，也就难怪为什么会有越来越多的区块链创业公司开始打起了 ICO 的主意。
According to Statistics
放眼历史，如此火爆的市场，恐怕可以媲美的只有当年的淘金热。实际上，现在入市的 ICO 投资者们，购买的，已经不是所谓的代币了。对他们来说，他们其实是在赌区块链的实际应用价值，以及他们投资的公司能够利用区块链创造出真正能被广泛采用的、可稳定盈利的商业模式。一旦成功，那么他们手中的代币势必将更加值钱。 In fact, ICO investors who are now in the market are buying money, which is no longer the so-called tokens. For them, they are actually betting on the actual application of the block chain, and the companies they invest in are able to use the block chain to create a business model that is truly sustainable and profitable. 正如 Dogecoin 的创始人 Jackson Palmer 在接受 Motherboard 采访时所说的那样，“开发者正在为一些并不存在的技术而不负责任地大量集资。” As Jackson Palmer, founder of Dogecoin, said in an interview with , “The developers are investing heavily and irresponsibly in technologies that do not exist”. 既然泡沫已经被吹起来了，那么随之而来的必然是巨大的风险。 Now that the bubble has been blown, the associated risks are enormous. 目前业内唱衰 ICO 的原因主要还是基于这些理由： The reason why
首先是代币本身。现在流行的 ICO 项目大多采用的是 “预挖” 的手段，这样，这些代币就没有了比特币那样的 “去中心化” 特征。项目的发起者手上所拥有的大量货币（通常会占据总量的 40% 左右），让操控币值变得轻而易举。通俗点说，这些通过 “预挖” 手段定义的代币，和游乐园的代币没什么两样：代币的价值永远被项目拥有者所控制。 Most of the ICO projects that are popular now use “pre-digging” as a means of “de-centralizing” such as Bitcoin. The large amounts of money in the hands of the project’s sponsors (which usually account for about 40% of the total) make it easier to manipulate the value of the currency. （图片来自：Pixnet） 其次是项目。现有的项目缺乏实质性的创新，只是把区块链的优点或者特征进行简单重组，再扯上 “颠覆传统行业” 的大旗。但这些依然阻挡不了 ICO 投资者们对项目的追捧。这在传统行业是无法想象的。就好比说，一个创业公司说想要使用新的数据库技术来颠覆 “淘宝”，恐怕傻子都知道这是不可行的。但一旦这个项目涉及到了区块链，投资者们突然就变得没那么精明了。 This is impossible to imagine in the traditional industry. Like a start-up company that says it wants to use new database technology to destabilize a “baby” that is unlikely to be feasible. But once the project involves a block chain, investors suddenly become less sophisticated. （尽管区块链的应用范围广阔，但它也不能包治百病，图片来自：Bitcoin Master） 最后是监管。现在新兴的 ICO 募款模式其实是完全脱离了监管的。而加密货币的特性也决定了投资者难以了解资金的真实用途。这就意味着，项目拥有者想要坑你钱，有比传统 IPO 更加灵活的多的手段：有良心的可以等币值上涨后套现，然后在币值下跌的时候把同等数量的本金还给投资人；没有良心的，完全可以把本金挥霍掉，让代币自生自灭。 The new ICO fund-raising model is now completely out of regulation. And the characteristics of encrypted money make it difficult for investors to understand the true use of money. （业内人士的警告，图源见水印） 所以说，有不少业内人士认为，有部分公司，在用 ICO 的旗号，以 “融资” 之名，行 “非法集资” 之实。 So there are a number of insiders , some companies, using the ICO flag, are “unlawful fund-raising”. 遗憾的是，就目前来说，在我国，对 ICO 项目的监管依旧处于讨论状态。而在当下，尽管区块链技术是一种极其富有竞争力的技术，但投资者对 ICO 项目的盲目追捧显然是不理智的。正如金融分析师肖磊在接受新京报采访时所说的那样，“技术在整个链条上占的比重越来越小。” Unfortunately, for the time being, regulation of ICO projects in my country is still in the state of discussion 当市场中的每个人都怀着自己可以碰上个好项目、捞上一笔就走的心态，那么这个市场，恐怕离崩溃，也不远了吧。 When everyone in the market has the idea that they can run into a good project and get away with it, it's probably not far from collapsing. 题图来自：Gyft
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