~~~ Is ICO the new IPO ? ~~~

Let's take it easy :) not rush into reactions (as yet !!)

Let me paint the stage for folks who are new to BlockChain & BitCoin (broadly known as cryptocurrency).

BlockChain is an underlying technology & as such has no co-relation or anything to do with BitCoin. Let me help explain both in detail....

1) What is BlockChain & Why - BlockChain is simply chain of blocks; each blocks has numerous transactions (e.g think i sending Rs10 to you via payTM) ; blocks are put out to numerous people in public to verify (think - people having computers and using its resources to validate the block) ; Given all the transactions are validated in public domain with multiple copies of it ..etc..etc.. gives it more legitimacy, trust and no single point of failure , making it more robust and supposedly cheaper. Below is a simple chart that explains blockchain..

2) What BitCoin & Why - From above- for all the folks who used their computer resources to solve the block (or validate the block.. with 10' & 1000' of transactions) have to rewarded (to keep the concept running).. hence arrived BitCoin ( a crypto or virtual currency ) which is given as reward for the 1 for completes/wins the block. Again how 1 wins these coins is an area of its own, so let it be at this. Today 1 block is won every 10 minutes for an award of 50 BTC (bitcoins). It will continue to be this for 210,000 blocks (meaning 4 yrs) and after that it will become 25 BTC for next 4 yrs & so on.. till very negligible or no coins are left to be mined.

3) Why is BitCoin on fire @ $15000 (may change a lot before you read this... :) ) - simple & easy answer - I DONT KNOW - Trying to make up an answer.... As you can see above its price was ZERO (almost.. $0.08) when it started trading around Jul 2010. The 1st noted offline transaction was when 1 guy in florida bought 2 Pizza' for 10,000 BTC ( hope he enjoyed his pizza for a long long time.... :) ) , then of-course over time there comes in play a marketplace (where BTC can be used for buying other things) and now there are dozens of exchanges.. making it a commodity of sorts which can be widely tranded (& also recognized.. this is still hugely debatable, with multiple gov/regulatory clamp down etc..) but barring that its more than just chugging along.

4) What next from here ... - Well there seems to be BTC and all its cousins (Litecoin, Ripple etc.. and dozens more on their way) who are making a beeline given the success or take-off of BTC. Is this good / bad ? .. who knows? we all can only guess and put our opinions and sound to have got this sorted, even if we have no way to tell where all this craze is headed for.

5) Finally ICO vs IPO - Well no real comparison as yet, but the signs are ominous. OK, given IPO is a well oiled mechanism, multiple markets, multiple regulators, multiple analyst firms, business fundamentals, value unlocking etc,,etc.. 1 thing that still bugs me is, why the hell do we purchase stocks at MULTIPLES (P/E) answer to that is .. market demand/supply and its economics story.

Why should it be any different for a coin. Given that today there is not much underlying fundamental but mostly a hazy story for all these coin offering & are a promise of .. 'going to use blockchain'.. ' will help solve travel industry..' ..' want to create transparency ' etc.. etc. but was'nt all the other traditional business similar...hard to believe at 100 years back when they came to raise money. Investors must be why should we invest, why is the stock priced at $1 (so costly etc..)

I can understand the Regulators/ Govt hear-burn here... but lets not get there...

Also, today its filled with hype, some scams, some fly-by-night operators... but as more matured firms come to the party with their offerings (think Reliance' JioCoin, Telegram & others), it will start to feel more & more like an IPO.... (not at all saying IPO is good or anything :) )

~~~ Braze your self for the rain of coins..... ICO calendar is chock a block in 2018... Happy Mining !! ~~~