Coinbase reintroduces token sales in the US with safeguards

Seven years after the SEC effectively banned public token sales in the US, Coinbase has done what seemed impossible: brought them back onshore, with regulators who once treated ICOs as fraud factories now apparently on board. On November 17, retail investors rushed into Monad’s token sale, the first on Coinbase’s new platform, committing $43 million in just 23 minutes. By the time the week-long window closed on November 22, more than 85,000 participants had poured in $269 million, overshooting the $187.5 million target by 44% despite initial fears the sale would flop.

Source: X

This marks a dramatic reversal from the unregulated feeding frenzy of 2017 and 2018 when blockchain start-ups raised over $13.7 billion by selling tokens directly to the public with virtually no oversight. The consequences were catastrophic. An Ernst & Young study found that, by October 2018, 86% of the 141 largest ICOs from 2017 were trading below their listing price (with 30% losing their value entirely). Separ…