The Wild West of ICOs

Abstract

This chapter sets out to establish the key issues that have become central within the market for Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Within this context, we provide a brief overview of the existing literature based on ICOs around the world, while explaining the motivations and styles of criminality that have occurred, the methods that have been widely used by cryptocurrency thieves, the potential for the innovation of theft within the sector and the related problems that such technological progress can potentially generate, and the types of market agents that have set out to potentially misuse ICOs for a variety of reasons at both the sovereign and corporate level. As cryptocurrency markets continue to evolve, it is imperative that policy-makers and regulators continue to monitor the potential development of sophisticated manipulation and cyber-criminality techniques that have developed throughout the market for cryptocurrencies.