WSJ Identifies 15% of ICOs as Questionable

The Wall Street Journal has published a report identifying 513 cryptocurrency offerings (ICOs) which they regard as having questionable content either publicly available or in their whitepaper.

Textual analysis was done against thousands of ICO whitepapers in order to flag:

  • Duplicated language from earlier paper
  • Regulators scrutinized project
  • Misrepresented or faked team
  • No team disclosed online or in paper
  • Suggests a “Can’t miss” opportunity
  • Website unavailable
Wall Street Journal

Out of 3,300 whitepapers analysed, 513 were identified with at least one of the flags. That means around 15.5% of ICOs investigated were found to be questionable.

For those of us who were around in 2017, this will come as no surprise. The rapid rise and current fall of the ICO offering has dredged up all manner of scams, unethical practices, and flat out criminal behaviour as those without integrity try to grab a share of the lucrative space.

Does it surprise you that 15.5% of ICOs are questionable? Are the flagging criteria used in the WSJ investigation comprehensive enough? Let us know in the comments below.

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