There are dark practices in ICOs too. Since the beginning of their era, investors have been subjected to scams and empty promises. However, scam ICOs are now easier to spot and many cryptocurrency enthusiasts learned how to spot and avoid these types of offers.
But what happens when founders and co-founders of already established ICOs become subjects of scams?
Edgecoin and an Indecent Offer
Kambiz Djafari, a co-founder of Edgecoin.io and the blockchain expert, has published a LinkedIn update with a very interesting and rather indecent offer.
Namely, the mail that he had got offers black hat ICO techniques, promising to pitch their ICO by providing credible team members, credible advisors and high ratings in ICO reviews. Furthermore, this organization offered a wide variety of packages which promise to boost the general visibility and credibility of the ICO.
This, of course, comes with a price and in order to enjoy their services, ICOs are asked to pay for them in ETH.
What is the Black Hat Technique?
Black hat techniques are mainly used in SEO (search engine optimization) in order to rank a page better on Google and other search engines. Google has strict guidelines that should be followed when it comes to SEO and everything that is done in disagreement with the guidelines is considered a black hat technique.
The Moral Aspect of ICOs
Since ICOs are a relatively new thing, some rules about them are still not figured out. Google can punish black hat SEO sites by deindexing them from their search, but who will regulate and punish ICOs that use black hat techniques for promotion?
Some of the platforms such as Icocharter are trying hard to impose the regulations on ICOs, thus minimizing the risk of the possible abuse by offers such as the one received by the co-founder of Edgecoin. Nevertheless, the number of scam ICOs are still on the rise. The only way to tell the real ones from the fake ones is to research and confirm all the information offered on their websites and whitepapers.
The Problems with Black Hat ICO Techniques
There are two main problems that may arise with black hat ICO techniques.
The first problem is that we will not be able to trust ICOs which are not scam. There is no guarantee that the reviews that we read about them are honest and the credible team members might just as well be bought.
The second problem is, however, much bigger. ICOs that opt to follow the legal and transparent way of promotion, without immersing themselves into immoral wrongdoings might be doomed to failure. This may happen because ICOs that bought their credibility will take all the space.
Conclusion
To sum up, an ICO that decides to answer the offer positively should be itself seen as illegal and immoral. If someone has the need to buy credibility this can only mean that they lack it. It is only logical that such an ICO has no honest intentions and that should be avoided at all costs.
