上周末，中國采取了嚴厲措施。監(jiān)管者將首次代幣發(fā)行這種初創(chuàng)公司利用加密貨幣通過區(qū)塊鏈進行募資的新途徑定性為非法。

包括中國人民銀行、工業(yè)和信息化部和中國銀行業(yè)監(jiān)督管理委員會在內的七家金融監(jiān)管機構聯(lián)合發(fā)布政令，并在其中公布了原因。他們稱經過考慮，認為加密貨幣銷售是“一種未經批準非法公開融資的行為，涉嫌非法發(fā)售代幣票券、非法發(fā)行證券以及非法集資、金融詐騙、傳銷等違法犯罪活動。”

換句話說：誰都別想和ICO扯上關系。

我們研讀了監(jiān)管方的公告，利用我們的相關經驗為這一新聞進行了一些解讀。以下是中國發(fā)布禁令可能的七大理由。

1. ICO已經失去控制

ICO的狂熱已經失去了控制。今年上半年，ICO為基于區(qū)塊鏈的項目募集了超過10億美元資金——而其中許多不過是一張白紙加上一些宣稱新型網絡貨幣將顛覆各大行業(yè)的推銷詞藻。從職業(yè)拳擊手弗洛伊德·梅威瑟到酒店的女繼承人帕里斯·希爾頓等名流都為它們背書。如果沒有制衡，該領域將繼續(xù)在沒有監(jiān)管的情況下發(fā)展。因此，中國決定在它變得更加瘋狂之前壓制這種募資機制。

2. 許多ICO都是騙局

你不需要對金融有多深了解，就能知道許多ICO的模式就像傳統(tǒng)的炒高拋售騙局或傳銷計劃。讓人們?yōu)槟切┎惶私獾馁Y產或機遇投資；希望這些幾乎毫無價值的垃圾漲價；再從中套取現(xiàn)金。這里有太多只是想賺些快錢的推銷者了。

3. 這種狂熱會給散戶帶來危險

加密貨幣的泡沫破裂，誰會受傷？是那些普通投資者。禁止ICO，中國或許就能讓消費者避免更大的財務困境。這也是證券法誕生的原因。

4. 加密貨幣容易滋生騙局

4. 中國是騙術等事件滋生的溫床

中國處于加密貨幣狂潮的風口浪尖。中國互聯(lián)網金融協(xié)會的數(shù)據顯示，今年上半年，在中國進行的ICO共有65次，超過10萬名投資者參與，募集資金總計達4億美元。一旦加密貨幣的泡沫破裂，中國就會陷入極其危險的境地。

5. 中國想要自己的加密貨幣

有傳聞稱中國正試圖開發(fā)自己國家的加密貨幣。如果能夠成功，比起現(xiàn)有的選擇（比特幣、以太坊等），中國會對加密貨幣平臺有更大的控制權。監(jiān)管者可能正在為新貨幣的最終誕生掃清路上的障礙。

6. ICO會威脅現(xiàn)有企業(yè)

中國更青睞國內的商場贏家。一般來說，國外的風投公司會由于缺少國家支持而遭遇失敗。在中國看來，ICO可以繞開監(jiān)管障礙，提供獲取風投資金的新途徑，建立未來有一天可能與現(xiàn)有企業(yè)競爭的項目或協(xié)議并提供不受審查的替代選擇，簡直生來就是為了威脅或規(guī)避傳統(tǒng)的強大公司。缺乏國家的管制，會讓政府對全部ICO都保持警惕。

7. 中國需要冷卻期

中國將所有的ICO都定義為不合法，而不是將未登記證券的加密貨幣與使用特定分散化應用、更像代幣的加密貨幣區(qū)分開來，可謂是手段嚴厲。在美國，證券交易委員會傾向于區(qū)分這兩類ICO。中國可能只是試圖利用嚴格而或許只是暫時的禁令，讓這種加密貨幣的狂熱情緒冷卻下來。我們不知道這種禁令是否會永久有效，又是否是當下的狂熱才催生了它的出臺。

合廣投資公司的投資者弗雷德·威爾遜看好加密貨幣，他認為中國還會出臺進一步的措施。他表示“許多人推測中國的禁令只是暫時的，是為了給當局留出時間思考更合理的管制措施。我也是如此認為。”（財富中文網）

譯者：嚴匡正

China enacted a draconian measure this weekend. Its regulators outlawed initial coin offerings or ICOs, a new way of financing startups based on blockchains, the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies. (For more on blockchain tech, read this recent Fortune magazine cover story.)

In a joint decree from seven financial regulators—including the People's Bank of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the China Banking Regulatory Commission—state officials laid out their reasoning. The group said they consider crypto token sales to be "an unauthorized and illegal public financing activity, which involves financial crimes such as the illegal distribution of financial tokens, the illegal issuance of securities and illegal fundraising, financial fraud and pyramid scheme."

In other words: don't even think about getting involved with an ICO.

We dug into the regulators' text and applied our own expertise to provide some context for the news. Below are seven reasons why China likely instituted the ban.

1. ICOs are out of control

The ICO craze has gotten out of hand. In the first half of the year, ICOs raised more than $1 billion for blockchain-based projects—many of which consist of little more than a white paper and some marketing spiel about disrupting various industries with new kind of Internet money. Celebrities ranging from pro boxer Floyd Mayweather to hotel heiress Paris Hilton have been endorsing the stuff. Without a counterbalance, the sector would continue to grow unchecked; China decided to put the kibosh on the funding mechanism before the space could get any more bonkers.

2. Many ICOs are scams

It doesn't take a financial whiz to understand that many ICOs operate like classic pump and dump scams or pyramid schemes. Get people to throw money behind an asset or opportunity they don't understand all that well; hope the price of the mostly worthless junk inflates; cash out. There are too many hucksters out there simply looking to make a quick buck.

3. The mania poses a danger to retail investors.

When the crypto bubble bursts who is going to get hurt? Joe investor, that's who. By clamping down on the ICO sector, China may be warding off bigger financial troubles for consumers down the line. There are securities laws for a reason.

China is an epicenter for cryptocurrency mania. In the first half of the year, China-based ICOs raised about $400 million through 65 offerings with more than 100,000 investors, according to a report from the National Internet Finance Association of China. That puts the country in a particularly precarious position if and when the crypto boom comes crashing down.

5. China wants its own coin

We've heard rumors that China is looking to mint its own national cryptocurrency. If the country succeeds it will have greater control over that platform than the present options (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.). Regulators may be clearing the way for this this eventual debut.

6. ICOs threaten incumbents

China likes to pick its business winners. In general, ventures originating outside the country tend to fail for lack of state support. In their very conception, ICOs are designed to threaten or circumvent traditional power players—to get around regulatory obstacles, to provide a new way to access venture capital, to build projects or protocols that might one day compete with incumbent businesses and provide censorship-resistant alternatives. A lack of state control means that government views the whole lot of ICOs warily.

7. China wants a cool-off period

By considering all ICOs illegal rather than differentiating ones that trade in unregistered securities from ones that act more like tokens to use certain decentralized apps, China is taking a heavy-handed approach. (In the United States, the SEC appears to be gearing up for a distinction between the two types.) China may simply be trying to cool off the crypto mania with a strict, if temporary, edict. There's no knowing whether this ban is forever, or whether it has been prompted by the present craze.

Fred Wilson, an investor at Union Square Ventures who is bullish on cryptocurrencies, penned a take on the move. He observed that "many have speculated that this Chinese ban is temporary to give the Chinese authorities time to come up with sensible regulations. I suspect that is right."