A New Way to Raise Money

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Interestingly, some entrepreneurs are following a new path, which avoids venture capital pitches or crowd funding. In this quest, before they even have a working product, they are creating their own digital currencies and selling so-called coins on the web, which sometimes raises them tens of millions of dollars in a matter of minutes.

Questions:
1. What are some of the names of these currencies?
2. What are some of the abuses of these currencies that you can identify?
3. Typically, what types of products or services are being financed in this way?
4. What are some of the reasons or ways in which these new currencies may violate U.S. laws or regulations?

Sources:
Popper, N. (2017). Easiest Path to Riches on the Web? An Initial Coin Offering. The New York Times, June 23 (Retrievable online at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/23/business/dealbook/coin-digital-currency.html)