[区块链文章之其二] 首次币发行（ICO）简介

日常前言

• 工作后第一个金三银四，算是见识到了。今年开年的时候上头就一直在说现在是行业寒冬了，大家也都明白，估计奖金什么的都要大缩水了。本来平时待遇也只是行业中偏下水平，每年就靠奖金平衡收入……emmmmmm于是好多同事走人了，我的导师都跳槽了……
• 本来我们组就人少，现在又走了一个，不知道之后项目压力会不会变大。希望项目上的 Bug 不要太多，感觉一直陷在解 Bug 的无限循环里对自身能力提升没多大益处，只不过是把自己变成能熟练解 Bug 的人而已，三五年后可能就没有多大的竞争力了。如果能抽出一半的时间去学习 Camera HAL 层的一些逻辑和架构的设计，以及深究 3A 之类的底层算法，我认为不仅会使个人能力飞跃，在项目上完成任务的效率也应能提升不少。
• 其实我也思考过是不是要考虑换个环境了，但是最终还是觉得现在还不是时候。首先是能力还没有达到我自己设定的目标，现在虽然代码实践能力提升了不少，但架构思维尚未成型，而且算法方面的功力有所下降。其次现在若是走人，也只能换个同类型的工作，依旧是终日解 Bug，而在目前岗位上所积累下来的东西可能就半途而废了。最后就是更现实的一点了，我还没有把握能跳到一个薪资能提高比较多的地方……
• 好吧，回归正题，第三期翻译活动是关于区块链的。其实我自己对区块链并不很感兴趣，但既然它现在这么火爆（虽然有一定的炒作成分），又是关于技术的东西，那当然要了解一下了。
• 对了，上期活动鹅厂又发了两个奖品，一个哈士企，一个哈士企抱枕……果真鹅厂风范，但是家里装不下这么多周边啊……

• 本期依旧被采纳三篇：

  • 成为加密货币矿工容易吗？我该如何入门？
  • 首次币发行（ICO）简介
  • 劫持比特币：对加密货币进行路由攻击

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版权相关

翻译人：StoneDemo，该成员来自云+社区翻译社
原文链接：A gentle introduction to Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)
原文作者：Bits on blocks（Blog）

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A gentle introduction to Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)

题目：首次币发行（ICO）简介

Some technology startup companies are raising money in a new way, by issuing digital tokens in return for funds. This is often colloquially called “doing an ICO”, and this article aims to explain how this works.

一些科技创业公司正在以新的方式进行融资，他们通过发放数字代币以换取资金。这种方式俗称为 “搞个 ICO”，而本文旨在解释 ICO（Initial Coin Offering） 是如何运作的。

Raising money

（融资）

Traditionally, there are three main ways for a company to raise money:

• Selling shares (the company sells ownership of the company for cash)
• Issuing debt (the company receives cash and promises to pay back the amount borrowed, with interest)
• Pre-selling goods and services (this ranges from customers pre-ordering a book or computer game, to Kickstarter-style crowd funding of to-be-made items or services. Perhaps even package holidays, or aeroplane tickets fall into this category)

传统上，公司融资主要有三种方式：

• 股权出售（出售公司所有权以获取资金）
• 发行债券（公司接收资金并承诺会连本带息归还）
• 预售商品与服务（包括预订书籍或电脑游戏的顾客，以及 Kickstarter 类型的众筹项目或服务，甚至度假套餐或机票也可能属于此类范围中）

Any of the above can be done with a small group of investors or a large group. If it’s a large group, it’s usually called crowdfunding.

上述任何一项都可以由一小群投资者，或由一大群人来完成。如果是后者，则通常称为众筹融资（Crowdfunding）。

In each case, it is very clear what investors get in return for their money. In general, the higher the risk to an investor, the greater the regulation of the mechanism. This is for good reason: it is a regulator’s job to prevent con artists from scamming the public too easily.

在每种情况下，投资者获得的回报都非常明确。通常，投资者的承担的风险越高，相关机制的监管力度就越大。而这是有充分理由的：监管机构的职责是防止骗子能轻而易举地欺骗公众。

Initial Coin Offerings

（首次币发行）

ICOs are being marketed as a new way for companies / projects / groups of people to raise money, and the characteristics seem to be a hybrid of the traditional methods of fundraising, but currently without regulatory safeguards appropriate to the risk that investors are subject to.

ICO 被推销为公司/项目/团体融资的新方式，其特点似乎混合了传统的融资方式，但目前尚未建立适当的监管保障措施以应对投资者所面临的风险。

How is money raised?

（如何融资？）

ICO funds are usually received in Bitcoins (BTC) or Ether (ETH). The project creates a Bitcoin or Ethereum address for receiving funds and displays it on a web page. This is like opening a bank account, and displaying it on a web page for people to send money to.
（Example: Ethereum’s crowdsale bitcoin address was 36PrZ1KHYMpqSyAQXSG8VwbUiq2EogxLo2.Example: Ethereum’s crowdsale bitcoin address was 36PrZ1KHYMpqSyAQXSG8VwbUiq2EogxLo2.）

ICO 资金通常以比特币（BTC）或以太币（ETH）的形式进行收取。需要融资的项目创建一个比特币或以太坊地址以接收资金，并将其展示在网页上。这就像开了一个银行账户，并展示在网页上以供人们汇款。
（例如：以太坊的比特币众筹地址是36PrZ1KHYMpqSyAQXSG8VwbUiq2EogxLo2。）

Investors send BTC or ETH to the published address, in return for the new tokens. The project uses the BTC or ETH to pay staff, or sell the cryptocurrency for fiat currency on a cryptocurrency exchange to fund the project.

投资者将比特币或以太币发送到这个已发布的地址，以换取新的代币（Tokens）。该项目使用比特币或以太币来发薪水，或者在加密货币交易所提现以作为这个项目的基金。

Usually the website will also contain some details about what it will use the funds for, and why investors should invest.

通常这个网页中还会包含一些关于资金用途的细节，以及投资者应该投资的原因。

Where are the new tokens stored?

（新的代币存储在何处？）

The tokens issued by the project to investors are generally created and tracked in one of two ways:

• as the intrinsic token of an entirely new blockchain (for example Ethereum was funded by exchanging wallets funded with ETH tokens in exchange for BTC from investors)
• or as a token on top of an existing blockchain
  
  • eg as a Colored coin on Bitcoin’s blockchain
  • or a token held in a smart contract on Ethereum’s blockchain

项目向投资者发行的代币一般是通过以下两种方式之一进行创建和追踪：

• 作为全新区块链本身自有的代币（例如，以太坊就是通过交换备有以太币的钱包以换取投资者的比特币，从而获得资金）
• 或者作为现有区块链上的代币：
  
  • 例如，比特币区块链上的彩色币（Colored coin）
  • 或者，以太坊区块链上的智能合约（Smart contract）中所持有的代币

7 characteristics of an ICO

（ICO 的 7 个特征）

Each ICO is unique, but below are some of the usual characteristics.

每个 ICO 都是独一无二的，但下面列出了它们的一些普遍特征。

Some of these characteristics are shared with traditional methods of fundraising (seed rounds, Series A, B, C, etc). See if you can spot them! However, remember that traditional private company fundraising is regulated in most jurisdictions due to the risks to the investors, whereas currently ICOs aren’t.

其中一些特征与传统筹资方法（种子期，A、B、C 轮融资等等）有着共通点，看看你能否发现它们！不过请记住，由于投资者面临着风险，传统的私企筹资在大多数司法管辖区都是被监管的，然而目前 ICO 是不被监管的。

1. The project is usually a technology project related to cryptocurrencies or decentralisation. These projects tend to appeal to those investors who are familiar with or already own cryptocurrencies, and so are familiar with how cryptocurrencies work.

1. 通常是与加密货币或去中心化有关的技术项目。 这些项目往往会吸引那些熟悉或已经拥有加密货币的投资者，因此熟悉加密货币的工作方式。

2. Investor documents are usually a webpage, a whitepaper (usually not peer reviewed), and some internet forum posts. Rules or laws that compel funraisers to make accurate statements in documents are often ignored or worked around. Often ICO ‘whitepapers’ (prospectuses) exaggerate benefits, do not identify risks, and create unsubstantiated hype.
（This is different to traditional forms of fundraising where fundraisers attempt to comply with rules and regulations, knowing that investors have recourse if investor documents are wildly inaccurate.）

2. 投资者文档通常是一个网页、一份白皮书（通常未通过同行评审）和一些互联网论坛帖子。 强制筹资者在文档中做出准确声明的条例或法规常常被忽视或绕过。ICO 的 “白皮书”（招股说明书）常常夸大收益，不标明风险，并且制造未经证实的炒作。
（这与传统的筹资形式不同。传统筹资时，筹资者会试图遵守规章制度，因为他们知道，投资者文档非常不准确的情况下，投资者是有追索权的。）

3. Usually identification is light on both sides. Investors often do not need to self-identify; nor do the people running the project. Often the projects will not perform identity checks on investors or the investors’ source of funds to determine if the project is complying with global sanctions, or if they are accidentally laundering the proceeds of crime, or funding terrorism.
（This is different to traditional forms of fundraising, where the identities of investors are usually known or broadly vetted.）

3. 通常双方的身份都很 “轻”。 投资者一般不需要证明自己的身份，同样地，运营这个项目的人也不需要。通常这些项目不会对投资者或投资者的资金来源进行检查，以判定该项目是否符合全球制裁，或者出乎意料地，他们可能正在洗钱或资助恐怖主义。
（这与传统的筹资形式不同，投资者的身份通常是已知的，或是经过广泛审查的。）

4. The amount raised is transparent but can be gamed. BTC and ETH payments to a ICO deposit address are logged on public blockchains, allowing anyone to see the quantity and amounts going to an ICO address. Although the amounts invested are transparent, it’s hard to know who sent the funds. This means it is almost impossible to tell if the project itself invests, without disclosure, to give the illusion of popularity and momentum, and create hype and fear of missing out.
（Traditional forms of fundraising share the characteristic of “seeding” the round with big names and commitments, but the investors are known and identified.）

4. 募集的金额是透明的，但其中可能有猫腻。 对 ICO 存款地址支付的每一笔比特币或以太币，都记录在公共区块链中，任何人都能看到有多少数量和金额正投入到 ICO 地址中。尽管投入金额是透明的，但很难知道是谁派出的资金。这意味着，几乎不可能判断该项目本身是否有在不披露信息的情况下进行投资，从而给人以流行和动力的假象，并制造炒作，挑起 “错失恐惧症”（Fear of missing out）这样的不良心理。
（传统的筹资方式具有“播种”大牌和承诺的特点，但投资者是对其有所了解并且可验证的。）

5. Tiering / early investor advantage. Often the crowdsale is offered with tiering, where early investors are offered a better price than later investors. For example, in Ethereum’s initial crowdsale early investors received 2000 ETH per 1 BTC and later investors received only 1337 ETH per 1 BTC. This can be done by creating limited investment opportunities: either time-bound, where the best price is available for the first week; or amount bound, where the best price is available for the first 2,000 BTC invested.
（This is similar to traditional fundraising, where early investors get a better deal than later investors by tiering the company valuation. However, ICOs operate at a different timescale, where price changes can happen in a matter of minutes rather than months for a traditional series of investments.）

5. 分阶段/早期投资者优势。 通常情况下，众筹是通过分阶段提供的，早期投资者比起后期投资者来说，能拿到更优惠的价格。例如，在以太坊最初的众包中，早期投资者每一个比特币能收到 2000 个以太币，而之后的投资者每一个比特币只能收到 1337 以太币。这可以通过创造有限的投资机会来做到：要么是有时限的 —— 在发行的第一周可以拿到最优惠的价格；要么对数量进行限制 —— 最初投资进来的 2000 个比特币，都对应着最优惠的价格。
（这与传统的筹款类似，早期投资者通过分级公司估值比后来的投资者获得更好的交易。但是，ICO 运作的时间尺度不同，它的价格变动可以在几分钟内发生，而非像传统的一系列投资一样需要几个月）

6. Coin retention and price discovery. Usually the project will hold back some tokens (eg, 60% will be sold in the ICO, and the project will retain 40% of the tokens). This gives the project a valuation of their token holdings based on the price of the token ICO multiplied by the number of tokens they retain. Sometimes the project will state how they intend to use these retained coins, eg compensating staff.
（This is similar to traditional investments – the price of an illiquid chunk of equity is usually determined by the company valuation of the most recent funding round.）

6. 自持有的币，以及市场定价（Price discovery）。通常项目会保留一些代币（例如，60％ 将在 ICO 中出售，而留下 40% 的代币给项目本身）。这就使得项目可以用他们所保留的代币数量去乘以代币 ICO 的价格，从而对他们所自持的代币进行估值。有时项目会说明他们打算如何使用这些保留的代币，例如补偿给员工。
（这与传统投资类似 —— 非流通股权的价格通常取决于公司最近一轮融资的估值。）

7. Minimums and maximums. There are sometimes minimum and maximum total amounts to be raised. If the minimum is not reached, investors are refunded and the project doesn’t continue. When the maximum is reached, no more coins are given out; any additional (late) investments are refunded. With cryptocurrencies this can be done automatically, without the ICO managers needing to know the identity of the investor.

7. 最低总额和最高总额。有时会提出筹资的最低和最高总额。如果达不到最低标准，项目就不会继续进行下去，而投资者的资金将得到退还。达到最高总额时，就不再发放硬币，任何在此之后的投资都会被退还。ICO 管理者无需知道投资者的身份，通过加密货币，退还操作可以自动完成。

Investor expectations

（投资者预期）

What do investors expect?

投资者所期望的是什么？

Profit. Although hard to prove, there is an expectation that if the project is successful (loosely defined), the value of the tokens will appreciate and investors can sell the tokens at a profit. It is unclear what proportion of investors buy ICO tokens for their stated use (eg file storage, access to a computer game, or running smart contracts etc).

利润。 虽然难以证明，但有一种期望是这样，如果项目成功了（广义上），代币将会升值，投资者可以通过售卖代币获利。目前尚未清楚购买 ICO 代币的投资者中，将其用于他们所声明之用途（例如文件存储，登录电脑游戏，或运行智能合约等）的，占比几何。

This risk/reward profile of an ICO is closer to that of equities than a Kickstarter style rewards-based crowdfund or an Amazon style book pre-order.

ICO 的这种风险/回报概况更接近于股票的风险/回报（比起基于 Kickstarter 式的，基于回馈的众筹，或者亚马逊类型的书籍预购来说）。

Liquidity. The expectation is that the tokens will be listed on cryptocurrency exchanges soon after ICO, and often much before the tokens become usable for their stated intent. This provides the secondary market where early investors can sell their tokens.

变现能力。我们所期望的是，这些代币在 ICO 之后能立即在加密货币交易所上市，并且通常是在代币使用于其阐述的用途之前。这为早期投资者提供了可以出售其代币的二级市场。

This is different to the Kickstarter / pre-order types of investment where the secondary market doesn’t exist because pre-orders are usually tied to an individual, and the beneficial owner cannot be easily altered.

这与 Kickstarter/预购 类型的投资不同。在这两种类型情况下，二级市场是不存在的，因为预购通常与个人挂钩，实益拥有人不会轻易改变。

It’s worth noting that while stock exchanges impose requirements on the companies they list such as periodic public disclosure of financials etc, cryptocurrency exchanges usually do not have any listing requirements, nor are the exchanges obligated to perform any due diligence on project whose coins they are listing. Some cryptocurrency exchanges are happy to list any token (known colloquially as “shitcoins”) because the exchanges make revenues from trading fees, and so are indifferent to the quality of the project or the price going up or down. The cryptocurrency exchange makes money as long as there is price volatility.

值得注意的是，股票交易所对其上市公司是有强制要求（例如定期公开财务状况等）的，然而加密货币交易所则通常没有任何上市要求（Listing requirements），交易所也没有义务对其上市货币进行任何尽职调查（Due diligence）。有些加密货币交易所很乐意上市任何代币（俗称为“shitcoins”），因为交易所能通过收取交易费获利，因此它们对项目质量或价格波动都无动于衷。只要存在价格波动，加密货币交易所就能赚钱。

Conclusion

（总结）

There is a disconnect between the phrase ICO (Initial Coin Offering) that deliberately sounds similar to IPO (Initial Public Offering) and the disclaimers associated with these tokens, written in small print, suggesting that the tokens are not an investment or a security. These investment rounds are sometimes called “donations” or “presale tokens” instead of using the “ICO” terminology, in order to disassociate with legally sensitive words and phrases.

ICO（首次币发行）这一短语与 IPO（首次公开招股）听起来很相似（这是有意而为之的），并且与这些代币相关的免责声明存在脱节（它们以小字体印刷），这表明了代币不是一种投资（Investment）或证券（Security）。这些投资回合有时被称为 “捐赠” 或 “预售代币”，而未使用 “ICO” 术语，其目的就是与法律上敏感的词汇和短语分离。

So, the projects want investors to think that they are investing in something with a high risk/reward profile, while using small print to disassociate the opportunity with investments!

所以说，这些项目希望投资者认为他们正在投资一个高风险高回报的产品，同时使用小字体印刷的附属细则将机会与投资分开！

History has proven that ICOs are indeed high risk/reward. For example, the ETH token has appreciated some 200x in USD terms since ICO: The price at ICO was 25c per ETH (2,000 ETH per BTC at approx. $500) and is now trading around$50 per ETH (Apr 2017). However, many ICOs have failed and the price of the tokens quickly became zero, fully wiping out the investments from hopeful investors.

历史证明，ICO 确实的确是高风险/高回报的。例如，自开始 ICO 以来，以太币的美元价格增长了约 200 倍：ICO 时以太币的价格为每个 25 美分（每个比特币约价值 500 美元，同时一个比特币可以换取 2000 个以太币），而现在每个以太币（2017 年 4 月）的价格约为 50 美元。然而，许多 ICO 已经失败，代币的价值迅速清零，完全抹除了满怀希望的投资者所投入的资金。

The risk profile of an ICO is more similar to the risk profile of equities than to a kickstarter project for the following reasons:

• Investors can buy large dollar amounts of tokens
• Investors hope that the value of the asset will go up by multiples
• Investors can lose all their money

ICO 的风险状况与股票的风险状况相比，更接近 kickstarter 上的项目，这是因为：

• 投资者可以购买大量的代币
• 投资者希望资产的价值会成倍增长
• 投资者可能会损失所有资金

Currently ICOs fall in a regulatory grey area. At least one ICO (Ethereum’s) has created large profits for early investors. Con artists are taking advantage of these success stories to cheat investors who have little recourse. Some well-meaning ICOs have completely failed, leaving investors with worthless and useless tokens; though it is hard to tell if a project is really well-meaning or a well-orchestrated pump-and-dump.

目前 ICO 属于监管灰色地带。至少有一次 ICO（以太坊）为早期投资者创造了巨额利润。大骗子们正在利用这些成功案例来忽悠那些没有追索权的投资者。有些有意义的 ICO 完全失败了，给投资者留下了一文不值且毫无用处的代币，尽管很难判断一个项目是否真的很有意义，或者只是精心策划的拉高出货（Pump-and-dump）。

You have been warned!

我已经事先警告你了！

Thanks to Stephen Palley for his comments on this piece. Stephen is a lawyer and has written an excellent piece on ICOs, which I recommend reading.

感谢 Stephen Palley 对这篇文章的评论。Stephen 是一位律师，他写了一篇非常优秀的关于 ICO 的文章，我推荐各位可以去阅读一下。