With the blockchain industry increasingly beleaguered by fraud schemes disguised as initial coin offerings, a Swiss lobby group is looking to stamp out wrong-doers.
Switzerland's Crypto Valley Association is setting up a rulebook for initial coin offerings, or ICOs. The group has drafted a code of good conduct for legal, moral, and security concerns surrounding ICOs, it said on Thurday.
«With the explosion of innovation surrounding blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies, it is unsurprising that organizations are leveraging similarly innovative financial instruments to raise capital,» CVA head Oliver Bussmann said.
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The code is aimed at organizations planning an ICO and covers aspects of transparency of fund-raising to less technologically-savvy investors, as well as detailing how funds will be used, how the technology and the tokens work.
The Swiss financial regulator said last year it had already rooted out several fraudulent coin schemes which took in millions. Tezos, where a Swiss foundation and the U.S.-based couple which owns the coin technology are battling for control, is another example where investors have been wrong-footed due to lack of information. The project faces three class-action suits lodged by disgruntled investors in the July ICO, the largest ever to-date.
