海外之声 | 首次代币发行的风险：吸引机构投资者需要监管协调（中英双语）

观点速递

本文作者是OMFIF的经济学家巴文·帕特尔。原文首次刊登于国际或金融机构官方论坛（OMFIF）出版的The Bulletin。OMFIF是一家总部位于伦敦的全球金融智库。

作者指出，“首次代币发行”（initial coin offerings, ICO）已经成为初创企业融资新渠道，全球投资者都能参与。但同时，由于加密货币市场仍缺乏保障，监管不统一，投资者容易面临套利风险和欺诈性。需要提供保证措施和提高透明度，加强对投资者的保护，从而吸引机构投资者，积极引领ICO和加密货币市场发展。

中文译文如下：

首次代币发行的风险

吸引机构投资者需要监管协调

巴文·帕特尔

翻译：刘斌

审校：罗添

2018年6月20日

加密货币（cryptocurrency）如比特币、瑞波币、以太坊等均依靠分布式账本技术（distributed ledger）建立。这项技术也使企业能够创建自己的数字代币（digital tokens），卖给公共市场以此筹资。

“首次代币发行”（initial coin offerings, ICO）已经成为初创企业获得风险资本的新渠道，同时也激励企业探索数字代币的新应用。2017年1月至2018年2月，ICO共筹资45亿美元，超过了传统风投在区块链相关初创投资的三倍以上。

与股票交易所首次公开募股不同，ICO融资无需企业牺牲股权。同时ICO也允许跨境在线销售，减少金融摩擦，绕过法律、司法和商业障碍，让全球投资者都能同时参与。然而，投资者也因此面临了重大的风险。

加密货币市场尚缺乏保障；据ICO咨询公司Satis集团统计，ICO融资中81%具有欺诈性。发行方承诺的是多功能的数字平台和可观的回报，但投资者并未获得与某实物对应的产品。投资者通常无法查阅发行人的商业计划或准确的财务信息。这些风险最直接的表象就是只有8%的加密货币真正能在交易所交换。发行人通常是匿名的，难以追查，这样诈骗团伙骗到投资者资金后更容易逃出市场。此外，投资方式本身也增加了一层“货币风险”，因为投资者必须使用现存的加密货币购买ICO，而这些现存货币价格波动幅度较大，可能会大幅增加代币兑回成法定货币时的成本。

由于大多数字代币并不是以证券形式注册发行的，因此投资者无法享有许多相关的合法权利。投资者没有股东权，一旦公司违约或资不抵债时，无法获得优先赔付。这意味着ICO持有人不太可能收回他们的初始投资。此外，由于缺乏反稀释保护，发行人可随便发放新的代币进行融资，而这样也就稀释了初始投资者持有的代币价值。

投资者可寻求一种自保方式，那就是在ICO上市后很快出售手中的代币。许多风投就采用这一策略，防止代币贬值，但这样做只会使市场更加波动。

加密货币由何种法律和监管框架管理，取决于监管机构将其归入何种资产类别。而这方面缺乏国际协调，各管辖区对加密货币分类各不相同。有些国家甚至将每一种加密货币都视为独立个案，逐一定义各加密货币的资产类别。

监管得不到统一，产生了套利风险。各国为了努力吸引创新型公司，监管制度之间存在竞争，也进一步加剧了市场之间的差异。

美国和加拿大的法律中，加密货币正处于灰色地带。欧盟尚未确立如何看待加密货币，这是由于欧洲证券和市场管理局（European Securities and Markets Authority）正在评估如何将Mifid II规则（Market in Financial Instruments Directive， 欧盟金融工具市场法规2 ）应用于数字资产。瑞士金融市场监督管理局（Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority）、百慕大金融管理局（Bermuda Monetary Authority）和直布罗陀金融服务委员会（Gibraltar Financial Services Commission）将加密货币定义为独立的资产类别，应使用新的监管法则管理。

要想确保加大监管力度的同时能积极引领ICO和加密货币市场，首先需要确定该市场将如何在全球运作。若能在ICO期间提供保证措施和提高透明度，可加强对投资者的保护，从而将吸引机构投资者，加强流动性并支持市场稳定。

英文原文如下：

Hazards of initial coin offerings

Regulatory coordination needed to attract institutional investors    

 Bhavin Patel

  20 Jun 2018

The access to distributed ledger technology that underpins ripple, ethereum, bitcoin and other cryptocurrency platforms has allowed companies to create their own digital tokens that can be offered to the public to generate funds.

These 'initial coin offerings' provide an alternative source of venture capital for start-ups and encourage innovation in how these digital tokens can be used. Between January 2017-February 2018, ICOs raised $4.5bn, outweighing venture capital investment in blockchain-related start-ups more than threefold.

In contrast to initial public offerings on stock exchanges, ICO issuers do not sacrifice equity for financing. ICOs also allow for borderless online sales with fewer points of friction. They typically bypass legal, jurisdictional and business hurdles, and investment is promoted directly to a global investor base. However, investors face major risks.

There is a lack of market security; 81% of ICOs are fraudulent, according to ICO advisory firm Satis Group. Investors buy into the promise of a digital infrastructure's utility and significant returns without having access to the underlying product. They usually can't consult business plans or accurate financial information about the issuer. These hazards are exemplified by the fact that only 8% of all cryptocurrencies make it on to exchanges.

Issuers are often anonymous and difficult to trace, making it easier for fraudsters to exit the market with investors' capital. In addition, the method of investing adds a layer of 'currency risk', as investors must buy into ICOs through existing cryptocurrencies with high price volatility. This could make cashing out into a fiat currency especially costly.

As most digital tokens are issued without being registered as securities, investors are denied a number of legal rights. There are no shareholders rights, and a lack of liquidity preference in the event that the company defaults or becomes insolvent. This means ICO holders are unlikely to reclaim their initial investment. Furthermore, the absence of antidilution protection allows issuers to release additional tokens to generate more funding, diluting the value of initial investors' holdings.

One way in which investors can find protection is to sell their tokens very soon after an ICO. This is a strategy that many venture capitalists follow to insure against devaluation. However, this only increases market volatility.

Determining what legal and supervisory framework a cryptocurrency falls under depends on how regulators classify it among asset classes. International coordination on this is lacking, and the various jurisdictions that do regulate cryptocurrencies categorize them in different ways. Others use a case-by-case approach to determine a cryptocurrency's asset class.

These inconsistencies create the risk of regulatory arbitrage. Competition between regulatory regimes, as countries try to attract innovative companies, exacerbates this divergence between markets.

In the US and Canada, cryptocurrencies fall into legal grey areas. The European Union is yet to formalize its approach, as the European Securities and Markets Authority is assessing how to apply Mifid II rules to digital assets. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, Bermuda Monetary Authority and Gibraltar Financial Services Commission define cryptocurrencies as a separate asset class to which new regulations should apply.

Greater regulation will have a positive effect on ICOs and the cryptocurrency market only if it provides certainty about how markets will operate globally. Strengthening investor protection by providing assurances and improving transparency during ICOs could attract institutional investors, which would generate liquidity and support market stability.

内容整理 罗梦宇

图文编辑 罗梦宇

审校  田雯

监制  朱霜霜

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