双语阅读｜代币融资，投资须谨慎
HERE is the deal. You can buy an entry in a computer ledger issued by a startup company on the basis of an unregulated prospectus. It is called an “initial coin offering” or ICO. But though the ledger entry is called a coin, you cannot spend it in any shop. And whereas the use of the term ICO makes it sound like an IPO (initial public offering), the process whereby a firm lists on a stockmarket, coin ownership does not necessarily get you equity in the company concerned.
事情是这样的，基于一个不受监管的募股章程，你可以在一家创业企业发行的电脑账本上购买一笔。这称“数字货币首次公开募资”（initial coin offering，缩写ICO）。但是，虽然分类帐条目被称为硬币，却不能在商店里消费它。虽然这个词与IPO（首次公开募股）相似，流程是一家企业在一交易 市场上市，货币持有者并不一定让你持有该公司股份。
This sounds like the kind of bargain that would appeal only to people who reply to e-mails from Nigerian princes offering to transfer millions to their accounts. But ICOs may well be the most popular investment craze since the dotcom boom of 1999-2000; even Paris Hilton, a celebrity heiress, has jumped on the bandwagon. The list of active, upcoming and recent ICOs on the website “ICO alert” covers 31 pages of A4 paper and includes around 600 companies. More than $2bn has been raised in total.
这听起来像是一种讨价还价，只会吸引一种人：那些对尼日利亚王子发来的邮箱，称向他们的账户里转几百万并予以回复的人。不过，ICO很可能是自1999-2000年互联网热潮之后最受欢迎的投资热；甚至知名富家女帕丽斯·希尔顿（Paris Hilton）也紧跟潮流。在ICO alert网站上，近期即将发行，十分活跃的代币发行活动写满了31张A4大小的纸，共有约600家公司参与其中。ICO的总融资额超过20亿美元。
There is a serious side to the craze, just as there was with the dotcom boom. The technology that underpins digital currencies—the blockchain—is an important development. This is a secure, decentralised ledger that everyone can inspect but that no single user controls. It seems likely to be adapted for use across the financial system—to record property transactions, for example.
就像互联网热潮一样，这股热潮有着危险的一面。支持数字货币发展即区块链的技术是一项重要的进展。它是一个安全且分散的分类帐本，每个人都可以检查，但没有单个用户能控制。这似乎也能用于金融系统，比如用以记录财产交易。
Many ICOs are designed to finance applications that will make use of the blockchain—for trading currencies, lending money or searching for jobs. In some cases, the “coins” can be exchanged for services on the site. In a way, this is like selling air miles in a startup airline; investors can either use the miles for flights or hope they can trade them at a profit. For the business, it is also a way of creating demand for the product they are selling.
许多ICO的目的是一些应用软件融资的，这些软件将利用区块链进行货币交易，找工作或借贷。在某些情况下，这些“代币”可以在网站上交换服务。这就像在一家初创航空公司销售航空里程；投资者可以使用里程来换机票，或希望可以出售里程来获取利益。对于企业来说，这同样也是一种为其产品创造需求的方式。
But in plenty of cases, an ICO is just a way of raising capital without all the hassle of meeting regulatory requirements, or the burden of paying interest to a bank. Businesses are able to achieve this feat because investors hope that the coins will rise rapidly in value, as has been the case with bitcoin or ethereum, the best-known digital currencies, which have seen stellar gains in the past year. Nothing makes individuals more willing to take risks than the sight of other people getting rich.
但在很多情况下，ICO只是一种筹集资金的方法，免去了满足法规要求的麻烦，或向银行支付利息的负担。企业能够实现这一壮举是因为投资者们希望代币的价值能迅速上升，正如最富盛名的比特币或以太坊的案例，在过去的一年里看到惊人的收益。没有什么会比看到别人发财更让人愿意冒险的。
But bitcoin is also different from ICOs. Its appeal is as a digital currency that can be used in a broad range of transactions. And the supply of bitcoin is designed to be limited, meaning some people regard it as an electronic version of gold.
但比特币也不同于ICO，它的吸引力在于作为一种数字货币，可以广泛应用于各种交易。而且比特币的供应有限，意味着有些人把它看作电子版的黄金。
So there is a chance that bitcoin or ethereum will come into widespread use, although their function as a means of exchange is undermined by the volatility of their prices. Currencies must be stores of value, at least in the short term. If you think a digital currency is going to rise by 20% tomorrow, you won’t want to swap it for goods and services; if you think it is going to fall by 20% you won’t want to accept it.
因此，比特币或以太坊未来得到广泛使用是可能的，尽管在短期内来说，它们的价格波动削弱了其作为货币交换手段的功能。如果你认为数字货币明天会升值20%，你不会想用它换商品和服务；如果你认为它会下降20%，你就会拒收它。
It is also worth remembering that governments set the rules regarding the nature of legal tender within their borders. They will always have the whip-hand when it comes to issuing currency. If they believe that a digital currency is being used for widespread tax evasion, or is distorting the financial system, they will crack down hard.
我们也不能忘记，各国政府在各自境内设置了有关法币性质的规定。政府在发行货币方面总是占主导地位。如果政府知道一种数字货币正用于逃税避税，或正在扰乱金融体系，他们将会严厉打击。
As far as business-related ICOs are concerned, a few may succeed. Investors may well be taking the “lottery ticket” approach, hoping that one big winner will offset a large number of losses. In a sense investors are acting like venture capitalists. But the sultans of Silicon Valley’s VC industry insist on a wide range of rights before they invest their capital, including protection against dilution of their stakes and (sometimes) the right to nominate board members. Investors in ICOs have nothing like that level of protection.
只要与企业业相关的ICO活动还受到关注，就会有少数获得成功。投资者可能会采取“乐透彩票”的方式，希望用一个大奖来弥补众多的损失。从某种意义上说，投资者就像风投资本家。但是，硅谷的风投行业的大佬们在投资前强调各种权利，其中包括他们股权稀释的保护措施和（有时）提名董事会成员的权利。而ICO投资者不受任何同等水平权利保护。
In the circumstances, it is hardly surprising that regulators are getting involved. In America, the Securities and Exchange Commission has ruled that these coins may, in some cases, be securities and thus subject to regulation. A British regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, this week warned investors about the risks involved. The Chinese authorities have gone a lot further, declaring that new ICOs are simply illegal.
在这种情况下，监管机构介入进来也就不足为奇了。在美国，证券交易委员会裁定某些情况下，这些代币可以是有价证券，因此须受监管。英国金融行为监管局本周警告投资者有关风险。中国政府更进一步，宣布新ICO是违法的。
It is not easy to draw a line between financial innovation and reckless speculation. Perhaps an ICO will finance some breakthrough that boosts economic efficiency. If you work in the tech sector, you may be able to spot the occasional grain of wheat among the pile of chaff. Everyone else should assume that ICO stands for “It’s Completely Off-limits”.
要在金融创新和鲁莽投机之间划出一条界线并不容易。也许一次ICO将为提高经济效率的突破提供资金。如果你在技术部门工作，你也许能在成堆的谷壳中发现偶尔出现的小麦粒。但除此以外所有人都应该假设ICO只能代表“It's Completely Off-limits”（完全禁止）。
编译：张楚燕
审校：张冕
编辑：翻吧君
来源：经济学人