• Strategic approach to cannabis and hemp industry through networking architecture
• New LOI signed with Canada’s Global Hemp Group and Colorado’s Space Cowboys
• “hempSMART Full Spectrum Drops” and patent pending “hempSMART Brain” CBD products now available at www.hempSMART.com
• Legal cannabis markets estimated to reach $22.6 billion by 2021
• Industrial hemp-derived CBD products are estimated to grow to $2.1 billion by 2020

Marijuana Company of America (OTC: MCOA) is a unique corporation with a strategic business structure that functions as an umbrella, bringing together a diverse portfolio of investments and joint ventures within the legal cannabis industry. Now legal for medicinal or recreational use in 29 states and the District of Columbia, marijuana continues to be an attractive option for investors. When it comes to growth projections, both the legal cannabis and hemp industries are marking significant increases, with some industry researchers finding it hard to pinpoint a ceiling. According to Arcview Research, the legal marijuana industry could reach $22 billion by 2021.

For companies like MCOA, the path forward is clear – participation in the legal cannabis and hemp industries makes investment sense (http://dtn.fm/5Cn0R). MCOA provides multiple opportunities for investors through turn-key services and its branded hempSMART™ cannabinoid product line, which is sold via an affiliate marketing program. This wholly owned subsidiary offers affiliates the opportunity to build an organization to promote a range of quality cannabinoid products, including hempSMART™ Brain and hempSMART™ Full Spectrum Drops, while at the same time offering affiliates an opportunity generate long-term income from sales and referrals (http://dtn.fm/HC8ta).

MCOA’s portfolio includes several companies involved in hemp cultivation and the development of optimal cultivation and processing facilities. Earlier this month, MCOA signed an LOI to acquire 25 percent of Colorado-based hemp-derived cannabinoid producer Space Cowboys, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, MCOA and Canadian Global Hemp Group agreed to invest $2.5 million in Space Cowboys to help expand the company’s cultivation operations (http://dtn.fm/1HqbD). The agreement not only gives MCOA and Global Hemp Group 25 percent equity in Space Cowboys; it secures a high quality cannabinoid supply chain for hempSMART™.

Marijuana Company of America brings added value to shareholders with its diversified investment portfolio and maintains customer loyalty while capturing a healthy share of the hemp-based cannabinoid market with its branded hempSMART™ products.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.MarijuanaCompanyofAmerica.com

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• Standout services offered within multibillion-dollar online travel market
• Free assistance from live travel agents
• TripWitz website utilizes Google’s ITA Gateway software to accommodate millions of flight-related inquiries per second

Do-it-yourself online travel booking sites are plentiful, but along with the ability to book your own hotels, flights and more comes the hassle of spending hours on the Internet doing the work a travel agent would do for you—if you wanted the expense of a travel agent’s research fees and the bother of visiting a travel agency, that is. But what if you could have it all— the ease of online booking coupled with the convenience of a travel agent but without the costs? With TripWitz from Cache Elite, Inc. (OTC: ILUS), you can.

Cache Elite’s entrance into travel-related services comes in the form of the TripWitz website (www.TripWitz.com), where the company has deployed its proprietary backend software, known as Internet Travel Management Software. It is this innovative software that helps TripWitz stand out in the travel industry by giving its customers an ideal, cost-effective travel experience.

TripWitz offers custom vacation planning services at no charge, performing free vacation research so the customer doesn’t have to. The company assists travelers by providing them with customized, detailed trip itineraries for the destinations they want based on their lifestyle and the vacation experience they’re looking for. Customers can browse through suggested trip itineraries compiled by TripWitz, select the one that fits what they want, and then either call or click to make adjustments or additions to the package. And, of course, TripWitz works diligently to find clients excellent deals at great prices.

Through TripWitz, travelers can access real-time vacation quotes along with information on hotels, flights and airfare, villas, ground transportation, recreational activities and tour packages, just as they can through some other online travel sites. But in addition, TripWitz users have the option of speaking with the company’s travel agents absolutely free of charge for help with the selection and booking process. Patrons further don’t have to deal with call center-type aggravations, as all of TripWitz’ agents are Certified Destination Specialists. TripWitz is available to help travelers before, during and even after their trip to make sure everything is satisfactory.

TripWitz has contracts with several airlines that enable the company to provide bulk fares to its customers. These are negotiated fares and seat allotments that are only available to travel agents. In addition to these bulk fares, TripWitz travelers can also still opt for publicly published fares, giving them the flexibility they need.

TripWitz connects users to worldwide airlines through Google’s ITA Gateway software, which is an airfare tracker software purchased by Google for $700 million back in 2011. Google now makes this software available to companies like Cache Elite, and through it, TripWitz is able to calculate and deliver data regarding flight schedules, seat availability and the lowest available fares—to the tune of millions of inquiries per second.

Cache Elite and TripWitz are truly elevating the travel booking experience, providing unprecedented convenience and user-friendly services that make travel easier and more enjoyable than ever before.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.CacheElite.com

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• Wall Street Multimedia telecasts reach 125 million households in China, targeting the Chinese-speaking global market, raising CIIX’s profile in cryptocurrency worldwide
• CIIX expands consulting services, focuses on advertising, subscription revenues, and sales of hemp oil (CBD) related products
• CIIX reported 76% YOY operating sales growth in FY2017, projected by Consilium Global Research to reach $14.8 million by FY2020

ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) has launched its daily video telecast on cryptocurrencies from the NYSE, “Bitcoin Multimillionaire,” by teaming with specialist broadcaster to the Chinese-speaking global community, Wall Street Multimedia, Inc. (WSM) (http://dtn.fm/2rm0H).

CIIX’s goal is to become the primary Chinese publicly traded company that offers real time information on its website. In addition to its “Bitcoin Multimillionaire” broadcasts, it offers consulting services, subscriptions and retails hemp oil-based cannabidiol (CBD) products under the “OptHemp” brand and plans to market a line of hemp-infused skin care products through its wholly-owned subsidiary, CBD Biotechnology Co. Ltd.

In a 10Q filing (http://dtn.fm/XB3pc), CIIX said it was working with WSM to reach the Chinese-speaking community throughout the world to offer more information and news about cryptocurrency. “In an effort to expand its media products, as the first year of fiscal year 2018 came to a close, the company announced that it would be working with Wall Street Multimedia, an independent news agency located in the NYSE, to produce a daily cryptocurrency video newscast in Chinese, providing timely information and exclusive analysis regarding all aspects of the emerging digital currency world, including specific cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, industry trends, price movement, blockchain technology, sector-related stocks and ETF’s, etc.”

Consilium Global Research has projected that CIIX will reach revenues of $14.8 million by FY2020, representing a nearly 100% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from FY2016-FY2020 (http://dtn.fm/QDuf6). To boost its revenues, the company is expanding its consulting services, targeting advertising and subscriptions, as well as sales of its hemp-oil CBD products.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ChineseInvestors.com

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• Patent pending technology detects active shooter threats before occurrence
• Midas Letter interview reveals system deployment process is imminent
• Westgate Resorts partner likely first installation

Just fourteen months after a deadly shooting spree in Florida, another brutal rampage has become the grim new mass shooting benchmark in the United States. At least 58 people were killed and over 500 injured when a gunman opened fire on the crowd attending a country music festival in Las Vegas. It is now the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

As authorities struggle to find motive, businesses and institutions are searching for superior solutions. A recent video interview with Martin Cronin, CEO of Patriot One Technologies, Inc. (TSX.V: PAT) (OTCQB: PTOTF), reveals that a revolutionary active shooter protective solution is imminent (http://dtn.fm/Yq81l).  As he stated, “our technology allows better security without fundamentally changing our way of life.”

Patriot One’s patent-pending system enables stand-off detection, even on moving targets, with the ability to learn, analyze, and identify new threats upon deployment. The system actually gets better and smarter at detecting hidden weapons with each screening instance. The technology is able identify passersby carrying a knife, gun or bomb by analyzing metal content and relating it to a database of known weapon signatures.

Starting with partners at Westgate Resorts in Las Vegas, Patriot One is about to deploy its pioneering disruptive technology to combat active shooter threats before they occur. The company, in conjunction with McMaster University, has created PATSCAN CMR™, the first-of-its-kind Cognitive Microwave Radar concealed weapons detection system. The PATSCAN CMR™ is a next generation radar device and custom software solution designed as an effective tool to combat active shooter threats before they occur.

Conventional screening systems only identify the presence of metal objects not what those objects might be. Identified objects could be belt buckles or keys, and monitoring subways, schools or stadiums becomes extremely difficult. Since current screening systems don’t offer enough precise information to be effective, public places and events are nearly impossible to secure. Patriot One’s state-of-the-art system overcomes these issues and identifies objects for what they are, giving security officials prospective opportunities to intercede.

Mr. Cronin further stated that Patriot One is “creating the conditions of success” and the company is ready to imminently commercialize PATSCAN with multiple distributors already expressing keen interest. With all the anticipated orders and partnerships, he expects positive cash flow in 2018. To provide even more comprehensive security, Patriot One has also built a pipeline of PATSCAN systems that may be worn on the body or placed in moving vehicles. Patriot One’s pioneering detection technology may well be the deterrent desperately needed in an unpredictable and dangerous world.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Patriot1Tech.com

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• Sees opportunities for legalized marijuana marketing in Canada, Germany, all of Western Europe and South America
• Armed with $43 million in working capital, it sees advantages for itself in product and financing
• It has a proprietary process in its indoor growing environment to control temperature, humidity and water to produce standardized, pesticide-free cannabis

ABcann Global Corp. (TSX.V: ABCN) (OTCQB: ABCCF) director Aaron Keay said in an interview with CannabisFN (CFN Media) that besides achieving greater market share in Canada, ABcann Global also sees opportunities for growth and presence in Western Europe, Germany and South America (http://dtn.fm/NIEj9). The company sells in its Canadian domestic market through its subsidiary, ABcann Medicinals, Inc.

“We’re now, hopefully, going to be a global presence,” Keay said in the interview. He lauded new CEO Barry Fishman and cited the important values Fishman will bring to the company. He also said the firm’s organic, standardized and pesticide-free cannabis gives it an advantage in competitive marketing. It is achieved through a proprietary process of control of its indoor growing environment where everything is controlled, from temperature to humidity and watering.

A recent article, The Generational Growth Opportunity For Canadian Cannabis (http://dtn.fm/U1kVZ), details ABcann’s marketing strategy. As one of Canada’s first licensed producers, the Ontario-based company, through its subsidiary ABcann Medicinals, Inc., is competing in that medicinal cannabis market. But the global medicinal cannabis market is projected to be $142 billion over the next 15 years, said the Marijuana Business Daily (http://dtn.fm/rr3Ha).

“Europe, where about a dozen countries permit sales of MMJ, is the big prize,” reported Marijuana Business Daily. Keay added that Germany is seen as the “gateway” to broader opportunities throughout Europe.

In Canada, legalized recreational marijuana is another opportunity for ABcann Global in 2018. The company is armed financially to compete with the company’s some $43 million in working capital raised through multiple financings.

“Unfortunately, for the Canadian companies, it is very challenging for us to do business directly into the states,” he said, referring to the fact that marijuana remains federally not legal in the U.S. — the market is only opening on a state-by-state basis. So, the company plans to enter the German market specifically, and eventually all of Western Europe, with distribution and possibly cultivation. In South America, the company sees emerging markets in Brazil, Uruguay and Columbia.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ABcann.ca

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• Company is positioned to disrupt the $6 billion global life sciences sample preparation market
• Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT) is a game-changer in bolstering the quality and efficacy of scientific research
• Next generation Barocycler 2320EXTREME instrument is becoming a crucial research tool in “Cancer Moonshot” laboratories and has been named a finalist in the prestigious 2017 R&D 100 Awards (the “Oscars of Innovation”)

The first steps in any process are some of the most crucial, as the earliest steps along a path often direct the entire course of a journey. Similarly, the beginnings of any scientific endeavor influence all other aspects going forward. Understanding this fundamental truth, Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (OTCQB: PBIO) is revolutionizing scientific research from the very earliest steps (i.e., sample preparation).

Serving the $6 billion life sciences sample preparation market, PBIO offers a game-changing product line that can control the critical sample preparation process in an unprecedented way, enabling researchers to start their experimentation with samples of unmatched quality. In any type of scientific research, the quality of the sample one begins with hugely affects the efficacy, outcome and importance of the research. The ability to reproducibly create high quality samples for testing and research is unquestionably impactful and has applications in a wide variety of scientific research and discovery areas.

PBIO’s product line is based on a patented, enabling technology platform called pressure cycling technology (PCT), which employs alternating cycles of hydrostatic pressure—ranging between ambient (14.5 psi) and ultra-high levels (up to 100,000 psi)—to safely and reproducibly control critical biological processes. For example, one of these processes is lysis, or the breakage of cells.

Traditionally, when cells are ruptured for study, they must be broken open using chemicals, blades, metal beads, sound waves or other inadequate methods that can damage and alter the invaluable biomolecules inside the cells they are breaking (e.g., DNA, proteins and lipids), thereby negatively impacting the efficacy of the research performed using the biomolecules. With PBIO’s pioneering PCT technology, however, the lysis process is controlled like never before. Customized, controlled cycles of hydrostatic (water) pressure are used to rupture the cells in a controlled manner, inside a very safe pressure chamber. The pressure is exquisitely controlled and customized to an exact level of PSI, according to the type of cells being broken, enabling the optimum amount of pressure to be delivered to rupture the cell in an ideal and reproducible way (e.g., not too much pressure and not too little) —something that has never before been accomplished in a commercial setting.

The potential impact of this innovative method is astronomical, enabling the creation of truer, more legitimate samples for analysis, which allows research scientists to commence their studies with biological samples of unmatched integrity. The resulting impact on the efficacy and outcomes of scientific research is potentially enormous.

Through PCT, pathogens like viruses and bacteria can further be inactivated through the use of hydrostatic pressure, which makes such samples far safer to study. This is yet another PBIO innovation with astounding potential applications in a wide variety of markets.

The lead product in the PBIO line is the newly released, next-generation Barocycler 2320EXTREME instrument, which has been named a finalist in the prestigious 2017 R&D 100 Awards (also known as the “Oscars of Innovation”). This exciting instrument is being hailed as an essential component of the United States’ $1.8 billion “Cancer Moonshot” program by a number of Moonshot researchers. Professor Phil Robinson, co-head of the Children’s Medical Research Institute cancer research center (Sydney, Australia) and the first international Cancer Moonshot collaborator, recently stated, “Due to its unique capabilities, the Barocycler 2320EXT has become a critical part of our program. It is the primary enabler of the high-throughput component of the project. Without this step, our project simply could not be done. In fact, the Barocycler 2320EXT works so well we have just purchased two more.”

PBIO markets its pioneering PCT-based instruments throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan and China. The chief applications of PCT technology are in biomarker discovery, forensics, agriculture and pathology (preparation of tissue biopsy samples for analysis). This wave-making technology is also being applied in the specialized fields of drug discovery and design, biotherapeutics characterization, soil and plant biology, vaccine development and histology.

For further information about Pressure BioSciences, the company’s PCT technology and various other innovative offerings, visit the company’s website at www.PressureBioSciences.com

• On the verge of releasing potential Cannabis-based blockbuster Alzheimer’s treatment
• Company is able to hugely accelerate release of this treatment in recreational cannabis states
• Market potential for drugs to treat and prevent Alzheimer’s is in the billions of dollars

According to information from the Alzheimer’s Association, approximately 47 million people are living with dementia throughout the world—a figure that has been projected to rise to 76 million by 2030. There is still no cure for this devastating disease. However, India Globalization Capital, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IGC) is on the precipice of bringing a potential blockbuster treatment for Alzheimer’s to the market—an event that could happen by early 2018.

Recently, IGC announced it is readying a line of cannabis-based products targeting Alzheimer’s disease based on novel data (http://dtn.fm/h35qX). The company has been engineering genetic cell lines that show the protein Aβ decreases by as much as 40 percent at various concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) without neuron damage. (Amyloid beta peptides, or Aβ plaque, buildup in the brain is believed to be the chief cause of Alzheimer’s). This compelling in vitro data shows tremendous promise for treating and even preventing Alzheimer’s.

“As Alzheimer’s progresses, synaptic dysfunction and the death of neurons lead to memory loss. These study results, when combined with the earlier reported data that shows IGC-AD1 reduces Aβ40 and Aβ42 production by as much as 50%, and 40%, without any toxicity, represent a highly significant novel breakthrough that could potentially bring much needed relief from this devastating disease,” IGC CEO Ram Mukunda said, as quoted in the press release.

IGC currently has four products in its pipeline: Hyalolex, which is the company’s breakthrough treatment aimed at reducing beta-amyloid building up in Alzheimer’s patients; Natrinol, or synthetic THC, which has application for relieving nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite in patients with AIDS and cancer; Caesafin, which uses combination therapy to assuage seizures in dogs and cats; and Serosapse, which addresses various endpoints in Parkinson’s disease.

Typically, pharmaceutical companies are only able to market a product once it has received FDA approval, which involves a very lengthy and expensive process. Because IGC is using a combination therapy, the company is able to bring products to market significantly faster and at a substantially lower cost. IGC is actually able to bring some of its products to market in a matter of months rather than years by bringing them to cannabis medical dispensaries. The company’s breakthrough Alzheimer’s treatment is one such product.

This hugely accelerated introduction of Hyalolex can only be accomplished in states where medical cannabis is legal and where the ailment (in this case Alzheimer’s) is an approved medical condition. In states where recreational cannabis has been approved, IGC doesn’t have to contend with whether or not Alzheimer’s is an approved medical condition in order to bring its treatment to market. Therefore, these states (recreational marijuana states like California, Colorado, Oregon, etc.) will be targeted first with IGC’s cannabis-based Alzheimer’s treatment.

In view of IGC’s pipeline, consisting of Hyalolex for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and other phytocannabinoid-based therapies, the company’s market valuation is poised to explode. Investors have made Alzheimer’s treatment drugs a high priority in the biotechnology field, and the market potential for a preventative Alzheimer’s treatment is in the billions of dollars. Some of IGC’s Alzheimer’s-focused competitors already have market valuations in the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars—making the sky the limit for IGC’s future growth.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.IGCInc.us

• Global FinTech industry grew by 75 percent in 2015
• Innovators like Global Payout stand to disrupt more than $4.7 trillion in revenue
• The Global Reserve Platform is the most powerful, customizable and extensible platform for managing any financial product

Standing out among innovators in the global FinTech market, Global Payout, Inc. (OTC: GOHE) is focused on providing next-generation B2B solutions to automate international funds transfer, payments, billing and invoicing processes. The company is well-positioned for growth within the infant FinTech market, which increased in value by 75 percent globally in 2015, hitting $22.3 billion. FinTech innovators like Global Payout stand to disrupt over $4.7 trillion in revenue from companies offering traditional financial services, according to projections from Goldman Sachs.

As discussed in a recent article (http://dtn.fm/ej9Ex), the importance of the efforts of companies like Global Payout is multifaceted. The disruptive influence of FinTech innovations is helping break the grip so long held by traditional financial institutions, making venture capital available to small businesses and entrepreneurs where banks will not give it. The FinTech revolution is also enabling access to other types of lending options and streamlining application processes in key ways that traditional financial institutions cannot match. Further, companies are now able to buy complex financial software solutions that, in times past, they could have never afforded and which, additionally, would have necessitated the services of a complete in-house IT team to operate even could they have footed the bill for the software.

As explored in another recent article (http://dtn.fm/Q4edz), the new incarnation of FinTech—a word that once referred merely to the backend technology used by traditional financial entities—has led to the pioneering of novel platforms that serve a variety of businesses. Capabilities are improving, and banking alternatives are becoming available that automate various financial processes. The FinTech revolution goes beyond financial services, however, also meeting needs in sectors ranging from logistics and shipping to the cannabis industry, where mobile apps and electronic wallets have proven more practical and more readily available than traditional banking services.

The B2B financial automation solutions offered through Global Payout’s proprietary Global Reserve Platform serves these needs well. The company is further enabling bitcoin accessibility through its MoneyTrac, Inc. subsidiary.

One of the global markets Global Payout is currently targeting with the Global Reserve Platform, its innovative FinTech payment solution, is logistics/shipping. The company also focuses on serving international travel companies, small-to-medium-sized businesses and banks, and has further positioned its MoneyTrac subsidiary to offer full-service alternative banking and electronic financial solutions for high-risk industries like cryptocurrency and cannabis.

Through the Global Reserve Platform, which stands out as the most powerful, customizable and extensible platform for the management of any financial product, Global Payout offers a fully configurable, Web-based “banking-in-a-box” platform specially designed to meet the front-to-back-office processing mandates of foreign exchange and international payment service providers. This solution also includes a secure and intuitive client module, designed to meet the e-banking needs of an institution’s corporate and personal customers.

Through the technology offered by its MoneyTrac subsidiary, Global Payout is further giving clients access to their financial information from any point on the globe as well as assisting them with tracking and compliance to aid in management and control of revenue flow.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.GlobalPayout.com

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• Three-wheeled FUV can reach 85 mph, accelerating from 0 to 60 in 7.5 seconds
• New Eugene, Oregon, manufacturing plant will celebrate grand opening on November 11
• Debuted on Nasdaq exchange in September with 1,821 customer pre-orders already in place as of first investor call

The manufacturer of a popular new “sustainable mobility” electric vehicle dubbed the Fun Utility Vehicle, or FUV, is gaining attention in urban markets following the rollout of its three-wheeled eco-friendly platform.

Arcimoto Inc. (NASDAQ: FUV) has spent a decade developing the FUV as an affordable means of transportation that can operate at normal road speeds and help to cut through city traffic, all in a vehicle that’s designed to preserve the riders’ safety while delivering a light impact on the environment.

“I thought if we could build something that was much closer to the motorcycle in terms of efficiency and fun factor and footprint on the road, but was close to the car in terms of capabilities and encloseable and carries groceries and stable, that we’d have a real product opportunity that the world has been missing for a long time,” Arcimoto founder and CEO Mark Frohnmayer told Reuters.

The FUV SRK model can reach 85 mph and accelerate from 0 to 60 in 7.5 seconds. It has a range of 70 miles before recharging, and its fuel consumption is comparable to 230 miles per gallon, according to Frohnmayer.

The frame offers open-air visibility but has an attachable-detachable shell to enclose riders during inclement weather.

Arcimoto took possession of its 30,000-square-foot Eugene, Oregon, manufacturing plant on October 1 and plans a grand opening on Saturday, November 11, to celebrate the culmination of a decade of prototype development on the road to large-scale production.

The company debuted on the Nasdaq exchange in September as a Regulation A+ IPO built on a highly successful crowdfunding campaign, and it expects that, by the end of 2018 or early 2019, it will launch its pilot fleet vehicles while beginning retail manufacturing at the Phase 1 production facility.

At Arcimoto’s first public investor call on September 28, Frohnmayer said the company already had 1,821 customer pre-orders. Customers exist in every state, but are clustered in states such as Oregon, California, Florida, New York, Texas, New Jersey and Washington, he said.

“We are on the cusp of full production, are building arguably the most efficient everyday electric vehicle company in human history and will begin delivering Fun Utility Vehicles to paying customers, some who’ve waited for many years, next quarter,” Frohnmayer said during the investor call.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Arcimoto.com

A recent Reuters special report on an imperiled cryptocurrency venture shines a harsh light on some of the many risks and the paucity of regulatory oversight in cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) (http://dtn.fm/Jvc7A). Cryptocurrencies are digital mediums of exchange that function through extremely complex code systems called blockchain technology that encrypt sensitive data transfers, essentially creating a public ledger maintained by a network of computers. Blockchain is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography. Each block contains a link to a previous block, plus a timestamp and transaction data. Once recorded, the data in any given block cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks. The decentralized digital ledger records transactions across an entire network of computers, so transaction records can’t be altered without the verification of the entire network.

Blockchain technology applications are being tested by retailers, food suppliers and other businesses as a way to make record-keeping simpler and cheaper. Over the last year, blockchain start-ups have been raising cash by creating and selling their own currencies or tokens in unregulated offerings that bypass banks and venture capital firms. In the first nine months of 2017, over $2.2 billion was raised in ICOs.

The first and most recognized cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has given rise to the rash of ICOs. Bitcoin’s meteoric roller coaster rise from $0.08 in 2010 to over $5,900.00 recently has helped fuel the rush to evermore ICOs. Other cryptocurrencies began to emerge within a year of bitcoin’s birth.

Nearly half of respondents to a recent CNBC survey said the price of bitcoin could be heading to over $10,000, despite trading at an all-time high and having no government backing or underlying assets. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has called bitcoin a ‘fraud’ that will eventually blow up and likened bitcoin mania as reminiscent of the tulip bulb craze in the 17th century. “It’s worse than tulip bulbs. It’s just not a real thing, eventually it will be closed,” Dimon was quoted as saying at the Delivering Alpha conference. While Dimon was saying that, JPMorgan, among other financial institutions, was actively looking into and testing blockchain technology for its potential to help cut the costs of cumbersome back-office processes, such as the clearing and settlement of securities trades.

Virtually unregulated, cryptocurrency exchanges have become magnets for fraud and deception. More than 980,000 bitcoin, worth over $5 billion today, have been stolen since 2011. Blockchain start-ups have been raising cash by creating and selling their own currencies or tokens in unregulated offerings that bypass banks or regulatory review. In the U.S., investments in assets such as company shares and other securities are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC has been studying ICOs and, in July, issued an investor bulletin that warned: “Depending on the facts and circumstances of each individual ICO, the virtual coins or tokens that are offered or sold may be securities.”

Tezos, the troubled cryptocurrency in the Reuters article, is similar to bitcoin and other blockchain platforms. Most software platforms provide for automated updates, but blockchains remain notable exceptions because update procedures are typically centralized. Tezos touts itself as the first blockchain platform to allow for decentralized and automated upgrades, making it more secure.

However, all parties involved in the Tezos ICO are in the midst of an international acrimonious dispute, and the $230 million coin offering is in limbo. Investors in Tezos have no recourse and can only hope the dispute is amicably resolved and the “Tezzies” start trading. Buyer beware…