1. I already provided
the link to the thread two or three times in this thread, which explains that ICOs sold to non-accredited USA investors are ostensibly illegal.
Again with the US.. THAT doesnt make WAVES a scam, makes it ilegal to invest at the US, at best!
Incorrect. It makes it illegal to issue and promote to US investors. The investors aren't really culpable much.
2. They contribute to the mainstream thinking that crypto-currency is a scam and thus we will have great difficulty getting CC widely adopted if don't put a stop to these scams.
The opposite, many of my non crypto friends, are now interested in this area cuz of its massive advance in services.
It made crypto belong to all of the world, NOT JUST MINERS and tech people, that is unfair.
Your geek friends don't constitute millions of adopters. I wrote "mainstream" thinks we are creating scams and investment ponzi schemes.
Also it is a phase they and you will go through and later you will gain enough experience with failures of ICO coins and say, "you know what, that Shelby guy was correct".
I hate ICOs by now for other reasons:
3. They extract capital to a few scammers, which could be better uses to build our real ecosystems that are not vaporware and have real decentralized designs, such as Bitcoin and Monero.
really, monero?
Include also Litecoin. They are the only decentralized, proof-of-work issued coins of suitable liquidity.