Hi guys,
I've just read
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/beware-bitcoin-funding-mania-investors-told-36227400.htmlSpecifically
"The warning comes after Enterprise Ireland ordered two fintech firms to remove website information and amend details in an investment prospectus that may have led investors to believe Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) valued at 2.5m were endorsed by the State agency.
Cryptocurrency firm MingoCoin - which is chaired by former Baltimore Technologies chief Fran Rooney and cites One Direction star Niall Horan as a shareholder and brand ambassador - aimed to raise 2m in a token presale which ended on October 9.
The pre-sale raised over 650,000 in the first hour alone. The firm, which has received startup funding from Enterprise Ireland (EI), was contacted last week by EI officials and ordered to amend or remove promotional material linked to the ICO that could be misconstrued as an endorsement by the Stage agency.
Mingocoin founder and ceo Joe Arthur confirmed the firm has held talks with Enterprise Ireland about its use of the State agency's name in promotional material.
"They have asked us to clarify the position in relation to the ICO," Arthur said.
"We have discussed that with them and obviously we have clarified that in our prospectus."
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What happened here? You still have the Enterprise Ireland logo on the site.
Official quote from CEO Joe Arthur:
"No its nothing to be concerned about. We were supported and backed by Enterprise Ireland and the quote on our website is exactly as given. To say we have been "ordered to remove" is very strong. We spoke with Enterprise Ireland and have follow up calls tomorrow. They have outlined that their backing was for the messenger component of our business but that they don't directly support an ICO because its unregulated. They have supported and continue to support MingoMessenger"
The author of the article was asking EI if they supported the ICO, which they don't and did make a call to Joe for clarification. Mingo has been very careful to mention that EI supports the product, not the ICO, but journalists will be journalists. We can't speak for the other ICO.