To all the other shit replies: If you invested in Google or any other fundamental tech startup at the time you would have made at least a x10. In Google's case a x30. Ever heard of angel investing? They also return x10 quite frequently, sometimes x100 or x1000. The only difference with ICOs and traditional investments is that we WILL get screwed over eventually with our useless ERC-20 tokens, myself included.
Also don't you dare use the pro-government strawman argument. If you want real decentralized tokens then these ICOs should be launched as proper DAOs. DAOs are fully decentralized and embrace the spirit of the blockchain, whilst conferring actual ownership of the organization with the tokens. Registered companies that are motivated by profit that issue us shitty utility tokens have nothing at all to do with decentralization or any anti-government movement. In fact they will comply with governments if they're forced to. DAOs don't have this issue. The majority of ICOs are not DAOs. Think of better arguments if you don't agree.
Exactly. Venture capital experts usually get in right at the so-called ground floor... in terms of stocks/shares, this is even before the IPO stage. I suppose the equivalent for crypto and blockchain ICOs are all those private funding rounds or "private pre-sales". They invest a huge amount, basically like a seed fund, and by the time the IPO or ICO comes out, they own shares at a tiny fraction of the price that even the earliest investor can obtain - very easily this can mean they get x10 or more, just not publicized.
I got burned last year by these ERC20 token investments, I only made two serious investments, and truly believed in the ideas, but I'm really beginning to think now that I got duped. I get what you're saying about DAOs, but ETC holders will forever remind us that even that is a huge screw over potential.