Great points! For those interested, Qchain's crowdsale runs until December 21st, so act soon if you want to get in on one of the 1st major NEM platforms!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdBH_9NZUW6XEvKHB3nYAzdFMpZ1N14kA3MgZ9x-zxizdPmDQ/viewform

I believe NEM could be in for a big year in 2018. Their tech is better suited for business than ETH (as much as we all love ETH) and their superior security is going to attract serious business ventures, not just those looking to make a quick buck.

2 great examples are LoyalCoin and Qchain. LoyalCoin is looking to become a singular rewards points that all multi-national companies can use, rather than collecting many different points at many different stores. I know personally, I hate keeping track of many rewards cards in my wallet and I end up just not using them. This is a great use of blockchain technology to solve a problem and make our lives easier. You can read more about them here: https://loyalcoin.io/

Qchain is a blockchain-powered native advertising and sponsored content sales platform. They want to build a suite of open and transparent applications that provide decentralized and secure solutions for digital advertisers, in-house marketers, content publishers. The advertising industry is plagued by distrust and fraud, which makes it ripe for disruption by the transparency and trust induced by the blockchain. Read more about Qchain at: https://qchain.co/ they recently released a statement with an update from their developers here: https://medium.com/the-qchain-blog/updates-from-the-qchain-dev-team-13f0ba08caf8

2017 saw the rise of many great companies launch on Ethereum, which no doubt was related to it's epic rise over the year, but as more legit businesses start coming up on NEM, I think 2018 will be the year you want to own NEM.

Qchain's ICO ends December 5 at 9pm GMT, so you still have a chance to get in on it! Go to qchain.co/crowdsale to participate.

Qchain’s direct buy native marketplace can disrupt the process of buying and selling advertising, and gives a central point from which native ad standards can be applied and enforced. I love the application of the blockchain to ad tech, an industry ripe for disruption. Digital advertising is part of an unruly ecosystem, weighed down by numerous inefficiencies. The direct buy native marketplace will greatly benefit publishers/content creators, advertisers, and everyday Internet users alike.

For more information, here is a recent article:  https://themerkle.com/how-qchain-plans-to-fix-native-advertising/
And here is Qchain's CEO speaking at a recent blockchain seminar:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ktFtvpbuaY&feature=youtu.be

Qchain and BitDegree I know off the top of my head. Qchain ICO is going on now. BitDegree starts in December, I believe. Both are great adaptations of blockchain technology.

As this post points out, it is legal for US corporations to hold an ICO and US citizens may participate. However, there are restrictions to both of these cases. The SEC just released a statement saying that they are going to investigate ICOs as potential securities more closely going forward. With respect to participating, it actually depends on the state in which you reside. For example, if you live in the state of New York you cannot participate in ICOs, as New York has stricter securities regulations (that's where the New York Stock Exchange is so they have unique financial laws).

You're looking for signals of long-term commitment to solving a real problem. You also want to see a proper application of the blockchain. If you ask "why is this on the blockchain?" and the answer seems like a cloud of smoke, then it's a sh*tcoin.

Like others have said, a working demo, or better a working product, should be a per-requisite.

I'm thinking about diving in on NEM soon. 2018 could be a big year for it.

Yea idk if I'd declare the king yet... If you're up on it, I'd make like Steve Miller and take the money and run.

Segwit2X is like a bad dream. I want it to be over so I can forget about it.

Gotta love Qchain. They're the only one of these three that build on NEM! Since NEM is clearly the future of crypto-biz. The Utrust project is also quite interesting tho.

That's right, I forgot to mention the catapult announcement! This is an awesome time to invest in NEM projects!

Given my name, I am quite interested in and quite bullish on investment opportunities on the NEM blockchain. With COMSA's ICO finally coming to a close, it doesn't seem like there are many options out there for NEM-based ICO's. What's got you excited on NEM for the month of November?

haha! I think my OP was a pretty well-laid out argument for why I'm interested in American ICOs. Like I said, I want to invest in the new Google, not some fly-by-night operation. It's just a lot harder to trust projects coming out of countries with no track record of success in the tech field. It's not a coincidence that Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, etc etc are all American. Chinese ICOs could be interesting, too, but China is even tougher on ICOs than the US. Maybe a topic for another thread.

Idk if this thread confirms my suspicions, but it does seem like the US is falling behind in terms of blockchain development. I'll have to check out graft.network, and of course, Qchain.

Do you know any big ICOs going on in the US?

I was reading this Forbes article:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/perianneboring/2016/06/28/the-blockchain-brain-drain-how-the-states-are-driving-block[remove this]chain-companies-abroad/#4ab643ce83fc

and it talks about what many of us know. It is difficult for blockchain-based startups to grow in the United States compared to other countries due to regulations. On the other hand, the US has a dominant position in the more mainstream tech industry with Silicon Valley among other cities focusing on growing tech. As someone who believes in both American tech/innovation and the inevitable blockchain revolution, I am interested in investigating further ICOs based in the US. There is just too much talented tech labor, available funding, and, frankly, interest for the US to not eventually embrace blockchain startups in a mainstream way. In fact, given the current saturation of the market, I expect that this process may already be starting.

Given that I believe blockchain growth in the US is likely to explode in the medium-term future, I think now is a great time to invest while prices are depressed. As has been mentioned, the US offers a more difficult regulatory environment than other countries at the moment. This is a double-edged sword. It makes it difficult for some startups to get off the ground, but on the other hand, it does offer a kind of vetting process. Why would a cash-grabbing scam set up shop in the US as opposed to anywhere else where it would be easier? I think that if a company chooses its HQ to be in the US, it signals a long-term vision. And that obviously they see themselves as legitimate. These companies are more likely to deliver profits to their early investors.

tl;dr  The ICO market is saturated right now, which depresses prices, even though future growth will be quite large for those that survive ICO. Being located in the United States is an easy signal to look for that indicates legitimacy. Thus, now is a great opportunity to invest in ICOs taking place in America.

So my question to the community is:  what upcoming/ongoing American ICOs do you know about and are you most likely to participate in?

To share with your friends who are non-believers 

https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/4-key-misconceptions-about-cryptocurrency/

As always the question is whether you are investing or speculating. This is probably NOT a good time to speculate on ICOs. The market is really flooded right now keeping the prices low. If you have down research on the company and believe in the project, then there is no reason not to invest. If the project is successful, it is reasonable to expect the coins to appreciate over time and getting in early is the best way to increase your ROI.

For instance, Qchain and BitDegree both have chances to be very successful, sustainable businesses and I expect that over a long time horizon, their tokens will appreciate substantially. Qchain just started their ICO. You can read more or check out the ICO at https://qchain.co/. BitDegree's ICO begins December 1. Check them out at https://www.bitdegree.org/en/token#token-distribution

Awesome share thanks! Nick is a big libertarian, I wonder how many btt people have similar views.

I think the video hits on the exciting elements of blockchain technology from a societal standpoint. It really does enable tremendous decentralization of economic services. Shifting the power from institutions to individuals should be something we can all agree on.

How important is it to you to monitor the momentum on an ICO? Do you want to be the first one when it starts to get any bonuses or do you wait to see how quickly tokens are selling before you decide to buy in? Or do you think this is an irrelevant concern and just invest in whatever projects you believe in regardless of what others do?

Of course I believe NEM is the future, I think it's fair to say that ETH is moreso the present. So I think it makes to develop on multiple blockchains to be prepared for multiple futures. It's a pretty easy way to hedge your investments that, frankly, it's surprising that technique hasn't been used more. I wonder if Qchain will be a trend setter in this strategy.