The Status ICO that launched earlier today raised over $100 million in less than 3 hours. Status.im is an open source mobile DApp browser and messenger built for Ethereum. Some investors are criticizing the amount raised claiming there is no reason a messaging app needs so much startup capital. Furthermore, many interested contributors experienced difficulties sending transactions from MyEtherWallet, leaving a sour taste in their mouth.
According to reports, at the time of launch many users were unable to send funds to the ICO address from MyEtherWallet. Some complained that while a transaction would broadcast, it wouldn’t show up on the Ethereum blockchain. Others couldn’t even get a signed transaction to show up.
It is unfortunate that services cannot keep up with the demand for recent ICOs because as investors get their hopes up about contributing to an upcoming ICO, they get let down when unable to participate in them. When these ICOs hit the markets, these potential investors are less likely to participate since their first experience with the project was disappointment.
In short, Status launched their ICO earlier today offering 10,000 SNT per 1 ETH. It looks like the total value of the ICO will be at $275 million, putting it above The DAO, which raised close to $150 million in funds.
Putting such a value on a messaging app for mobile devices may seem ridiculous to some, even Google didn’t have that kind of startup money. It is interesting to see whether or not the app will live to its expectations and whether token holders will see a return on their investment.
Don’t get me wrong, the Status team is highly reputable and are sure to live up to their expectations. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the token double or triple in price after it hits the exchanges. Just remember that greed is also at play here, and its consequences can really hurt the reputation of Ethereum and the ICOs in general.
As NuclearCoffe77 said:
“What happens when it turns out the output will be less than the input? ICOs like these can be very damaging to the trust in new ICOs overall.”
If you didn’t get a chance to participate in the ICO there will still be plenty of opportunities to purchase tokens in the future. You can always purchase Status from exchanges or through forums from others looking to sell. Furthermore, with the abundance of upcoming ICOs there will be plenty of other intriguing projects looking to raise funding.
Moreover, in order to avoid any difficulties in the future it is a good idea to host your own Ethereum wallet. While MyEtherWallet dumbs down Ethereum to users, at times of peak traffic these services may get bottlenecked and stop working.
Running your own Ethereum node is the only sure way to make sure your transactions get signed and broadcasted. Mist is a great wallet as it runs a node on your computer, you can find a step by step tutorial on how to set up the Mist wallet on this Medium post.
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