Tezos: a lesson for all ICOs and cryptocurrencies.

Menajem Benchimol Blocked Unblock Follow Following Dec 30, 2017

Tezos raised was able to raise over $400 million during its ICO, what happened to it, and why its not listed on CoinMarketCap?

Ripple, Ethereum, Cardano, Bitcoin. We have all heard and cheered the cryptocurrencies success, after all it has made people a ton of money, and made waves in the blockchain revolution looking to disrupt literally every industry.

As a big fan of the cryptosphere, I mostly like to read about success stories, how they are developing and how its changing the world. Just like in every industry in order to grow, we have to look at the failures, learn from them and make sure not to do them again in the future.

What is Tezos?

According to the Tezos (“Tay-zos”) website, “Tezos is a new decentralized blockchain that governs itself by establishing a true digital commonwealth.”

Tezos was one of the biggest ICOs launches in history raising over $400 million. Investors such as Tim Draper poured in this project that seemed lucrative from all aspects.

Why it was bound to be the next big thing?

Tezos planned to start as a Proof of Stake which lets a “person can mine or validate block transactions according to how many coins he or she holds.” Using the programming language Michelson which facilitated formal verification. The team, the problem they wanted to tackle, its advisors and involvement in the community. Tezos had all the cues for success.

(check out this article to learn the steps to take before investing in a cryptocurrency: https://medium.com/@n_feifel/the-4-steps-you-should-take-before-investing-in-a-lower-tier-cryptocurrency-72730c554269).

According to a Reuters special report there is “a battle of control behind the scenes”.

The founders of the Tezos project Arthur and Kathleen Breitman are fighting against Johann Gevers, the president of a Swiss foundation the couple helped establish to handle the coin offering and promote and develop the Tezos computer network.

“Under Swiss law, the foundation is supposed to be independent. It holds all of the funds raised, which have mushroomed to more than $400 million in value because the contributions were made in two cryptocurrencies — bitcoin and ether — that have appreciated sharply. But the Breitmans, who still control the Tezos source code through a Delaware company, are seeking to oust the head of the foundation.”

Under the terms of the Tezos coin offering, there’s no guarantee participants will ever receive a single Tez. Participants agreed to accept the risk that the project “may be abandoned.”