ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) are one of the most important facets of Ethereum, responsible for propelling the cryptocurrency's value to its values of today. These are the cryptocurrency equivalents of community-backed investments and startups - not unlike Kickstarter, but based solely in the crypto world. Demand for Ethereum usually sees vast increases in volume after a promising ICO goes live (or in preparation for it), and is one of the premier channels for value to be chained towards this cryptocurrency. However, as is usually the case - and one needs only look towards Kickstarter as an example of this - there are both success and disaster stories to be met in this space.

Case in point of a disaster, Ethereum startup Confido has recently made headlines both for its $375K ICO, and after it surfaced that the entire initial coin offering was nothing more than a scam. Confido claimed to be a blockchain-based app for making payments and tracking shipments, and as is usual in ICOs, it sold digital tokens to investors over the Ethereum blockchain in an ICO that ran from November 6 to 8. Last Sunday, the company started erasing all marks of its short, profitable foray into the ICO world: it deleted its Twitter account and took down its website. A company representative posted a brief comment to the company's (now-private) subforum on Reddit as well as Medium, citing legal problems that prevent the Confido team from continuing their work.