The SEC has taken a clear position that whether or not it's a "smart contract" or the like makes no material difference into whether or not you are offering a security. Making a cryptocurrency was suggested as a way to finance Tesla's business operations, so it is almost certainly a security in the eyes of the SEC. At this point, your choices are either to sell unregistered securities or to follow SEC rules anyways, at which point, why not just go through conventional channels?
"Fund your business by issuing cryptocurrencies" is an idea that will likely end in defending yourself legally against the SEC. Bad idea. I don't recommend it.
I don't agree. I believe currencies not backed by countries have a real use in the world, and labeling any and all as a Ponzi scheme is a misnomer. Anything has value if we assign it, and even if 5% of the world considers crypto valuable I'd call that a successful currency, to those who value it.
Technically, they're claiming that the majority of ICO-style crypto currency issuances have always been under their jurisdiction. They're just not enforcing "Sale of unregistered securities" stuff against ones done before they put the market on notice through their legal findings.
As of 2015 Craigslist was valued at an estimated $5 billion and had annual revenues in excess of $381 million. Not sure what it is today 2 years later but my guess is more now. Plus CL has been around for 20 years now. It is a cash cow and serves over 20 million page views a month. I don't really consider that a downfall.
The author argued in 2011 that craigslist would be an afterthought within 10 years. Its revenue has grown from 122m when he wrote that to in excess of 380m now. I think he's pretty clearly wrong.
While you're getting downvoted for the Craigslist aspect, I suspect the rest of your comment is probably right here. There isn't going to be another big Reddit or Digg like community. The audience just seems too fractured for one to take off like it could have done years ago.
So stuff like Voat, the shut down Imzy, Hubski and Snapzu represent parts of what Reddit was, and the different aspects of the site that different communities either enjoyed or now want.
> There isn't going to be another big Reddit or Digg like community.
What makes you so sure of this? I would argue that this is wildly inaccurate as there will almost certainly be another platform (probably many as you look outward into the future). Imzy was poorly designed, branded and executed (internet safe space?). While their effort and aspirations were righteous, they didn't deliver something people wanted. Honestly I watched that platform since the day it launched and knew it wouldn't last. Digg is old news. I've seen others like topick.com that tanked as they weren't innovative enough. Gab.ai is gaining some traction but it's product isn't innovative and it's too political so it won't scale.
The barrier of entry isn't that high for a new social platform, it's only a matter of time before something newer, less corporate, less "reddit" comes along and gets people's attention. The same could be said for facebook, twitter, and others. No one has a monopoly on ideas.
