You could get a loan.

你可以申請貸款、

Find a professional investor.

找一位專業投資人、

Or you could go public.

或是讓公司股票上市

But now, there's a newer player in town and it's getting serious attention: the ICO.

但現在有另一項備受矚目的新選擇：ICO 融資

An initial coin offering, or ICO, is a new way for companies

虛擬幣首次公開發售，簡稱 ICO，是一種新方法讓公司

to raise capital through cryptocurrency.

透過加密貨幣進行資金募集

Companies create a digital token or a coin, and sell it to investors in exchange for cash

公司會打造一個數位代碼或數位貨幣，賣給投資人以換取現金

or more likely cryptocurrencies, usually ether or bitcoin.

更可能採用加密貨幣，通常是以太幣或比特幣

Let's say I want to set up a business that makes money from my videos.

假設我現在要開創一樁生意，用我的影片賺錢

Instead of issuing shares to investors, I'll be creating my own digital token.

我不發行股份給投資者，而是打造專屬的數位代碼

Let's call it XECoin.

就叫它 XE 幣吧

That's what investors will be buying during my highly-anticipated ICO.

在大家引頸期盼的募資過程裡，投資人買到的就會是 XE 幣

People who buy my digital token can either trade them for other types of crypto

購買者可以用來換取其他種類的加密貨幣，

or use them on my platform once it's up and running.

或者等到我的平台運作後再使用

With XECoins, you gain exclusive access to my videos.

有了 XE 幣，你可以透過獨家管道觀賞我的影片

XECoins, like most tokens, do not come with any ownership stakes.

就像絕大多數的數位代碼，XE 幣不會包含所有權份額，

That allows founders to keep control of their companies.

因此創辦人能夠掌控他們的公司

So how do I convince investors to come on board?

那我要怎麼說服投資人加入呢？

The first step is to release a white paper that details my business model.

第一步就是發行一份白皮書，詳細解釋我的商業模式

That way, investors can decide if they want to get involved.

這樣一來，投資人就能依此決定是否要投注資金

Simply putting together a white paper isn't enough though.

單單寫好白皮書是不夠的，

Hundreds of ICOs are launched each month, but you only hear of a few.

每個月有數百樁 ICO 融資案，你聽過的卻寥寥可數

So if I want my ICO to be a success, I have to go on a marketing blitz to convince people

如果我想要融資案進展順利，就必須展開強勢的行銷攻勢來說服大家

my business is the real deal.

我的案子不容小覷

Some ICOs have even had celebrity support, including Jamie Foxx and Paris Hilton.

有些 ICO 融資案甚至找來名人加持，像是 Jamie Foxx 還有 Paris Hilton

The number of ICOs has skyrocketed over the past two years.

過去兩年來，ICO 融資案的數目大幅增加

In the first quarter of this year, $6.6 billion was raised through 217 ICO sales,

今年第一季中，217 件 ICO 專案共募得 66 億美元的資金

an increase of more than 65% from the last quarter of 2017,

比起 2017 年最後一季增加了 65%

and just under the $7 billion raised for all of last year.

且比起去年整年度的 70 億美元只差了一點

The Ethereum project is one of the most successful ICOs of all time,

其中以太幣專案是最為成功的案例，

and is now the world's second- largest cryptocurrency.

且現在以太幣是全球第二廣泛使用的加密貨幣

In 2014, it sold 60 million ether coins and raised capital of 31,000 bitcoin,

在 2014 年，該專案賣掉六千萬的以太幣，募集到 31000 比特幣的資金，

or $18 million in fiat currency.

就法定貨幣衡量則是 1800 百萬美元

Cryptocurrencies are underpinned by blockchain technology,

區塊鏈技術是加密貨幣的基礎，

which is why ICOs were primarily used by blockchain startups.

這也是為什麼曾經 ICO 融資多為區塊鏈專業的初創企業所運用

But now other types of companies are flocking to ICOs,

不過現在其他種類的公司也搭上了 ICO 熱潮，

even if they do not have, or require the use, of blockchain.

即使他們不在區塊鏈領域，或是未使用該技術

For instance, the owners of a real banana plantation in Laos issued Bananacoins

例如在寮國，一位香蕉栽種場的主人發行了香蕉貨幣

and if you bought one, you would be investing in the production of organic bananas.

購買香蕉貨幣就等於投資有機香蕉的種植

ICOs aren't just for startups anymore either.

ICO 融資也不再專屬初創企業

One of the most highly anticipated ICOs was that of messaging platform Telegram,

其中一個最受期待的融資案是通訊平台 Telegram，

which has 200 million users.

它擁有兩億名使用者

It has reportedly raised $1.7 billion for its yet-to-be-built blockchain-based platform.

根據報導，雖然它的區塊鏈平台還沒開始建構，已經籌到了 17 億美元

While Telegram tokens were planned for public sale, tokens sold through the initial private sale

雖然一開始的規劃是要公開販售代碼，但由於初始的非公開販售期間

were in such huge demand that a secondary market emerged.

代碼非常受歡迎，只好另外開闢一塊次要市場

However, as there are no regulations, these sales cannot be controlled.

可是也是因為缺乏管制，當局難以控制這些代碼販售

ICOs have made headlines for being banned in China and South Korea,

在中國與南韓，ICO 籌資案都曾因為被禁止而躍上頭條，

but they're still technically legal in many countries.

在許多國家，技術上仍然是合法的

One country that has emerged as a top ICO hub is Singapore.

新加坡是其中一個新興的 ICO 籌資樞紐，

More than $260 million was raised in Singapore last year, behind the United States and Russia.

去年在新加坡有超過 2.6 億美元的資金是透過 ICO 募集，排名在美國和俄羅斯之後

ICOs are unregulated in most parts of the world, which means that founders don't have to go

在多數國家 ICO 沒有受到管制，這也代表創辦人無須

through the expensive processes and middlemen that public companies have to.

像上市公司那樣經歷昂貴的手續和中介人

Without regulation, it also means that fraud is incredibly common,

但也是因為沒有管制，詐騙情形非常普遍，

with several reports of founders disappearing with millions

報導曾揭露數位發起人拿走數百萬後不見蹤影

and one recent study finding that 80% of ICOs are scams.

最近一項調查也指出 80% 的 ICO 融資不過是場騙局

The regulatory environment in the United States is mixed.

談到美國的管制情形則是褒貶不一，

The Securities and Exchange Commission shut down a $15 million ICO by Munchee

美國證券交易委員會強行終止了 Munchee 1500 萬美元的融資案，

and even launched a fake ICO website to educate investors.

還創建了一個假網站來向投資人宣導

There are a lot of question marks surrounding ICOs.

ICO 融資仍舊疑點重重，

Why would any investor want to buy in?

究竟為什麼有那麼多位投資人願意參與？

ICOs offer really high returns.

ICO 能帶來高報酬，

The average return on the S&P is about 10%.

以標準普爾指數來看，平均報酬率是 10%

In contrast, one venture capital firm analyzed that

此外一位創投公司的分析指出

if an investor had blindly invested in every ICO, including a significant number which failed,

如果一名投資者盲目地往每一項 ICO 融資案撒錢，包含多數失敗的專案

the return would have been 13.2 times your initial investment.

回收的獲益也會是投注資金的 13.2 倍

It's returns like that which have sparked the ICO fever, which we see today.

就是這樣的高報酬點燃我們今日所見的 ICO 熱潮

But don't forget, big rewards also mean big risks.

但千萬別忘了，高報酬就意味著高風險

Hi I'm Xin En. Thanks for watching.

你好，我是 Xin En，謝謝觀賞

If you want to check out more CNBC videos, click here and here.

如果想看我們的其他影片，請點這裡跟這裡

We love getting your suggestions for future videos, so feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

我們很期待聽到關於之後的影片的建議，歡迎寫在留言區

Don't forget to subscribe and see you next time!

別忘了訂閱頻道，我們下次見！