Don’t Use Instagram for ICO Research

Honestly. Like if some boxer or music producer with millions of social-media followers posted on his Instagram “I particularly enjoy drinking this brand of liquor” or “look at these shoes I am wearing, they are cool, here is where I got them” or “I got a great night’s sleep on my Casper mattress last night,” and you went out and bought the liquor or shoes or mattress because you aspire to be like that celebrity in all aspects of your life, and then you found out that he had secretly been paid tens of thousands of dollars to promote those products, you might feel a little aggrieved. You wouldn’t feel that aggrieved, honestly—here in the real world, everyone just expects all celebrity behavior to be filtered through a haze of creepy undisclosed advertising—but a little, sure. You were following him on Instagram because at some level you like his taste; the choices he makes in living his life appeal to you, and you want to make more choices like his. Drinking the liquor he likes will make you a bit more like him. Drinking the liquor he hates but was paid to promote will not. His genuine preferences for lifestyle products are material to your purchasing decision. It is a kind of fraud. And in fact the Federal Trade Commission has guidelines “reminding influencers and marketers that influencers should clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships to brands when promoting or endorsing products through social media.”

But if that boxer or music producer posted to his Instagram “hey I just got into this amazing cryptocurrency investment opportunity and you should too” … I just … I mean … clearly it works, at least a little, but why? This is not a matter of taste but of expertise, and why does following a boxer on Instagram make you think he’s an investing expert? “Man,” you think, “if there is one thing that retired boxers know a lot about, it is selecting the initial coin offerings that are most likely to offer significant long-term value while complying with applicable laws.” Perhaps getting punched in the head repeatedly over a period of years is an important part of the education of a crypto investor?