Sparks Fresh Fears For Ethereum Sell-Off

The closure of Tezos’ $232 mln ICO - the largest in history - is dividing the community concerned about mass Ethereum sell-offs.

As Tim Draper-backed Tezos concluded its 12-day uncapped token sale Thursday, many including mainstream media, were excited about where the project and its coin would go.

Conversely, however, increasing evidence of startups already wholesale converting ETH profits from ICOs to fiat is causing concerns among investors.

Tezos crowdfunding ends in ~42hours. I assume they are liquidating a good % of what is raised

— Alistair Milne (@alistairmilne) July 11, 2017
Value leaving the Ethereum ecosystem en masse would theoretically drive down prices, an association made even easier in light of this week’s downturn.

Warning to all $ETH buyers: This is not the bottom imho. The party will start when Tezos will dump all their $ETH for fiat in two days.

— CryptOrca (@CryptOrca) July 11, 2017
Cointelegraph also reported today that both EOS and TenX were engaged in such selling activities, the former appearing to move tens of thousands of ETH to exchange Bittrex this week.

Meanwhile, Tezos itself is facing criticism from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

In a Twitter exchange earlier in the week, Buterin said he “disagreed” with the direction the startup intends to go once funds are put to use.

Indeed. Tezos has an official goal of eliminating the need for extra-protocol governance; I personally disagree with this direction.

Tezos subsequently responded to his doubts.

All eyes will now be on Draper as the startup prepares to factor in its huge revenue to its previously-established and much-circulated roadmap.

While tokens will eventually trade on exchanges, HitBTC is already offering controversial private purchasing. Similarly controversial futures contracts are on offer at Bitmex.