Disgraced UK data analysis firm Cambridge Analytica wanted to raise $30 million by issuing its own altcoin, according to reports which surfaced April 17.
We Wanted Users To ‘Reclaim Data’ Using Blockchain
Citing anonymous sources “familiar with the matter,” Reuters reveals the company, which continues to face mass scrutiny after allegedly compromising personal data of millions of Facebook users, wanted to issue its token via an ICO.
“Prior to the Facebook controversy, we were developing a suite of technologies to help individuals reclaim their personal data from corporate entities and to have full transparency and control over how their personal data are used,” the unnamed spokesman told the publication in an email.
We were exploring multiple options for people to manage and monetize their personal data, including blockchain technology.
While it remains unknown whether ICO plans still feature in the company’s roadmap, the move puts Cambridge Analytica at odds with Facebook, which earlier this year banned ICO and cryptocurrency-related advertisements from its platform.
The reason, it stated in a January blog post, was their “association with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.”
The spokesman gave no further details about the potential role of its cryptocurrency, nor about the kind of Blockchain technology it would usher in.
ICO Trust Runs Thin
Meanwhile, industry experts are already beginning to call time on the instant attractiveness ICOs claimed during their peak in 2017.
In an interview with Bitcoinist this week, fintech marketing firm CrowdfundX CEO Darren Marble said the concept was now a “dirty word.”
CrowdfundX had engaged in promotional activities for the highly-controversial KodakCoin, which became a PR disaster for Eastman Kodak when it was announced earlier this year.
“I think ICO is a dirty word—it has a negative connotation in the US market. ICOs are associated with the sale of unregistered securities and outright fraud in some cases,” Marble said.
What do you think about Cambridge Analytica’s ICO plans? Let us know in the comments section below!
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The Rundown
