Mark Cuban is About to Participate in His First ICO

Shark Tank VC  Mark Cuban is looking to take part in one of the hottest trends in the digital currency world right now: the initial coin offering (ICO).

Mark Cuban called Bitcoin a bubble, now he supports an ICO. Earlier this month Mark Cuban said that Bitcoin was in a bubble - and the price of Bitcoin fell. Soon after the news was first released about Cuban participating in the ICO, … One of the companies Cuban is invested in, Unikrn, is planning its own offering, and digital currency news site CoinDesk said Thursday that the billionaire entrepreneur intends to participate.

Cuban confirmed the report in an email to CNBC. 

"I want to learn more about them," 

he said.

"I haven't signed the paperwork yet. But it's likely it will happen," 

he added.

An initial coin offering is a means of crowdfunding the release of a new cryptocurrency. Generally, tokens for the new cryptocurrency are sold to raise money for technical development before the cryptocurrency is released. ... And unlike an IPO, there is little or no government regulation of an ICO.

Cuban described the thinking, telling CoinDesk: 

"High risk. High reward.”

Founded in 2014 Unikrn is an esports online betting site that uses a virtual currency called UnikoinGold – that will eventually be minted and will adhere to the ERC-20 ethereum standardand and is scheduled to launch in September.

Here is a breakdown of how shares of the tokens are expected to be allocated:

Cuban thinks tokens that would be used to fuel online gambling are especially well suited to be converted to cryptocurrency.

"Growth in gambling is going to accelerate," 

Cuban told CoinDesk. 

"Unikrn is better positioned than any other company to leverage that growth not only with their core business , but with blockchain."

He concluded: 

"The ICO opportunity is a perfect fit."

Sources: Coindesk, CNBC