[gambiting]

I just don't understand - where is that money coming from? You said you suddenly and unexpectedly got a few thousand USD - that sounds to me like someone on the other end, somewhere, just got scammed out of few thousand USD? It can't be just investor money being randomly deposited into accounts "for the lulz"?

[strogonoff]

The USD figure is more akin to valuation of a company than that amount of USD in hard currency. Probably not inclusive of expenses and risks associated with converting it into cash.

How that value is earned and calculated are interesting questions.

[vvpan]

Nobody got scammed. It's pretty much like an IPO. The project distributed tokens, not dollars. Coinbase and a few other exchanges listed them and trading started with the tokens fetching a certain price. I sold some on Coinbase, got money - that's it. The token is a "governance token" and I, personally, don't see much value in it but I do not follow this too closely. In theory the token gives the holder a future say in the direction of the projects and maybe a cut of the profits.

[strogonoff]

> Nobody got scammed.

Not directly, but to a hypothetical criminal with millions of USD in illegally obtained currency investing into tokens, hyping said tokens (including, of course, giveaways) and then selling tokens on a peak could look quite compelling. I presume typically laundering loses money, but in this case it could even be possible to make a profit.