[theknown99]

I disagree. There are many things that are illegal because they are bad for society.

"crowdfunding" is completely unregulated, and just like other startups that decide regulation isn't a good idea (Mt Gox, airbnb, that unlicensed taxi thing, etc etc), things rarely end well.

For every 1 legitimate crowdfunding campaign, there's probably 100 that are just there to scam people out of money. And when people are increasingly scammed out of money, who will they look to to compensate them? Their government.

[gretful]

and who will regulate the regulators? In recent history, it appears no one will. Will things end well with respect to that? History tells us no.

[nirnira]

No, people should just do their homework and choose the crowdfunding platforms with the best reputation (which will be the one which force funding seekers to verify themselves with the best identity platform). There should be a free market so crowdfunders can compete to offer the best reliability.

Honestly, there's no need whatsoever to regulate this whatsoever. The market will evolve of its own accord until it's "good enough." Regulation will be impotent at best and destructive at worst.

This is the exact same thing that happened with banks. People got angry because banks went bust, and the government stepped in to insure them with public dollars (i.e. take risks that no private citizen would take with their own money.) How did that turn out eh? 100 years down the track and people still fail to do their homework because they can trust the government will pay. And everyone loses.