GRE阅读练习： 投资数字货币需谨慎

>>GRE考试模拟：GRE阅读练习： 投资数字货币需谨慎

>>GRE考试精品课程训练

A new craze attracts the attention of regulators

一场新的狂热引起监管者的关注

Here is the deal.

有这样一笔买卖。

You can buy an entry in a computer ledger issued by a startup company on the basis of an unregulated prospectus.

你可以购买由某家初创公司根据没接受监管的招股书发行的计算机分类账户中的一个条目。

It is called an “initial coin offering” or ICO.

这被称为“首次货币发行”(initial coin offering)，简称ICO。

But though the ledger entry is called a coin, you cannot spend it in any shop.

但是，尽管这种账目被称为一种货币，你却无法在任何一家商店中把它花出去。

And whereas the use of the term ICO makes it sound like an IPO (initial public offering), the process whereby a firm lists on a stockmarket, coin ownership does not necessarily get you equity in the company concerned.

而且，尽管ICO一词的使用使之听上去像是一次IPO(initial public offering 股票首次公开发行)，即公司借以在股票市场上市的程序。但是，货币的所有权并不必然地能让你得到相关公司的权益。

This sounds like the kind of bargain that would appeal only to people who reply to e-mails from Nigerian princes offering to transfer millions to their accounts.

这听起来就像是只会诉诸于给来自尼日利亚王子们要求给他们的转帐几百万美元的邮件做回复的人的那种交易。

But ICOs may well be the most popular investment craze since the dotcom boom of 1999-2000; even Paris Hilton, a celebrity heiress, has jumped on the bandwagon.

但是，ICO很可能是1999-2000年网络泡沫以来最 受欢迎的投资狂热;就连名媛帕里斯·希尔顿也上车了。

The list of active, upcoming and recent ICOs on the website “ICO alert” covers 31 pages of A4 paper and includes around 600 companies.

在网站“ICO alert”上，正在进行之中、即将到来的以及近期的ICO名单有31页A4纸之长，包括大约600家公司。

More than $2bn has been raised in total.

总共已有2千多亿美元被募集起来。

There is a serious side to the craze, just as there was with the dotcom boom.

恰如网络泡沫一样，这场狂热有其严重的一面。

The technology that underpins digital currencies—the blockchain—is an important development.

支撑数字货币的技术——区块链——是一种重要的发展。

This is a secure, decentralised ledger that everyone can inspect but that no single user controls.

这是一种人人都可以查阅，但是没有任何一位用户可以控制的安全的、去中央化的帐目。

It seems likely to be adapted for use across the financial system—to record property transactions, for example.

它似乎有可能为了能够用在整个金融体系中——例如，记录房产交易——而接受改造。

Many ICOs are designed to finance applications that will make use of the blockchain—for trading currencies, lending money or searching for jobs.

很多ICO是为了给将把区块链用于交易货币、出借资金或是求职的应用筹集资金而设计的。

In some cases, the “coins” can be exchanged for services on the site.

在某些个例中，“货币”可用于交换网站上的服务。

In a way, this is like selling air miles in a startup airline; investors can either use the miles for flights or hope they can trade them at a profit.

从某种程度上来说，这就像是似于在新航线中出售空中里程一样;投资者既可以把里程用于飞行，也可以希望能够获利交易它们。

For the business, it is also a way of creating demand for the product they are selling.

对于商界来说，它还是一种为它们正在销售的产品创造需求的方式。

But in plenty of cases, an ICO is just a way of raising capital without all the hassle of meeting regulatory requirements, or the burden of paying interest to a bank.

但是，在大多数实例中，ICO仅仅是一种融资方式而已，或是回避了满足监管需求的所有麻烦，或是省去了给银行支付利息的负担。

Businesses are able to achieve this feat because investors hope that the coins will rise rapidly in value, as has been the case with bitcoin or ethereum, the best-known digital currencies, which have seen stellar gains in the past year.

商界能够将其做大，是因为投资者希望这些货币会快速升值，如同在过去一年中取得了丰厚回报的最有名的数字货币比特币或者乙太币那样。

Nothing makes individuals more willing to take risks than the sight of other people getting rich.

没有什么能比眼看着别人发财致富而让个人更愿意承担风险了。

But bitcoin is also different from ICOs.

但是，比特币也不同于ICO。

Its appeal is as a digital currency that can be used in a broad range of transactions.

它的吸引力在于它作为一种可能用于广泛交易的数字货币。

And the supply of bitcoin is designed to be limited, meaning some people regard it as an electronic versionof gold.

而且比特币的供应是为了使之有限而设计的，也就是说，有人认为它是一种电子版的黄金。

So there is a chance that bitcoin or ethereum will come into widespread use, although their function as a means of exchange is undermined by the volatility of their prices.

因此，尽管比特比或者乙太币作为交换手段的职能因其价格的波动而被消弱，但是，它们将大有用武之地武之地是有机会的。

Currencies must be stores of value, at least in the short term.

货币，至少在短期内，必须是价值的储藏。

If you think a digital currency is going to rise by 20% tomorrow, you won't want to swap it for goods and services; if you think it is going to fall by 20% you won't want to accept it.

如果人们认为某种数字货币明天将上涨20%，就不会想着用它来交换商品和服务;如果认为这种货币会下跌20%，就不会想着接收这种钱。

It is also worth remembering that governments set the rules regarding the nature of legal tender within their borders.

值得牢记的另一点是，政府制定了境内有关法定货币性质的规则。

They will always have the whip-hand when it comes to issuing currency.

当涉及发行货币时，他们总会拥有惩治手段。

If they believe that a digital currency is being used for widespread tax evasion, or is distorting the financial system, they will crack down hard.

如果他们认定，某种数字货币正被用于广泛的逃税，或是正在扭曲金融体系，他们将予以重拳打击。

As far as business-related ICOs are concerned, a few may succeed.

就与商业有关的ICO而言，只有少数的可能成功。

Investors may well be taking the “lottery ticket” approach, hoping that one big winner will offset a large number of losses.

投资者很可能正在采取“彩票”策略，希望一次大奖将抵消众多的损失。

In a sense investors are acting like venture capitalists.

从某种程度上来说，投资者正在像风投人士那样行事。

But the sultans of Silicon Valley's VC industry insist on a wide range of rights before they invest their capital, including protection against dilution of their stakes and (sometimes) the right to nominate board members.

但是，硅谷风投产业的大佬们在投钱之前坚持自己要有一系列广泛的权利，这其中就包括针对自己股份稀释的保护，(有的时候)还包括提名董事会成员的权利。

Investors in ICOs have nothing like that level of protection.

ICO的投资者毫无这种层次的保护。

In the circumstances, it is hardly surprising that regulators are getting involved.

在这种情况下，监管者正在介入就一点也不令人吃惊了。

In America, the Securities and Exchange Commission has ruled that these coins may, in some cases, be securities and thus subject to regulation.

在美国，证券交易委员会已经裁定，这些货币，可能在某些情况，是证券，因而要接受监管。

A British regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, this week warned investors about the risks involved.

本周，英国监管方——金融行为监管局已经就所涉及的风险警告了投资者。

The Chinese authorities have gone a lot further, declaring that new ICOs are simply illegal.

中国多个部委走得远多了，他们宣布新的ICO是非法的。

It is not easy to draw a line between financial innovation and reckless speculation.

要想区分金融创新和不急后果的投机不是容易的。

Perhaps an ICO will finance some breakthrough that boosts economic efficiency.

也许，ICO会给提振经济效率的某种突破提供资金。

If you work in the tech sector, you may be able to spot the occasional grain of wheat among the pile of chaff.

如果你在技术部门工作，或许还能做到慧眼识珠。

Everyone else should assume that ICO stands for “It's Completely Off-limits”.

其余的人应当谨记，ICO意味着“绝对禁区”。

上面的GRE阅读大家练习得怎么样，要保持住每天都做阅读才行！想要了解更多考试方面信息可以来坦途网GRE考试频道了解，小编祝大家考试顺利！