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> The big question is, why are people dumping so much more money into ICOs than into Kickstarter projects?

Because an ICO gives you equity, which you can resell to a bigger fool.

People buy into ponzi schemes, too, knowing full well that they are ponzi schemes.

ICOs do NOT give you equity ... that's what IPOs do. You get coins/tokens, not shares, and you have no ownership stake in the company. There's a big difference and it is exactly why they are running wild. If you got equity, then there would be huge amounts of regulation covering them.

> People buy into ponzi schemes, too, knowing full well that they are ponzi schemes.

Ponzi schemes are only bad if you are in the last batch of investors. The first ones do get a nice return (otherwise the scheme itself would not last long).

A smart investor could decide to put some money in a Ponzi scheme, as long as he knows what's his number in line, deciding to gradually disinvest some % as times goes on in order to collect the enormous gains.

This is why Ponzi schemes work so well. Everyone thinks someone else will be the chump who loses their shirt and they will get out just in time. It doesn't usually work out that way.

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