Some people call it a way to get rich quick while others see it as a way to lose money quick. Initial Coin Offerings -- or ICO's -- are similar to crowdfunding campaigns. But in this case, an investor buys tokens from a company by exchanging them for the top crypto-currencies, chiefly Bitcoin and Ethereum. Our correspondent Mark Niu heads to the Crypto-economy ICO conference in San Francisco to find out what this craze is all about.

At Cryptoeconomy's ICO 2018, startups make their pitches as to why you should invest in their initial coin offering, or ICO.

Companies have now raised more than four billion dollars from ICO's.

Richard Titus advised more than 30 companies on their ICO's last year.

RICHARD TITUS PARTNER, ARK ADVISORS "We in the west have access to fantastic financial systems. But that's a very small group of people in the global planet. I think blockchain is most powerful not in the Western world, but arbitraging both us against emerging markets as well as emerging market finance where really there's no incentive for existing players to go and play."

But with roughly 30 to 50 ICO's happening every day, some can be dangerous.

Miko Matsumura, the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange site Evercoin, cites the case of Bitconnect -- an exchange platform that took in billions of dollars and has now shut down.

MIKO MATSUMURA CO-FOUNDER, EVERCOIN "I believe it was Deloitte that did a study recently that indicated 10 percent of all the funds that have gone into ICO's, which is literally billions of dollars has actually gone to scams. So I think people do need to be careful."

Matsumura says when investing in ICO's, it's vital to do your homework.

MIKO MATSUMURA CO-FOUNDER, EVERCOIN "I think really when the correction comes, the people who will be in the best place are people who have invested in trustworthy projects."

MARK NIU SAN FRANCISCO "And here in the expo area, all the various companies are trying to buy their virtual currencies to become part of their ICO. But it's not just techies who are part of this new economy. It's traditional business as well."

Nostrum is a publicly listed company from Spain that has more than 130 restaurants in Europe.

It's on the verge of launching an ICO-which will allow investors to buy its "Meal Tokens" that can either be for investment purposes or used to buy their food.

QUIRZE SALOMO PRESIDENT AND CEO, NOSTRUM "The ICO will finance our international expansion, maybe in China in the coming years."

Hardwell is one of the biggest Electronic Dance Music DJ's in the world.

He put his music on a blockchain-enabled technology platform called Settled!, which is also being launched in an ICO.

The founder believes cryptocurrency can help electronic dance music artists, or EDM's, get paid faster and track valuable information.

ANDY ZONDERVAN FOUNDER AND CEO, RIGHTSSHARE "Imagine you being an EDM artist from the Netherlands and there's this cool DJ from Bulgaria and he's playing your tracks on the radio. It takes about a half a year before you get that info. Well, that's basically too late if you want to make a tour next month, but if you know it after five minutes, then it becomes something you can drive your business on."

With the ICO market growing, experts here believe it's only a matter of time before more venture capitalists move into the space as well as more government regulation. Mark Niu, CGTN, San Francisco.