The Ethereum based prediction market, Gnosis, has raised around $12.5 million in just ten minutes, giving the project a valuation of $300 million due to the way the token sale was designed.

The project used a Dutch auction model which is opened at a high price and then gradually decreases to find the optimal market price. In this case, however, no one seems to have waited even for a second.

According to reports, some $7 million was sent in the first 30 seconds. Around 767 total addresses funded the project, with just two addresses accounting for around $5 million. They have given one Gnosis token (GNO) a value of $31, with ten million tokens in total.

That means the Gnosis project retains some $288 million, or around 95% of the tokens, if GNO tokens maintain a price of $31 once they begin trading, with Poloniex already announcing they are to be listed next week.

The project, however, has locked up 99% of the unsold tokens for a period of one year as they promised they would do. This may be one reason why investors gave it such high valuation, but another reason may be a thirst for ICOs in ethereum’s community.

Token sales usually go quicker than hot cakes with investors racing in the first few minutes to buy it all up. It’s a new gold rush, but some see it as unfair that just few investors can buy it up so quickly. Gnosis, therefore, tried a new model to slow it down and make investment more distributed, but it seems it didn’t work.

We reached out for comments, but were understandably told they were “super busy with a lot of stuff- will put out a statement soon – and after 24/36h we will be again very available.”

The ICO sale is the talk of the town. Most are expressing incredulity at the valuation, but this space is still very new and very much experimental. No one yet knows what’s the best way of designing a token sale, so projects are trying new things.

At the end of the day, if people are willing to give Gnosis $12 million for 5%, who is to say the project’s valuation of $300 million is wrong? The two accounts that sent $5 million are probably not some fragile elderly lady taken advantage of. One would think they would have undertaken considerable due diligence.

Looking at it another way, if Gnosis had no cap, might have it raised $300 million? Perhaps. The public clearly wants investment opportunities. People want to fund projects. They want to hold tokens. So they flock in a crazy rush of ten minutes to take part in a new economy and a new future.

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