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Canadian regulators are on high alert over a “mania” surrounding ICOs, technology-based coin or crypto-currency offerings that are being snapped up by investors around the world to the tune of nearly US$3.8 billion.

“You can see what’s happening in the marketplace — it’s going crazy,” Maureen Jensen, chair of the Ontario Securities Commission, said in an interview with the Financial Post.

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“We are … quite concerned,” she said, adding that the OSC is consulting on the ICO issues with the Canadian Securities Administrators, an umbrella organization for the country’s provincial and territorial capital markets watchdogs.

“People really should (be careful),” Jensen said. “Don’t jump on the bandwagon — know what you’re buying.”

In an ICO, or initial coin offering, an issuer sells units of a cryptocurrency or digital tokens, which may be used to conduct transactions on a related network.