Dan wants to use ETH because it provides the ability to use a smart contract to run the ICO. This is a good thing and very rationale. Once the contract is started it cannot be stopped, everything is fair and legal, etc. etc.
Bitshares would require block.one to issue EOS tokens directly as Bitshares does not have the ability to run smart contracts (EOS is the Graphene smart contract platform).
But... ETH is not likely to be able to handle the transaction volume of the EOS ICO. So Bitshares might still be the better option, even if it isn't as slick.
Oh, I see. Makes sense.
But I'll bet the marketing angle must have crossed someone's mind at some point when making the decision to use ETH.
Has any other ICO used the Ethereum blockchain to create a product that competes with Ethereum?
Not directly (that I'm aware of). That's why I expect to see ETH whales DDOS the network and game the ICO to gain substantial control of the EOS token distribution.
I think it can be the first billion dollar ICO... I better get ready 🤔😀😂