In the world of cryptocurrency, even good projects can go awry

Initial coin offerings came out of almost nowhere last year to become one of the most popular ways for start-ups to raise money

While scams proliferated in the unregulated world of virtual currencies over the last year, a company in Switzerland seemed to be among the more legitimate outfits creating its own cryptocurrency.

The company, Envion, said it had collected $100 million from investors this year with a plan to bring clean energy to the computers that manage Bitcoin. The project was reinforced by partnerships with German businesspeople and politicians and with a German academic institution, as well as by promises of compliance with Swiss and American laws.

But like so many other projects that have pulled in millions of dollars through so-called initial coin