Accredited investors only: protecting the little guy or helping the rich get richer?

One thing that's been bothering me for a while is the exclusion of every day working class Americans from some of the biggest ICO'S (in terms of gains) that this new frontier has seen. While most just shrug it off and move on to the next utility in hopes of a hundred X, I wanted to take a look at the term and what it means.
So while on paper its meant to protect the average income earner from potentially losing amounts of money that would ruin them, it seems to only work to serve the interest of the top 1%. If the government was so worried about protecting the average Joe, I think we'd see alot more regulation on casinos.
So, what makes one an accredited investor?

Most people that I know and have met through the crypro scene are nowhere near being considered an "accredited investor" and the fact that these rules are keeping average Americans sidelined while people in other countries get to take full advantage of this fantastical ride.
If these regulations are meant to protect, then they're doing a terrible job. I feel that it's having the opposite effect. The fact that most legit companies have these rules in place actually pushes the average American investor to find icos that don't require any kind of kyc or Follow any of these regulations. And as we've seen, these icos far and large have the biggest amount of the scams/hacks/and swindlers in this scene.

What do you guys think?