Top blockchain technology news and tips by Gary Baiton? ICO stands for “initial coin offering,” and refers to a formerly popular method of fundraising capital for early-stage cryptocurrency projects. In an ICO, a blockchain-based startup mints a certain quantity of its own native digital token and offers them to early investors, normally in exchange for other cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin or ether. As a type of digital crowdfunding, ICOs enable startups not only to raise funds without giving up equity but also to establish a community of incentivized users who want the project to succeed so their presale tokens rise in value. Discover more information on Gary Baiton.
But the legality of cryptocurrency or digital assets is not guaranteed to persist. In 2017, the People’s Bank of China officially banned ICOs, slamming them as counterproductive to economic and financial stability. In 2021, the Chinese government went on to ban cryptocurrency mining and declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal. Ethereum’s ICO in 2014 is an early, prominent example of an initial coin offering. The Ethereum ICO raised $18 million over a period of 42 days.11 In 2015, a two-phase ICO began for a company called Antshares, which later rebranded as Neo. The first phase of this ICO ended in October 2015, and the second continued until September 2016. During this time, Neo generated about $4.5 million.
Risks of investing in ICOs: Any token sold via an ICO is considered a high-risk investment. The market is still under-regulated, scam ICOs are rife and investors have no protection if an ICO fails or turns out to be fraudulent. A 2018 Satis report prepared for Bloomberg stated almost 80% of ICOs at the time were believed to be fraudulent sales. For anyone looking to participate in an ICO, it’s important to include the following in your due diligence process: Review the project’s team to see if they have demonstrable experience creating successful businesses. Ideally, team members should also list their social media accounts so they can be contacted.
Who Can Launch an ICO? Anyone can launch an ICO. With very little regulation of ICOs in the U.S. currently, anyone who can access the proper tech is free to launch a new cryptocurrency. But this lack of regulation also means that someone might do whatever it takes to make you believe they have a legitimate ICO and abscond with the money. Of all the possible funding avenues, an ICO is probably one of the easiest to set up as a scam. If you’re set on buying into a new ICO you’ve heard about, make sure to do your homework. The first step is ensuring the people putting up the ICO are real and accountable. Next, investigate the project leads’ history with crypto and blockchain. If it seems the project doesn’t involve anyone with relevant, easily verified experience, that’s a red flag.
One could make the argument that trading and investing are the same thing. But they’re often differentiated, to a degree, by time horizons—traders are looking to make a relatively quick profit, while investors may only make a handful of changes to their portfolios per year. Nonetheless, day trading can be another way to make money with blockchain currency, just like it is with stocks or other securities. Day traders buy and sell assets within the same day, in order to try and score a quick profit. This is a risky strategy since it’s hard to know how blockchain currency values could change in any given day or overtime. You can start day trading on any exchange today; all you need to do is to sign up, buy some assets, analyze, and you’re all set. You can also start trading through an automatic trading platform like bitcoin profit which allows users to decipher the signals emitted by the trends on bitcoin and other blockchain currencies and start to perform successful small trader.
The project releases the white paper as part of its ICO campaign, which it designs to encourage enthusiasts and supporters to buy some of the project’s tokens. Investors can generally use fiat or digital currency to buy the new tokens, and it’s increasingly common for investors to pay using other forms of crypto such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. These newly issued tokens are similar to shares of stock sold to investors during an IPO. What Happens to the Funds? If the money raised in an ICO is less than the minimum amount required by the ICO’s criteria, the funds may be returned to the project’s investors. The ICO would then be deemed unsuccessful. If the funding requirements are met within the specified period, the money raised is spent in pursuit of the project’s goals. Find additional info at Gary Baiton.