Bitcoin Forum

Hi everyone

New to this forum but I see a lot of veteran advice here. Lately I've been researching, tracking and dabbling in a ICOs. I'm wondering what everyone's opinion is on ICOs, in general, and what your guidelines for investment might be. Note, this isn't a standard "should I invest in btc or X, Y or Z thread, but more of a place to share some strategies.

Personally I always start with the whitepaper and research it and its merit. If it sounds reasonable, I try to answer the question of "what problem does this ICO solve?" - is there a need for it, or, is it simply applying blockchain to some aspect of some industry for no real reason.

Finally, I look at the team. Have I heard of anyone, can I find them on twitter or LinkedIn, etc.

Anyone have other strategies they are willing to share? Looking forward to the discussion!

For persons who are not skilled in trading, this is a good option for them to make a profit. However, this still requires a good knowledge of the crypto market as well as ICO projects. If lucky to participate in a successful ICO then the profit is not small. And, also you do not have to spend too much time on this job.

That's a good point, it's basically penny stocks for the new age. You can throw a little bit of extra money around and into a few ICOs and if anything picks up speed, you can make a decent profit quick - particularly if you get in at the pre-ICO stage and get the extra percent rewards. Thanks

Mostly lurking the alt-coin section and following McAfee on twitter. I'm not that much into alt-coins and ICO but if I hear that there's an opportunity, I'd be looking or bounties, airdrops,etc.. anything where I might get some coins/tokens before, potentially, investing.

it's good but before deciding to invest first learn the intent and purpose of the project let you not wrong in choosing project to invest. learn everything from roadmap, whitepaper, team and others

You need to gain more knowledge about an trusted successful ico. if you want to join with an ico then you need to learn about their past work if they done that! if you found some trustfull and successful information then you can join with them.

your strategies is already good, just do some more researching in other ico or project, or just google them, just to find is there any other similar platform. because if there is another similar platform it's just not going to work. and probably look at the community, it is good or it is not looking good, the atmosphere. i think this is the most i could think, please if anyone would add other opinion, i gladly hear it  ;)

There are many things to look for in an ICO, like how the website is built, information about the team members is correct or not, is the team legit or not and most importantly that is there any real world use of the coins to be sold, if there isn't any real problem that is solved by that ICO then there is no use of investing in that project as then there would be no use of that token and maybe the money you invest in that would be lost.
If you just follow these simple steps then I believe that you can easily spot a pretty nice ICO and also do share with others if you find one as it will be for the betterment of the public here.

Since most ICO's are reportedly scams,i very much don't like investing in them in the first place and i would rather invest into BTC, that's buying and holding them till i have made a great profit before selling it. But i do believe that an extensive research in to the ICO is bound to reveal some information about the ICO.

Well you're going to have to look for a handful of things, first thing is that the coin has a usage and it could actually become something (most coins don't have this, you're going to have to look pretty hard) Then you see the team behind it, advisors, etc. Advisors, even though they may not play a big part in the coin itself, may be able to hype the coin up enough to where you're able to turn a profit.

I also don't know what you're getting into the ICO's for, is it for profit? Or do you want to join in on another coin from the bottom and see where it takes you?

Well that's why you have this forum and reddit possibly and whatnot else. You never run in somewhere head first without any any consulting or unleast reading other peoples comments. It's not like there isn't anywhere to do so.

I guess the investment is a mix of profit and the excitement of being part of something from the beginning; although the profit is certainly not a goal, it's a nice to have. Definitely not pursuing any of these to make myself rich.

The advisors are a good point, but I wonder how freely they allow themselves to be tied to a project. I guess there's no general rule about labelling an advisor even if they've contributed very little (beyond the advisor themselves giving permission for association).
Thanks

The hype and only. If the token is well known that means the price will rise and I may get a profit. If the project is a dark horse I would think twice before investing ... and certainly won't invest in it.

Do you mean the token that the ico might be using/based on? Or are saying hype of the project itself? I guess any investment in an ICO would likely come before or extremely early I to any hype generation. If there was a ton of hype, likely the project already satisfied its ICO and is moving towards (hopefully  :) ) going live.
Thanks!

Personally, I would first look at the feasibility of the project. Next is to look at the team of the project to see if anyone has experience in the field that the project targets. Finally, the level of community interest, whether the project is community appreciated or not!

Since the first time there was an ICO, I always skeptical about it. I just dob't get it why people are pouring money into a conceptual whitepaper with no working product. What's worse is that most of these ICO died shortly after the distribution of the tokens and the product will never be made. I think only 1 in a 100 ICO product make it and get released to the market and have an actual use. It's even stranger that over time ICO only becomes more popular, at least so far. I thought this is unhealthy for the economy as most people just using it as a gambling to make more bucks instead of investing for better and innovative technology. I really hope ICO scene will get better in the future or simply just ends the frenzy.

My strategy is not much different from yours, it's just I don't start with the whitepaper. In fact, I rarely read any whitepaper because I could already tell that some ICOs are just there to make quick buck and not here to stay. I only read the ones that I deem reasonable and promising.

As usual before i invest to an ICO i always check what the project is all about, reading whitepapers, searching the team behind the project and also the target community/costumer of the project because with that criteria youll know if the ICO will become successful or not

If you are only studying a whitepaper of an ICO, I think it is very less. Sometimes there are some ICO that do not run what is in the Whitepaper. Do not let you get stuck with the content of Whitepaper that is so sweet. I suggest you learn other things from ICO, such as teams, developers, managers, websites, and business partners. That's just a stupid suggestion from me, hopefully useful.

You do everything right friend. Everything listed by you makes sense, but I will say from my own experience that the team's notoriety does not always play a major role. There are many such examples. The same Stratis, for example. I look at the idea, the availability of a software product, and also see if the work is being done by the devs.

An ICO should have a solid development team. It also should come out with a whitepaper and a concrete roadmap.

I first look at the legitimacy of the project and the team. Next is the idea if it's unique then the better it is for me. Especially if it will be utilized by a lot people.

Yes you have a point and I think you are correct but for me if I wanted to invest in an ico I think the best thing to do is to really know the info about them most especially their past works or if one of their members' past works are done successfully and that is one of the most important thing to know when investing, but for me even though that it is only one advice that I can share I think that is the best choice.

Main characteristics of the ICO: experienced developing team, working with community, high-quality technical documentation, adequate roadmap.

Just one to add to the tips already given and that is check out the telegram group. First if there is no telegram group, then it is a no go for sure. Second if there is a telegram group, check the size because often times that indicates how many people will spend on the ICO. There could be some bots present, but there is nothing you can do at that point.

Sorry but telegram followers/participants is something fictitious
Many ICOs if not all of them are "paying" in many ways for having the telegram group increased in number

Check something yourself, in a "big" number telegram group join and check how many people are writing continuously and simultaneously excluding the admins   

for me to start investing in ICO, is indeed the first of the whitepaper aspects, and the two technologies used by the project, and the three ecosystems.
Everything is important, and no less important is the team formed and the advisors

First, the most important aspect in an ICO is the transparency of the project proving that the Benefit is necessary or that will aggregate in some system or platform. Second is to meet Dev, the team and everyone who has been in charge of the project, and finally, the level of disclosure and amount of access and discussion about the project and its theme. These three basics are essential to choosing a quality ICO.

WHEN LOOKING FOR AN ICO

1. You should see what is the ICOs porpuse to the community.

Situation is when you ICO start or reach sof cap

Here you should think if people will get interested

Note: risk should be in this situation also if ICO dis not meet or in short failed the ICO team will return investments and/or burn them like it never existed.

2. Seeing if it reach sof cap it has the possibility to be successful.

This the moment when you are working for there bitcointalk bounty campaigns. 

of course first thing to look is projects reality second one is team and advisor. actually advisors are more important than team because advisors have to lose they dont want to support bad project.

Actual working product.

Ignore all the "advisors" that's just PR fluff - unless the advisors are really poor then be worried they couldn't find half decent shills.

The "team" is also suspect in many cases. There may be only one main person running the ICO and everyone else is just paid in tokens or a consulting fee to be listed. Unless the team members are working full time on the project, they aren't a team member but just there to (trick) win your confidence.

Add some verifications,google their names and their relatives,work background if these informations are accurate that would be legit people who wont scam investors,but if one of them has unknown identity you shouldnt be taking the risk,check the github account of the project if there are no development activities it might a shit project or worst scam.

A well balanced and decent SWOT as well as the team experience and the usability of the final product.

I look for originality, feasibility and usefulness of the project's product or service. These are the characteristics most investors are looking and willing to take chances for.
If the product or service it provides will be very useful, the tokens for that project goes up in the market. Specially if the token is a utility token.
I also look for these characteristics because original products are created by a team who really put effort and knowledge on it. Other projects are just copy cat of previous one and usually ended as a scam.

Definitely agree with you, and 1 in 100 is probably even being generous. I don't really see the 'blind' investment strategy (of some people) too strange though, as ultimately, it's basically just venture capitalism/tech start-ups. However, its definitely a strange combination in that it's a start up without any type of prototype, so something more akin to an inventor just trying to raise capital to make their own something.

thanks for sharing!

As for me, I first read their whitepaper so I can check if the altcoin has potential. Then, I check who the admins or campaign managers are so I can check if they are trustworthy.

That's a good point; I think telegram is definitely important, as well as the other social media platforms (Twitter and then LinkedIn for looking at the team). Thanks!

As there are many ICOs which are scam so you have to see that whether the ICO you are investing in is legit and can make profits for you.Read the whitepaper, and reseach about the ICO's cap value,team behind the coin, the idea and the reviews from the people can give you basic understanding abiut the coins then you can decide whether to invest or not.

Some of the ICO's that get built after 2014 have improved their visual graphics. They can make a scam look genuine if they wanted it to look that way.

Good counterpoint, probably a fairly easy thing to fudge. In saying that, and I hope you just take this as an open discussion, but I noticed your signature contains ICO info with a listed telegram. What are your thoughts regarding any 'proof of merit' in Twitter (also listed in your sig). Thanks again for the counter argument

Working with the community is a great point, thanks! Some exposure within the community is a pretty surefire way to know if an ICO has any real merit, otherwise, they've probably already been called out by someone.

I think that's a good point too, I did some creeping into Tipper based off your signature and I see what you mean in being transparent in regards to the benefit and general discussion around the project itself. I see what you mean for team too, Tipper has a seemingly very well established group of individuals involved and backing the progress of the project. Thanks for the good points - best of luck with the Tipper project!

The project and their team, I don't see anything better to check out than what I listed there.

Thanks - I appreciate that. When you say team, do you put equal weight on the team as the listed advisors? I've seen lots of discussion regarding how much input an advisor may actually have on any given project.

It's actually very difficult to tell because, tokens of the most icos are selling below ico price on exchanges just after launch unless they are listed on a major exchange like binance. So I never participate an ico unless i have use with that token other than just making money with it. Most ico tokens are untility tokens. so you can use them in their platform. If the project have a solid project and i have use with that project, i will participate.
Else i can grab it on lower price from etherdelta or any other decentalised exchanges after launch

The most common strategy I apply, is to ask the developer directly ICO through the existing channels such as email, group telegram, slack, linkedin, facebook, twitter, website support and others. So I can be more confident and understand from the ICO project.

That's a good point too; the large majority of ICOs issue a utility token/gas for it's own service, so I guess a major consideration would be if you're going to use the coin in the first place as you may even be better served to just wait till it hit an exchange. Although, I guess some of that aspect is counter-acted by pre-ICO bonus provisions for early investors.

Well after the SEC report that pretty much every ICO they observed that claimed to be a utility token, actually displayed all of the characteristics they expect to see in a security I would be extra careful on the projects I select. Sure there are some utility tokens out there but if you are investing in something you are unsure about the fact the SEC are being vocal again wouldn't fill me with confidence

Yes, my strategies are the same as you, but besides this, I'll be looking for more evaluation articles to find out if this project is worth investing.
There is also a reference to the number of people in Twitter and telegrams, which I can let me know whether this project is hot or not.

That's a good point too, but I thought that ICOs were skirting this by basically not offering the pre-ICO/ICO to North America, thereby avoiding any type of regulation by the SEC. I know a few other people who replied here had signatures indicating they were part of an ICO project; maybe they can respond to this with their 2 cents?

You've got everything that is needed to look for when investing in ICO. From reading the whitepaper to the ICO team and the social media profiles, the last thing to look for is the company location, background, roadmap, and the previous achievements. with all that looking good nothing fishy then can go ahead straight to invest in the ICO.  

Personally I always look for the team members of visible if possible because through their presence I will gain small trust. Then next I look for their mission and vision to crypto world. I also look their roadmap because seeing its goal can add also a small confidence that this is true group.

Thanks! So, I haven't really paid much attention to the company location (yet). Are there certain countries that have found themselves under fire for hosting projects (unknowingly I assume) that wind up being fraudulent more often than not?

first i look about their team. and their product.
if i think their team and project is good, then i will be good too.
we must carefully read about ICO information, so we don't waste our funds.

It doesn't matter. That based on the SEC compliant. As you can see SEC has made an announcement regarding it just like every USA investors are not allowed to participate in the ico because that was involved very high risk.


Whatever SEC called that as security, utility or something like that the conclusion will be on the investors itself.

But I wondered how free they let themselves tied to a project.
It is hard work of the team is very diperluhakan that this project can develop and successful...

Before I invest in an ICO, I always look for a strong technical team.  Developments are the most important thing for a project and it takes technical skills to do this.  I also like the project to have a marketing person on the team. 

Investment ico of course is to obtain high profits, but the market of ico is very cold at present, so it is not recommended to invest in ico.

Anyway for investors now is the best time to invest in crypto because the market is down. Also you can buy more tokens in an ICO with your fiat money if you convert it to ETH or BTC. When the uptrend is realize then more profit will be gain. But the opposite will happen if the market won't recover.

Profit is the pursuit goal of all merchants on cryptocurrency. But things are never easy to get. In the ico campaign, the fraud problem is always the priority and most prudent to remove it. And experience to realize the idea of establishment in the user trend is the most important to be able to get profit. It also depends on the status of the crypto and dollars to optimize that profit.

what i'm looking for in ICO and Altcoin is the opportunity to earn cheap coins for resale when the altcoin price goes up and significant. many free coins are given bye the project for free when the bounty starts.

As for me, the adviser plays the role of guarantor of the fact that the project is not a scum. I think this is the case. For example, the Cybertrust project. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2271223.0 I knew little about the team, but advisors such as Bill Delahunt inspire confidence. I read that he is a former US congressman and a founder of financial funds. It is a pity that this project is suspended. I think you understand my point.

The project team should not be from Russia. This is my founding rule

Really? And what about Wings and Waves? The Ethereum was created by a Russian developer. There are enough swindlers everywhere.

Yeah  It is good to study  the white paper and of course you should also know what is the functional products they  offer because functional product is the back none of the project this would really attract investors if their proposed functional products are really feasible and also if you going to identify the  core team working if they are really known personality.

Right, that makes sense for sure, I guess if/when you can find an advisor who instills some confidence by attaching their own name, then it's a bonus feather in the cap.

Why did that project get suspended?

good functionality .

Im still being a student, my propit is small. So i invest to an ICO becuz its not spend too much time. If that ico look be good.

Do you put any weight on the advisory crew? Or entirely/significantly more on the dev and marketing?

`1st i take risk then i looking for 3x profit, i think most of people bought it for 2x or 3x profit. i think after buying a ico you have to hold it or trade it.

Of course. Ideally, you need to take into account all the factors that may affect the further development. You must always think where you carry your money.

Right. This is an additional factor that speaks about the quality of the product. It's super, when all the factors are at a high level, but I have not yet met such. It is suspended due to legal issues. In general, the project is very interesting and should have been promising. All investments were returned as far as I know.

This got me thinking, it would be interesting if ICOs were forced (by whom, I have no idea, hard when it's so decentralized by nature) to report this type of thing if/when they didn't succeed. I feel that it would help boost the overall confidence of the ICO landscape for those on the edge of the crypto world, perhaps even helping to bring the potential of ICO investments more mainstream.

There is a larger risk when investing in an ICO because people know that the project may not be a genuine one. Don't invest in every coin with an ICO.

added unto that is the Team behind this ico,are they legit or just dummy or some copy pasting same as the road mal and the supplies of token to be released,the soft and the hard caft,this things are must be checked of every investors of ico

Lately, I am looking only at this before I decide to invest into any ICO - https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@ograph/my-ico-cheatsheet-shhhh  I hope those guys know what they are doing!

You are right. You have to do it this basic things and this can help you to protect your money.

I pay attention to team, reviews, ratings, but the most important thing for me is the whole concept, the idea. From the last ICOs I have looked through I like Safinus project the most.

The Team definitely seems to be like a solid place to focus; but since writing this thread I've been researching and find it hard to really be able to tell who's legit.

We almost need a LinkedIn style social media for people involved in blockchain in order too better account for real vs fake team compositions.

I always consider if the manager is trustworthy.
If the manager is popular and trustworthy, then i go fo it.
It usually depends on the people behind a project.
It is better to join those icos that will make me feel secured.

Sometime I look at the fund raised during the sale. I think the ICO is more close to legit if they could raise huge funding and reach their cap
(even softcap) and remove the fear that the ICO you're investing will shutdown because it didnt reach softcap. If I see that there is till a lot of time and the fund raise is almost near the cap, then I might invest in that ICO. It could still be a failure or scam but at least, it one less reason for a failed ICO.

Sir, I believe that everyone's wishes are the appreciation of prices. I am sure that the project itself will develop better, with major breakthroughs or strong teamwork.

I am looking at GoNetwork,aitheon, neo exchange

ICOs are very tricky investing in, but i mainly look at the project, plan, the development stages it intends to pass through, and the product it offers, the development team also matters a lot

It is important for you to understand that fundraising through ICOs is risky. You should therefore under no circumstance invest using an amount that you cannot afford to lose.
1)Is the company willing to publish information about its team members?
2)What is the frequency of communication with their future investors? Do they display accountability?
3)You need to know how many tokens are offered for presale and the number of ICO participants, and how many tokens the team reserves for themselves.

Surely, the team is very important. The product itself means much - it must be interesting really for many people. Always check Whitepaper, and do not be lazy to read it thoroughly and up to the end.

Agreed. Without team project will dead with any excellent idea. Community can't to continue without founders. Because they know whole plan only

I agree with your strategy.To learn whitepaper and who is the team, and also advisers is the right way. I am also looking if people interested in project so i look is there discussion in telegram or other social networks. And i also try to find out what people like Ian Balina or Suppoman think about projects. And after that make investment decision.

When investing in ICO, you should carefully study the project and pay special attention to the development team, the role of the released token, the current achievements of the team, the road map. All these factors are closely related to the criteria for the analysis of the project. They can be used as control questions before investing.

The most important things is how much profit i can gain from investing in the ico, it's a hard thing to predict especially when the market is bad like january-march this year but it's slowly become better. Hype is an important factor for an ico to perform well, you also have to look at their bonus structure, too much bonus will make the price crash on exchange, only invest in this kind of ico if you can get into their presale. After that you should look at the team background and what they are trying to do, is it useful and will many people use it.

I expect ICO will give me a high return.
Most of the time, however, ICO doesn't get very good returns.

A platform with a working product mostly will interest my mind. There are too many project with a good platform but lack of efforts to bring atleast the demo version.

Those ways are good enough to be some of the ways to minimize the scams ICO. Besides researching the whitepaper and the team, commonly I myself will do some others. It is also important to analyze the token supply and allocation of the ICO program. The softcap and its information about the token sale are also important for we should know that their token sale is real.

When investing in a promising ICO, I also look for what the OP mentioned. I also try to contact their support team and check if they can be easily reached, just in case I needed support in the future. I also check the total coin supply and how coins are being generated or mined.

Before I invest in ICO, I will seriously study the project's white paper, understand the team members of the project, the technical strength of the project, the prospect of the project and the profit model of the project.

I will pay attention to the following points when investing in ICO projects:

Does it have a good, capable operating team?

Read its white paper carefully to understand its project technical strength, project prospects, and project profitability model.

Join the telegram group and then learn more about this project through exchange

These practices are very effective, and they are more serious and professional. Therefore, you are not a newcomer and more like an experienced expert. I think most people don't do research. They just follow the trade and they have to make profits and lose profits.

I think the minimum is
1. White Paper of good quality: a well-structured document with all the necessary information given in a comprehensible way.
2. Professional team: people with rich experience whose short bio I can read on the website and in the WP.
3. Social media: if the project has accounts in the most popular social media, where decent content is posted, be sure – the team is really into it. The existence of Telegram chat with active discussions of the project is a must.
4. The aim: ICO should have a real-life issue to tackle; otherwise, nobody will get interested.

But also you have to learn more about product and market.

indeed everyone who is here wants to profit. to avoid bad results, my advice you should be careful and vigilant in choosing the ICO for you to succeed and get many benefits. trade and investment do have a risk if you can manage well then you will succeed.