IPO vs ICO vs Pre-Sale

[marco.v88]

I have read in many altcoins announcements these 3 terms, but I haven't understood yet the real difference between them. They seem to me referring to an identical process in which altcoins devs sell some of their coins at a low price.

What's the difference?

[odolvlobo]

No differences.

[RussianRaibow]

I have read in many altcoins announcements these 3 terms, but I haven't understood yet the real difference between them. They seem to me referring to an identical process in which altcoins devs sell some of their coins at a low price.

What's the difference?

IPO: Initial Public Offering, like was done for maidsafecoins

ICO: Initial Coin Offering, like was done for Nxt

Pre-Sale: Selling out before launch, like was done for ethereum

[gentlemand]

Isn't ICO Initial Crowdfunding Option?

Either way I'm not sure how much longer they'll be around. Authority types are starting to sniff around a few dodgy efforts.

[poncom]

The devs who made up the names thought they could avoid prosecution by calling an IPO a different name, but I doubt it will work in the long run. As far as I'm concerned IPO, ICO, and pre-sale all mean exactly the same thing.

[Viper1]

Isn't ICO Initial Crowdfunding Option?

That's something new that's cropped up lately. But if they're giving coins in return then it's not real crowdfunding, just an IPO/ICO/Presale.

[bitcoin_bagholder]

The devs who made up the names thought they could avoid prosecution by calling an IPO a different name, but I doubt it will work in the long run. As far as I'm concerned IPO, ICO, and pre-sale all mean exactly the same thing.

Exactly.

Add ITO (initial token offering) to the list.

[muddafudda]

Putting a silver lining on a scam doesn't stop it from being a scam. All scams

[Daedelus]

What if the 'unfair distribution' is a large factor in a coins success?

There have been many attempts to clone POS with a "fair distribution". Can anyone name any? And if you can, has the "fair distribution" made it successful?


To quote another:

"
We shouldn't ignore the lessons of history. Societies created by a lot of people are abnormal phenomena... The most stable economic systems were always bootstrapped by a few people (feods, corporations, etc.) so it's safer to follow a similar way.
"

All evidence so far supports the thinking that "A courtyard common to all will be swept by none".

[fr4nkthetank]

I have read in many altcoins announcements these 3 terms, but I haven't understood yet the real difference between them. They seem to me referring to an identical process in which altcoins devs sell some of their coins at a low price.

What's the difference?

IPO = ICO = PRE SALE = PREMINE = INSTAMINE =  SCAM

[Daedelus]

IPO = ICO = PRE SALE = PREMINE = INSTAMINE =  SCAM

I see we like broad brush strokes here   Most ICO/IPO relate to POS.

How do you premine something that has no mining?

"
Show me the logic...

POS is not premined. Premined is a negative term meaning someone was dishonest by premining the currency before it was brought on the market and when difficulty was still very low, while claiming at the same time that everyone has the same chance to mine it, which is a lie when you premine.

With most POS there is no mining at all, so there can not be premining. All coins were created at inception, just like with stocks indeed, but in contrast to stocks, where often more stocks are created in the future (inflation of supply), with some POS no more tokens can be created, ever. Therefore it is a better store of value than even bitcoin, as it is the only currency that has no inflation at all.
"*

As long as everything was public (albeit usually in a crypto forum) and there was no restriction on the opportunity for people to join in, how do you support your statement?


*Marc De Mesel

[Joshuar]

The devs who made up the names thought they could avoid prosecution by calling an IPO a different name, but I doubt it will work in the long run. As far as I'm concerned IPO, ICO, and pre-sale all mean exactly the same thing.

Yep, they are exactly the same thing. These coins devs are constantly making up new names for "IPO" in an attempt to try and ward off any legal prosecution they may be faced with. And guess what, it's all still illegal. 100% of these developers are illegally selling unregistered securities and it's most common with PoS coins. In fact, I have yet to see a PoW coin that indulged in an IPO.

[adidas]

No diference.

Not a fair distribution at all.

[thebenjamincode]

for me i vote for IPO

[CoinAwesome]

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[pc888]

Nothing decentralised about a premine, IPO, Crowdfund, ICO, Presale.

[pc888]

The devs who made up the names thought they could avoid prosecution by calling an IPO a different name, but I doubt it will work in the long run. As far as I'm concerned IPO, ICO, and pre-sale all mean exactly the same thing.

Yep, they are exactly the same thing. These coins devs are constantly making up new names for "IPO" in an attempt to try and ward off any legal prosecution they may be faced with. And guess what, it's all still illegal. 100% of these developers are illegally selling unregistered securities and it's most common with PoS coins. In fact, I have yet to see a PoW coin that indulged in an IPO.

Agreed, the crack down has begun too .. Ripple.

[Daedelus]

Nothing decentralised about a premine, IPO, Crowdfund, ICO, Presale.

Or POW. Millions of blocks mind by a handful of people in the early days of BTC. Satoshi has 5% minimum of all BTC that we know about 

[Ingatqhvq]

Actually there are all Pre-Sale.
The coin maker got all money to pre-sale his coins.

[pc888]

Nothing decentralised about a premine, IPO, Crowdfund, ICO, Presale.

Or POW. Millions of blocks mind by a handful of people in the early days of BTC. Satoshi has 5% minimum of all BTC that we know about 

Depends what type of POW you are talking about. A long POW with the right difficulty targeting and with a number of pools on board it is fair. Early adopters are not always there in the long run.