ICO basics for Newbies

[chocopapaya]

Just some basic stuff to get you started:

ICO = Initial coin offering.  Sometimes called a TGE (token generation event).

Coin = has it's own blockchain.   Token = attached to a platform that has utility.

Pre-Sale = Sometimes called a private sale.  Time period where select investors can contribute, before an open crowdsale.  This varies widely.  Some ico's only accept accredited investors during this time.  Some will have a registration whitelist that you have to do to sign up.  Some are open to anyone willing to contribute large sums.  Some are open to everybody.  The highest bonus is usually during the pre-sale period.

Generally, an ICO is a startup company that is trying to raise funds.
Sometimes, it's an already established company that is moving a part of it's product or system to blockchain technology (or they want to expand their business).
Typically, they would have to gather funds through typical investment channels.
Now, due to blockchain and smart contract tech, companies can bypass that and go straight to the community.

Basically, it is like crowdfunding or crowdsourcing with blockchain technology.

People like ICOs because you can typically get a coin for a huge discounted price.
Also, you can be an active part of an exciting new company or project.

People dislike ICOs because there are so many of them, that the quality of startups has really started to decline with many copy cats and startups that have no benefit using coins or tokens at all.
Also, there are many companies that are outright scams or near scams, where you can lose a lot of your investment.

General Advice:
Websites and youtubers that list a lot of ICO's with reviews generally get paid to do the review so they are biased.  However, they are good starting points to do your own research.

You will most likely need an erc20 wallet to invest.  myetherwallet is one of the most popular.  You can adjust gas prices on it, so if you want the ether to go through quickly so you can get a bonus, you can do so.

Become an active part of the community surrounding an ICO.  Join their telegram, slack, or whatever they use and also frequent their ANN thread here in bitcointalk.

The most important parts of the the company to look at to determine if it is a scam or not is the development team and the whitepaper.  Take the time to look at the team's online present and professional profiles.

To determine whether or not it will be a successful investment or not, look at the max supply of coins, how many and where they will be distributed, the soft and hard caps, the price of the coin, whether they have a working product or not, and their roadmap.

Last bit:
Most of my profit in crypto has been through ICOs.  I believe it is a great way to invest ONLY if you take the time to do some hardcore research, don't just follow hype.

[beetlejam]

Great information for people who are just learning about ICO's.

The big key is just to do your own research and ask a lot of questions at ICO's, it is the beauty of this forum!

[enervey]

This is good material - may I have your permission to list it on my website, with credit of course?

[AndreyBelts]

Just some basic stuff to get you started:

ICO = Initial coin offering.  Sometimes called a TGE (token generation event).
Coin = has it's own blockchain.   Token = attached to a platform that has utility.

Generally, an ICO is a startup company that is trying to raise funds.
Sometimes, it's an already established company that is moving a part of it's product or system to blockchain technology (or they want to expand their business).
Typically, they would have to gather funds through typical investment channels.
Now, due to blockchain and smart contract tech, companies can bypass that and go straight to the community.

Basically, it is like crowdfunding or crowdsourcing with blockchain technology.

People like ICOs because you can typically get a coin for a huge discounted price.
Also, you can be an active part of an exciting new company or project.

People dislike ICOs because there are so many of them, that the quality of startups has really started to decline with many copy cats and startups that have no benefit using coins or tokens at all.
Also, there are many companies that are outright scams or near scams, where you can lose a lot of your investment.

General Advice:
Websites and youtubers that list a lot of ICO's with reviews generally get paid to do the review so they are biased.  However, they are good starting points to do your own research.
You will most likely need an erc20 wallet to invest.  myetherwallet is one of the most popular.  You can adjust gas prices on it, so if you want the ether to go through quickly so you can get a bonus, you can do so.
Become an active part of the community surrounding an ICO.  Join their telegram, slack, or whatever they use and also frequent their ANN thread here in bitcointalk.

The most important parts of the the company to look at to determine if it is a scam or not is the development team and the whitepaper.  Take the time to look at the team's online present and professional profiles.

To determine whether or not it will be a successful investment or not, look at the max supply of coins, how many and where they will be distributed, the soft and hard caps, the price of the coin, whether they have a working product or not, and their roadmap.

Last bit:
Most of my profit in crypto has been through ICOs.  I believe it is a great way to invest ONLY if you take the time to do some hardcore research, don't just follow hype.

This is true:
"Websites and youtubers that list a lot of ICO's with reviews generally get paid to do the review so they are biased.  However, they are good starting points to do your own research."

[chocopapaya]

This is good material - may I have your permission to list it on my website, with credit of course?

Sure!  Also, feel free to add any other points that will help newbies.

[Intensity]

The most important parts of the the company to look at to determine if it is a scam or not is the development team and the whitepaper. Take the time to look at the team's online present and professional profiles.

Great advice! I seen way to many ICO's that have no whitepaper and no listing of the development team. The way I see it, if a company/ICO is hiding the team there is probably a reason why they don't want to show there face(s). To me if an ICO doesn't disclose this information, it's not worth looking into anymore.

[ItsEzMkay]

Becoming active and learning about the ICO is the one size fits all solution for ICOs. If you do your research and it makes sense to you go for it. If you do research and it doesn't then don't, but please don't hop into any ICO without researching and deciding if it is right for yourself.

[Neurogress]

Nice manual for ICO investing, not on;y for newbies, just basics for everyone who want try to invest.

[testingbits]

Thanks, great information for a ICO newbie like me

[mixelalex]

A great start for beginners! I would also add information about the bounty campaign.

Bounty campaign is a part of ICO campaign in which the participants in one way or another advertise the project - via Twitter, facebook, Bitcoin talk forum and other ways. For this they receive a tokens of this project for free.

This is a good opportunity to earn without investment. In addition, so gradually you can join the environment and better understand how this system works. And you do not lose anything in case of scam. Only your time. Of course, it's also a pity, but still not like real money.

[natasha-lev]

Very interesting topic. Today we see so many new people that are coming to crypto. Some of them don't realize the risks. Such topic should in FAQs.

[TeLlMeFrY]

Great work! It would be great if there was a system in this forum to reward the meaningful post like this. You said that money that you have won is from ICOs, do you have some advices to find the best ICOs?

[cryptopussies]

Great post,very informative for those starters.ICOs indeed are being tagged as scam investment but if you take time reading whitepapers and re-searching ICOs would be profitable for the newbies.

[reflector]

A great start for beginners! I would also add information about the bounty campaign.

Bounty campaign is a part of ICO campaign in which the participants in one way or another advertise the project - via Twitter, facebook, Bitcoin talk forum and other ways. For this they receive a tokens of this project for free.

This is a good opportunity to earn without investment. In addition, so gradually you can join the environment and better understand how this system works. And you do not lose anything in case of scam. Only your time. Of course, it's also a pity, but still not like real money.

I was unable to get you what you are trying to say about ICO and Bounty campaign. You have to understand the difference between these words first I think. Here you can share the tactics can be show by the newbie to tackle with the ICO investments.
Every use to open the way advertize option like many type of campaigns.
They would offer the token sale in the starting time with the certain percentage value. We need to buy the tokens in that time you will get the more money after the coin has been launched but you have to choose the legit project.

[Dvach]

It's a really good thread, thank you. I have just started to explore this phenomenon. As far as I understand, the major part of ICO's nowadays are tokens, not new coins? Ethereum platform is widely reused for the token creation.

[iloveturtles]

Nice summary, I find there is a lot of different language that is used in this forum and to someone who is new to the crypto world it can be overwhelming.

[Ru1016]

any specific advice regarding bounty campaigns and what criteria you use to select which one you want to participate in?  I have invested in a couple ICO's but havent yet tried out a bounty campaign.  it sounds like it could be a good way to get "free" money and i have heard rumors that some people have made a lot of money off of bounty campaigns just by picking the right one

[Dvach]

any specific advice regarding bounty campaigns and what criteria you use to select which one you want to participate in?  I have invested in a couple ICO's but havent yet tried out a bounty campaign.  it sounds like it could be a good way to get "free" money and i have heard rumors that some people have made a lot of money off of bounty campaigns just by picking the right one

I'm not an expert, but I'm checking different ICO rating websites, white paper document, I'm also checking the overall idea of the coin/token, why it was developed and what problems could be solved by the usage of this new coin/token.

[TonyLukarelly87]

If you are a beginner, better fill the Airdrops. Study the forum, score points for raising the rating. And when you get Junior status, then it's better then start to deal with ISO.

[Thomss]

Thanks! I really appreciate your work, it is useful.