ICO basics for Newbies

[filharvey]

Also, you should not join ICOs which has most coins premined.Most of the successful ICOs we have seen belong to block chain technology. It would be better to join the ICO of already well established companies and institutional companies as they would have more chance of succeeding. Also, we should avoid to join ICOs whose offering date is more than six months.

[RNGfight]

Not all of the projects are done through ICO, and some don't go directly to the community via ICO.

[buboyskie]

Also, you should not join ICOs which has most coins premined.Most of the successful ICOs we have seen belong to block chain technology. It would be better to join the ICO of already well established companies and institutional companies as they would have more chance of succeeding. Also, we should avoid to join ICOs whose offering date is more than six months.

This is noted. Thank you so much for sharing.

[aurorabitcoin.96]

Great advice and definition from you. I hope you can be credited for give this information to people before they start trade with ICO.

[hannahB4]

This is a very vital information anyone would love to know about, thanks for this

[Zombie259]

Many Thanks for preparing the useful information.
For some "new" users it will be very helpful.

The most important part is nevertheless ICO research.

[toplancer_team]

Its really valuable information for newbies.. thanks a ton..

[steviegboots]

Really good thread man thanks. I will share this with my buddies who are looking to get involved in ICOs.

I find that there isn't too much in the way of education about cryptocurrencies online, mostly just about the price. Not about how to find a good ICO.

[mike3432]

Such a lovely post and very much information. thanks man

[sltshp]

Very good tips. Some stuff i'd like to add on is:
1) Does the coin solve existing problems? If its a solution trying to look for a problem, I generally tend to skip the ICO
2) Does this need to be on the blockchain? If its a project that can be done using an existing system, it might be a red flag as well

[arvind82]

It is a great opportunity for newbie to get knowledge about the ICO.It is the best way to study and involve in crypto currency.

[bundo]

For ICO itself, from what I know from the existing 100 ICOs, its 90 SCAMs. So wise in investing and loving your money.

Crypto world is promising benefits, understand and learn well about the ins and outs of the world crypto because in the outcome many are trapped.
Regards education..

[dumplingsandsushi]

Some things I want to add to this are:

#1) It's important to take into account inflation.  Some ICOs will lock the price of the coin, like 1eth = 1000blahblahblah
This means that if the price of eth goes up, the actual cost per token will be more expensive.
On the other hand, ICOs that just do a fixed price, like 1blahblahblah = .10 cents, then it will be to your benefit to buy when prices of btc or eth are high.

#2) It will help you out immensely if you reach out to the devs themselves and the community.  Telegram seems to be the favored choice nowadays, but it is a place where you can get the most up to date info and speak directly with the team or with others who have substantial knowledge.  For me, being active in the community has told me heaps about the quality of an ico.

#3) Join the bounty campaign of the coin you are buying into.  This not only helps you promote your own investment, but helps you to be active in the community.  Also, it helps your cost per coin be reduced dramatically.

[chocopapaya]

I wanted to put a couple thoughts due to some high profile icos still gaining a huge following even after MAJOR red flags have been raised.

I hope you don't see this as FUD but as a case example on why you should be careful.
This has to do with DADI and Arcblock

They are both very popular with huge followers on telegram.
I have no doubt in my mind that both will probably sell out.

However,  there is solid evidence that DADI plagiarized their whitepaper.
Arcblock also has no technical footprint, nothing on github, no product release, no mvp, nothing.
On top of that the devs use fake pictures and names.

I'm not saying don't invest in these or invest in these, you make your own choice.
But with so many icos out there, why put your money into something that has red flags?
Even if everyone else is jumping off a cliff doesn't make it a good idea.

[kipozer]

Most importantly, remember that fast money does not happen and everything that you tell others is more like luck than the truth. I'll tell you the truth, before investing, read the project very many times and understand how it will work, so think about whether it will work from your point of view? And then decide Yes or No.

[chocopapaya]

I've seen a lot of misinformation thrown out lately so I am reviving this thread to help people out.

Remember, an ICO is basically like a startup crowdfunding process.
These are new (sometimes not so new) companies who are seeking funding and so you can purchase their coin/token to help support their business.

So, that means that currently existing altcoins are mostly not icos.

So neo, iota, etc. have finished their icos a long time ago and are called altcoins.

If you are looking for a place to find upcoming icos, then you can use ico rating sites like icobench or icodrops.
However, most of these sites have very biased reviews (icos pay to have their ico prominently featured).
You can use it as a springboard to easily find the websites of a large amount of icos though.

Another place to look is the announcements section of the altcoin discussion board here on bitcointalk.
This place can be pretty chaotic though because it has ico announcements along with other general announcements.
An ICO will typically label their thread : ANN ICO ... (then name, etc.)

Just a quick warning though, as of now, April 14th, ICOs are having a difficult time because the overall market is very low and slow.
It is typically better to invest in an ico when the market is rising.

(if you feel my thread is helpful, please send me some merit)

[Patikmd]

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.

thanks for this tread, I personally know what ICO is. and someday I hope to plunge there ..