ICO or STO or SAFT? What's the safest bet?

[ActAshton]

It seems people nowadays don't even get themselves into ICO's anymore because of the lack of hype and shady projects surfacing. Now there is always something new under the table like STOs, or ILP's, and now SAFTs. Giant companies like Bitmain and Telegram used IPOs to raise funds, Kodak used a SAFT, and other large blockchain based businesses used ICOs. What is the safest bet and how can you guarantee a positive ROI going thru these crowdfunding platforms? I have a hat that says 'Make ICO's Great Again' even tho that's definitely not possible.

"With an ICO the founders of a crypto startup could raise money without diluting their own shares in the company.

The problem with ICOs is that literally anyone with a whitepaper, a slick-looking website, and an idea could launch one and begin raising funds.

A damning study
by ICO advisory firm States Group concluded that around 80 percent of ICOs carried out in 2017 were complete scams.

Throw in confusion over governmental regulation, with regulators themselves admitting that ICOs can begin life as a security and transform into another asset type down the line, and it’s easy to see why the ICO craze has quickly dropped off."

Sub-question: whatever crowdfunding idea you voted for, why did you vote for it?

Photo and quote source: https://southafricatoday.net/cryptocurrency/saft-vs-ico-which-approach-is-better-in-2019/

[mrdeposit]

First time I hear about SAFT. This must be something new. In fact, developments on this issue continue without stopping. IEO is also new in this regard. How everyone affected by binance in the bear market by means of IEO, everyone is looking for it.

[muncuss]

So are you looking for safe or for ROI? price rise in this market is affected by hype and rumor, so anything that have it will have good return.
Safe project if they are already established good company looking for expanding their company, as good idea alone can't guarantee

[samcrypto]

I only know about the ICO, IPO and IEO but the rest is new to me. Crowdfunding is not new anymore, its already here in the market for a decade or more now and some project succeed on that. There’s no safest thing to do that, all have their own risk and there are times that investors don’t want the project. I will go for these three because i already experience their success.

[iconoclast]

I think many of these new methods of raising money by issuing tokens are lulling investors into a false sense of security. While the switch away from ICO's may eliminate one of the most egregious types of fraud. Namely using a fake identity and then running away with the money, it will do nothing to prevent fraudster like Andrew MacDonald from perpetrating a longer exit scam.

[Nalbo]

It really depends on the project and team rather the how they are collecting the money and what they are offering.
Of course a regulated project would be much safer than anonymous ones. If a project is licensed and legitimate, there's no problem for the team to come in person and interact with the investors and share their experience and what they are willing to achieve with the raised funds.

[pushups44]

I don't know if it's listed but I think airdrops are possibly the best idea, because projects that amass large amounts of money via token offerings tend to squander their cash. Projects that are developed based on pure enthusiasm from a developer or team of developers are more likely to succeed. That's how bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies came about.

[HiBlocks]

One token is issued as a security and it is owned and represents the performance of the company and you can even get dividends.  Works very much like a stock.  The others are just usage of the network and sold to users once the network is live.  STOs are the way to go moving forward.  

[Crypto Girl]

Seriously whatever terminologies we use to conduct a crowdsale it wouldn't change the fact that people already lose trust to it and whatever hype they made they'll just end up shitty afterwards.

I'd rather to buy more bitcoin or at least bet on gambling sites even it have slim chances of profit but at least I made fun and enjoyed. Not a hater of ICO but I'm just being realistic and practical. 

[shane]

If a company choose a STO instead of a IPO for a securities offering, then they have a better exposure when compared to an IPO. Therefore, STOs are better from the point of the company as they have a higher chance to become successful in fund raising.

I don't know much about SAFT, what I know is that SAFT is a non-debt financial instrument that can be converted into equities in a later date and the investor looses his money if the start up fails. Therefore, I think there is no considerable difference between SAFT and typical ICO.

For the customer/investor any of these types is risky. However, if it is a regulated offering, the risk is less when compared to unregulated offerings specially typical ICOs. Therefore, if the investor wants to invest in a less risky investment opportunity, IPOs are still better than other types. STOs also a type that would be interesting with better legislation in the future.

[SwiggHeart]

I just recommend IEO since IEO is the most safest way to invest in the cryptocurrency world. You can guarantee your profit there.

[bgaf]

I cant say STO are guaranteed ROI but just a conservative way on raising funds and handling asset. What is the difference on ICO? if the tokens will be traded also on same exchange like other utility token? Can anyone tell me if there is a security exchange already listing this STO projects. Probably they will also be listed om normal centralized exchange maybe the only difference is the approach and maybe they have a buy back program to stable the price of their tokens. But this is also manipulation, if you think of it.

[vermigerous]

As of now there is no reason to join ICO anymore unless they came from the Admin Himself, What I'm saying is even reputable Members are promoting some shady project thankfully the are tagged now like needmoney and others because they are the only members who promote scam project and the real ICO buried.

[asriloni]

OP, would you like to add another choice like IEO? if you can and i will choose it as my safest bet on the speculating a new platform.
The ERA for SAFT and STO have already ended and both were getting only short hype but ICO and IEO still become the main bet right now.
Visit icodrop and you will know about the average return that has already generated by IEO.

[bittraffic]

SAFT?  A lot of names to call it but isn't it the same for asking funds?

I haven't participated any IEO but is it juat to list the token on the exchange and let the market pay the exchange while the team can dump what they have allocated for themselves or they get the funds from the exchange who act as escrow?

[Sacramentus]

Never heard about SAFT and will want you to explain more in details. You didn't mention IEO or you don't know about it?. Currently, IEO a has been a huge success and many projects are moving to it so that's the best for me currently

[rosezionjohn]

I just recommend IEO since IEO is the most safest way to invest in the cryptocurrency world. You can guarantee your profit there.

Tell me, how many IEOs have you joined to even recommend it?

Guaranteed? Don't ever say such word in the world of cryptocurrency or other types of investments.
Do you have any data of how many IEOs were completed? Have you seen the price of the token/coin immediately after IEO?

[davis196]

There's no "safest bet".All crypto related projects come with a very high risk.Just don't think that you could make any money from crypto startups.Just put your money in them (a really small amount) because you like idea behind the project,not because you want to make a ROI.
IPOs are more regulated and expensive(in order to protect the investors),that's why only big companies can afford listing an IPO.

[Herbert2020]

NONE OF THEM!

you are already using the correct term ("bet") in your title but i think it was unintentional. ICOs and all the alternatives are a gamble not an investment and should be treated as such. if you start having delusions about them, then you start losing money.

and remember that it is not about being "scam" or not. so when you quoted that article, you shouldn't misunderstand it. it says 80% of them were scams but it does NO mean the 20% were "good investments". 100% of ICOs and alternatives are bad investments whether they are obvious scams or not.

[ActAshton]

So are you looking for safe or for ROI? price rise in this market is affected by hype and rumor, so anything that have it will have good return.
Safe project if they are already established good company looking for expanding their company, as good idea alone can't guarantee

It's hard to say both. If I were looking for safe, I'd already look for an established company and invest in equity or their token. But for these new ones in regards to fundraising, a solid ROI would be nice- unless I truly believe in the project and I tend to stick around long term. Good profits have been made from ICOs but some people have gotten absolutely rekt.

On a side note... Bitconnect 2.0 coming out soon... Anyone all in?