We invest at an early stage in ico. Investments in ICO – prospects and risks

A huge number of companies are launching ICOs. Among this multitude, you need to be able to find promising projects that deserve not only attention, but also real investments. In this article, using KickICO as an example, we will provide step-by-step instructions on how to invest in ICO.

KickICO is a platform that should simplify fundraising through crowdfunding, crowdinvesting, pre-ICO and ICO. The developers have set themselves the goal of providing a service capable of handling a large number of operations in a short period of time. Stable operation of the platform is an important point not only for startup developers, but also for investors themselves.

Development of the project began in 2014.

The great thing about KickICO is that it brings together different fundraising methods on one platform. Now companies can take part in ICOs that do not involve creating and issuing their own token. Thus, even non-profit organizations can attract cryptocurrency to finance their projects from the Internet community.

How to invest in ICO: detailed instructions

To invest in ICO you need to have cryptocurrency. Basically, all projects accept: and , although the list of available cryptocurrencies can be much wider. We recommend using ETH, since almost all startups work with this coin.

Creating an Ethereum Wallet

First, we need to create a wallet. To do this, you can use the MyEtherWallet resource. The creation process takes 5 minutes. To do this you need to do the following:


Important! Be sure to save the following data: wallet address, “Private Key” and Keystore/JSON. It is best to store this information on a flash drive or other removable storage medium.

You can also use other Ethereum wallets to invest in ICOs. Among the most popular are:

Buying cryptocurrency

After we have created an Ethereum wallet, we can buy cryptocurrencies. The easiest way to do this is through specialized exchangers. They have several advantages:

  • no need for registration and verification;
  • a wide variety of payment systems;
  • fast transactions.

To purchase cryptocurrency, you can use and. However, many platforms require verification in order for users to be able to fund their accounts with fiat currency. Still, registering on the exchange will not be superfluous, since the new coin is unlikely to appear in the exchanger.

To select an exchanger, ProfitGuide recommends using BestChange monitoring. Using the service is quite simple. To purchase cryptocurrency you need to follow these steps:

  1. Select the method you will use for payment. All methods are displayed in the “Give” column. It is worth noting that most exchangers work with the following popular systems in Russia:
  • QIWI;
  • Yandex money;
  • Perfect Money and others.

Important! Cryptocurrency is not transferred instantly. The transaction will be processed within 10-30 minutes after the operation.

We invest in ICO

Once you have acquired cryptocurrency, you can start investing in KickICO. To do this you need to follow several steps:


After the transaction is processed by the system, a certain number of new tokens - KickCoin - will be transferred to your wallet. The transfer time can range from several minutes to several hours, depending on the load on the Ethereum system.

How to get a new token

If the emission occurs on the basis of Ethereum, then we can add it to our wallet. To do this you need to follow a few simple steps:


  1. After this, click “Save” and after a while the balance of tokens will be displayed in the wallet.

Important! In some cases, the balance may be equal to 0. You can check the transaction in the history. To do this, go higher and click on the link in the “Transaction History” section. This way you can see how much tokens the company transferred.

How to choose an ICO: 6 reasons why we chose KickICO

The ICO only recently started, but has already collected more than half of the funds, which means that very soon the project will raise the required amount. If you are still in doubt about whether to invest in KickICO, ProfitGuide has prepared 5 reasons that should convince you.

How to choose an ICO project for investment?

To bookmarks

Currently, ICO projects attract people with the opportunity to get “easy money” without much effort. The only difficulty is choosing a promising ICO project. In addition, there is always a danger of running into scam projects and losing your invested money. How to minimize this risk? For those who are interested in the issue, on my Telegram channel I periodically write on this topic or post a broadcast with an analysis of ICO projects, which I have already reviewed several dozen. Today I will talk about the criteria by which I evaluate the prospects of ICO projects.

1. Website

The time when you could make a website on your knees by writing a couple of beautiful words, setting up a time counter and drawing a wallet is irrevocably gone. If, after opening the site, you cannot immediately understand the meaning of the project, then feel free to close this site. Most likely, the creators of the project took the matter carelessly and decided to save on the services of a copywriter who would write texts “for the people.” If the creators of the project do not spend resources on creating a decent website, even using the Tilda builder, then this is an indicator of hackwork.

2. Find out how many languages ​​the site has been translated into

The main markets are China, South Korea, Japan, Spain, USA, Russia. If the site is only in one language, this is very significant. The creators of real projects are very sensitive to their globalization, so they always try to speak the native language of the potential investor.

3. Look at the domain

Of course, it is fashionable to register a domain in the IO zone, but there is a high probability that there is an ICO here just for the sake of ICO. From my point of view, a domain in more classic zones is closer to a real business.

4. Analyze the distribution of money

Initially, you need to understand how you plan to spend the collected money. If this distribution is described in a nutshell, and it is not clear how much will be spent on the product itself, how much on operating expenses, how much on marketing, etc., then this is an obvious scam. I think it's normal when:

Founders take up to 10% to cover initial expenses;

Up to 15% goes to platform development;

Up to 30% is spent on project marketing;

Approximately 5% is spent on legal components and operating expenses.

In addition, a certain untouchable fund must remain; it is the “capital” that will ensure the value of the token in the future.

Be sure to look if there are links to social networks, evaluate the activity of people in this network. Of course, a lot of it is paid posts and mentions, so take a little time to understand the essence of the comments and understand their meaning. Be sure to go to the BitcoinTalk thread and read the opinions of the people who write about the project there. People will not just “spread rot” on the project. Assess the reasons for both positive and negative reviews. See how the project communicates with the community.

Go to the BOUNTY thread, see how many people decided to participate. This is an indicator of community trust. On the one hand, everything looks simple, people themselves do the work for future tokens. On the other hand, I know from my own experience that it is a lot of work to develop and maintain a normal BOUNTY campaign, especially when you work with the whole world. This is truly a 24/7 job, you have to check and monitor everything around the clock.

7. Look at the team

Evaluate the project team and their business experience. Blockchain is blockchain, but you are going to trust these people with your own money. If they do not have successful experience in running their business, then most likely they will not be able to grow a real money-making business from an ICO project. Be sure to go through the team’s social media profiles, I would even recommend writing them private messages to make sure that these are real people and they are ready to answer your questions. Evaluate the speed of response, after all, they need YOU, since you are a potential investor, and not THEY for you... Collect more information about Advisory, who agreed to participate in the project and advise. Talk to them too to get their opinion on the project. 8. Amount of money You need to clearly understand how much money the project wants to raise. There must be a minimum and a maximum. Better yet, each stage will have a description of what exactly will be done if the project raises X amount of money.

8. Choosing an ICO for investment

Currently, ICO projects attract people with the opportunity to get “easy money” without much effort. The only difficulty is choosing a promising ICO project. In addition, there is always a danger of running into scam projects and losing your invested money. How to minimize this risk? For those interested, read on.

9. The essence of the token

What does the token that you are offered to buy provide? If there are dividends, then there is a possibility of falling under securities regulation in the future. There is already regulation in the USA, and the SEC considers tokens within the ICO to be securities if they provide passive income. The same situation is in China. If a token does not imply any special value and is easily replaced by the same Etherium, then this is a signal that the project as a whole is pointless.

If you are asked to send money to a wallet without a smart contract, then I consider this also a risk factor. And having received a smart contract, it is advisable to still go through it and understand its essence. And also use etherscan to check the amount of money that has already been sent in his favor.

11. White paper

And the most important. White paper. Why did I leave this main document for last? Because if everything is bad on the first 7 points, then I don’t even open the White paper. I won't see anything new there. The document must be written in understandable language. All aspects of the project must be described in detail:

The tasks that the project solves;

The feasibility of using blockchain technology in the project;

Description of markets;

Road Map of the project with clear deadlines and steps for the development of the project;

Scheme of the project and possible partner integrations;

Description of the business model;

Options for investor exit from the project.

All 10 points that I talked about above must be described especially clearly and in detail.

Of course, each project is individual; in addition, the potential of a business should also be assessed based on the specifics of the market in which it will operate. Therefore, in one article it is impossible to describe all the nuances that need to be paid attention to.

My favorites in terms of the quality of ICOs are the DMarket, KickICO projects, as well as the TokenStars project, which is currently in the process of collecting.

Finally, I want to give you the main advice (and this is not just my advice). Don't invest money you are not willing to lose. Today, any investment in cryptocurrency and in cryptocurrency is a highly risky investment, since it can be banned everywhere.

ICO is a new word in investing. Similar to sales of shares of large companies, developers of new products (mainly in the field of cryptocurrencies) organize crowdsales - distribution of tokens. Essentially, these are the same securities, but with some differences. For example, in most cases, token holders cannot make decisions about the further development of a company or project.

Investors view ICOs as a source of income. A project with a good concept and a high-quality product can bring token owners a profit of 200-300% in less than a year.

But not all developments achieve such success. The book “Rules for Successful Investing in ICOs” will help you identify the best crowdsales and become a participant as early as possible. The publication provides a step-by-step guide for a novice investor in cryptocurrency projects. After reading the book, you can confidently call yourself an expert in the world of ICO and correctly choose projects worthy of investment.

The basic rules for successful investing in ICOs are also discussed in this article.

Rule No. 1. “More” does not equal “better”

The ICO market is flooded with “hype” projects. Their developers are not able to explain what the real value of the product is, but hope that the general excitement around the ICO will allow them to make a profit.

The more money a project attracts, the more wary you need to be about it. ICOs that are too large attract a lot of attention from the media and community members, which only harms the project. In addition, product developers often artificially inflate HardCap, hoping that due to the large amount of money the project will be “promoted” and become popular.

The goals of those who conduct large ICOs are usually justified - they receive a lot of money. What about investors?

There are three examples that prove: investing in hyped ICOs is unprofitable.

  1. Bancor. One of the most anticipated ICOs of 2017, Bancor, managed to raise over $150 million. BNT tokens immediately after the ICO were trading at almost $4.5 per share. Six months later, quotes do not even reach $2: the drop is more than 60%.
  2. Tezos. The Tezos project managed to surpass even the results of Bancor: more than $230 million were raised during the ICO. But investors’ expectations were not met: the XTZ token, which cost almost $2, was not given $1.5 a month later.
  3. Cyber. The KNC coin also seriously lost ground compared to the end of the crowdsale. Exchange quotes for the KNC/USD pair in September 2017 were 1.85, which investors were very happy about. However, four months later, the token fell in price by almost 40%, to $1.12.

What to do in such a situation? Invest in less-promoted projects. Albert Murphy, who wrote “Rules for Successful Investing in ICOs,” a book that can be downloaded on the official website, believes that the most promising crowdsales are those that plan to raise $2-10 million.

And Murphy’s opinion is confirmed in practice. 3 projects at once, the HardCap of which ranged from 2 to 10 million dollars, brought good profits to their investors.

  1. XPlay. The platform completed the crowdsale in August 2017 with a result of $6.9 million. In September, trading for the XPA token opened, and the first transactions were carried out with quotes of $0.013 per coin. In December, the rate increased by almost 70%, to $0.022.
  2. Adex. The Adex project passed the upper limit of Albert Murphy - the developers managed to attract $10 million. The growth in the token price surprised even the old-timers of the ICO market: from June to November, the ADX coin rose in price by more than 4.5 times, from $0.2 to $0.91.
  3. Iconomi. The creators of Iconomi managed to conduct one of the most successful ICOs of 2016. Over the year, ICN quotes increased by 515%. And this is not the limit: experts predict that the cost of ICN in 2018 may go beyond $2.

Rule #2: Study the team

The team is the basis for the success of any project. The development itself will not take off and will not make a profit. A good team is able to pull out even a weak idea. And vice versa, no matter how good the idea, low-qualified specialists will not be able to develop it.

The leader of any project must meet the following requirements:

  • have successful projects behind you (at least one);
  • be business-oriented (know how the development will bring profit, when it will break even, how much money it will give investors).

A mandatory requirement for the team is the presence of qualified technical specialists. Without them, it will not be possible to implement a good idea. The expert must have a higher education and at least 3 years of experience in the field relevant to the new product. It is best if specialists have already participated in similar projects before and led them to success.

The role of other team members is also great. Marketers, SEO specialists, blockchain technology consultants - without them it is impossible to imagine the development of a project in the field of cryptocurrency. The White Paper should contain at least general information about them: full name, photograph, education, work experience.

Rule #3: Balanced Roadmap

Every project has a “road map” (a sequence of actions that will lead to success). It can be viewed on the official website or in the White Paper.

What kind of “road map” can be called balanced? One that meets the requirements:

  • completion of development and testing are separated from the completion of the ICO by a maximum of six months: if the crowdsale ends in January, then the product should be ready by the end of June;
  • every 6 months (ideally, once a quarter) major changes should occur in the life of the project (examples - release of a new version of the program, platform upgrade, releases of new products);
  • immediately after the completion of the ICO (or after 2-3 months), tokens owned by investors should be available for spending.

The picture shows an example of an ICO “roadmap”. It meets two of the three requirements:

  • the alpha release took place in the third quarter of 2017, and the ICO was completed within the first three months of the same year, the maximum period of 6 months was not violated
  • the platform is improved every quarter; developers release improvements at least once every 3 months
  • There is no information on operations with tokens after the completion of the ICO - it is not clear whether they can be spent immediately after the crowdsale (although this information is not always reflected in the road map, but is more often transferred to the White Paper).

Rule No. 4. Features of tokens meet the interests of investors

In most projects, the emission of tokens before the ICO is not their only release. Somewhere mining is planned, somewhere the creators plan to increase the number of tokens on their own.

Is it good? On the one hand, yes – if there are not enough tokens, distrust in the platform will grow. But for projects that are just starting their life path, the risk of falling prices is much greater. And the more coins in circulation, the larger it is.

Therefore, choose those projects where there will be no issue of coins after the ICO. This guarantees the absence of inflation and exchange rate stability.

Another point is that before the ICO, tokens are issued with the expectation that the project will reach HardCap (the maximum fundraising amount). It is not always possible to show such a result, and some of the coins remain with the organizers. Make sure that undistributed tokens are destroyed: this ensures that there is no fraud with the project’s cryptocurrency on the part of the ICO organizers.

Rule No. 5. Breakthrough project

Non-unique developments do not “take off” - they cannot compete with existing projects that have made a name for themselves.

Before investing, evaluate how breakthrough the project is. It must have at least one distinctive feature that is useful to future users. Make high demands on the uniqueness of the “trick”: if someone has already used the idea before, then it will not be possible to call it new.

There are several criteria by which you can evaluate the novelty of a development. If you use them together, you will be able to predict the fate of the project. You will find a detailed description of the criteria in the book “Rules for Successful Investment in ICO,” which can be downloaded from the publication’s website.

Rule No. 6. Interest of developers

The creators of the project must prove that the source of their profit is not the ICO, but the growth of token quotes. The funds collected at the crowdsale should not become the property of the developers, but should be used for marketing, product improvement, payment for the services of external experts and other expenses.

Another signal that the ideologists of the project are not interested in its promotion is a refusal to communicate. Often project managers themselves communicate with participants on social networks. This is the best option, although not always achievable. But the necessary minimum that the organizers of all ICOs need to provide is prompt answers to user questions and maintaining project pages on social networks.

Algorithm for successful investing

The rules for investing in ICOs are not new: many of them are rooted in the experience of venture funds, whose employees have been evaluating promising projects for several decades.

But in practice, it is difficult to apply these rules to a person who has never encountered this. If you don't know how to use the rules, study our algorithm for successful investing.

  1. Choose a fresh project that has no hype or media hype (Rule No. 1).
  2. Study the development and think - is it innovative or not? (Rule No. 5).
  3. Look at the conditions of the ICO: goal, roadmap (Rule No. 3), project team (Rule No. 2), duration of the crowdsale, features of the token issue (Rule No. 4), HardCap.
  4. Try to assess the prospects of the project yourself. If there are none or they are weak, think about whether the developers are really going to develop it after the crowdsale is over? (Rule No. 6).
  5. Immediately after the start of the ICO, transfer funds to the desired wallet. Do it as quickly as possible: successful ICOs often last 2-3 hours, and if you delay a little, you may not make it in time.
  6. Make sure that the money has arrived in the project wallet, then receive your tokens.
  7. Expect the release of coins to the exchange and track coin quotes on the first day of listing.
  8. If the rate exceeds the Pre-ICO or ICO price by 2-3 or more times, then you can take profit by selling your coins. We recommend reinvesting the funds received into new crowdsales. You can also wait for a larger increase in quotes.

Conclusion

Without knowing the 6 rules of successful investing, you should not take part in the ICO of new projects. This market is full of both real developments, the creators of which know how they can make a profit, and fraudulent projects.

Of course, the list is not limited to the six rules discussed in the article - in reality there are many more. You will find a complete list, as well as detailed instructions for use, in the book “Rules for Successful Investing in ICO”. The author of the publication, Albert Murphy, earned more than $2 million from crowdsales in 2017. And the experience of one of the most successful ICO investors will certainly help you profit from the latest developments in the field of cryptocurrencies and blockchain.

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What are ICOs and is it worth investing in them?

Principles of investing in cryptocurrency ICOs

Today we will continue a topic that is becoming more and more relevant and attractive for private investors every day: . The subject of discussion will be ICOs, the popularity of which, in contrast, is growing exponentially. We will discuss questions about the origins of this phenomenon, its mechanisms and the risks associated with it.

Where does the concept of ICO come from and how is it organized?

I've been running this blog for over 6 years. All this time, I regularly publish reports on the results of my investments. Now the public investment portfolio is more than 1,000,000 rubles.

Especially for readers, I developed the Lazy Investor Course, in which I showed step by step how to put your personal finances in order and effectively invest your savings in dozens of assets. I recommend that every reader complete at least the first week of training (it's free).

Abbreviation ICO ( Initial Coin Offering) formed from IPO ( Initial Public Offering) by replacing just one word: instead of “public” - “coin”. At ICO, not shares are issued, but cryptocoins - so-called tokens, which today are becoming a new type of financial instrument. They are purchased by investors and serve as the basis for financing the project. Massive interest in the new phenomenon is explained by the fact that it is a relatively simple process that does not require legal approvals or regulatory approvals. This is due to the fact that blockchain technology allows for real independence and anonymity. The technical basis of ICO is tokens, issued in the form of adding transactions with a unique ID to the blockchain network.

Essentially, this is an entry in a distributed registry with various purposes; their list of uses is almost limitless. Tokens are exchanged for the cryptocurrency available to investors. At the same time, the tokens themselves can be used as a unit of cryptocurrency, with all the investment and exchange opportunities inherent in it. Based on the results of participation in the ICO, the investor acquires a deferred claim on a product or service similar to a security. The difference is that the token is not tied to , in this sense it is closer to . Any business can conduct an ICO, promising either passive profit in the form of , or a buyback of tokens.

The company does not sell a stake in the business; the investor’s profit arises from the company’s repurchase of the token on the exchange. Example: the company bears 25% of the profits received back to the exchange and buys back tokens. The price is thus 100% regulated by the market. The investor receives a price advantage either in the form of a certain number of free tokens (sometimes up to 25% of the issue is allocated for these purposes), or by purchasing newly issued tokens at a reduced price, before they are placed on the exchange. If the project becomes successful, coins on the exchange may be traded at a price several times higher than the cost at the time of the ICO. The principle of an ICO is similar to: if the organizers have not collected the required amount, the funds are returned to the wallets of investors. ICOs in most cases are held on the platform (75% of all issues).

There are two ways to organize an ICO:

  • Unlimited attraction and, accordingly, unlimited release, with a fixed price for the token;
  • Issue of a limited number of tokens when the price is determined at the endICO.

The second method demonstrates better financial results and ensures a greater number of successful ICOs. For example, the Aragon token release in May 2017 collected the required amount of Ethereum in a matter of minutes. Sometimes existing businesses issue tokens to expand their ability to attract investment or be used for on-chain purchases. This is what messengers, social networks, online lotteries, and online games do with their own internal currency.

With the help of an ICO, you can also start a new business from scratch without cash flow. It is a matter of investor confidence and the credibility of the business plan. Thus, a zirconium plant is being built in Magnitogorsk, and web cameras have been installed for broadcast to investors who bought tokens. There are also unusual examples, including in Russia. Mikhail Shlyapnikov, a farmer near Moscow, sued the Central Bank for several years about issuing his own money and predictably lost. Later, he managed to raise $0.5 million through ICO. He already has followers: it is difficult for a farmer in Russia to get credit funds.

Western sanctions have fueled interest in ICOs on the part of the state as well: this makes it possible to attract foreign investments by circumventing restrictions. Profits in cryptocurrency are sold, for example, in Luxembourg on the Bitstamp exchange for euros, then fiat money is transferred to Cyprus, and a Cypriot company acquires a stake in a Russian one, thereby legalizing formally prohibited foreign investments. Of course, any new phenomenon around the world encounters a lot of legal difficulties: integration of the blockchain with a depository, register of shareholders, etc. But the main obstacle is a lack of understanding of regulators, especially in the US, where the market is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, anonymity and decentralization make it possible to overcome these limitations. In addition, there are states that have adopted the new rules of the game and are trying to use them to their advantage. Switzerland and Singapore are jurisdictions where, by law, it is absolutely legal to invest both cryptocurrency and fiat money in ICOs. Regulators in these countries have set such a precedent for the first time.

How the Russian startup Waves came to be

As an example (not an advertisement or a recommendation!) of the rapid development of the ICO infrastructure in Russia, I will give a domestic development. An ambitious Russian project called Wave wavesplatform.com is currently collecting about $1 million per day through its ICO. According to this indicator, they are second after Ethereum, on whose platform more than $5 million is collected. The Waves platform was initially designed specifically for organizing ICOs. Waves is not just a currency or a token. It is an open blockchain platform where users from all over the world can attract investment by issuing their own tokens. These tokens have a cryptocurrency function, but in this case it is secondary. Structurally, the site is a network of communicating nodes ( Node- node) and open API ( Application Programming Interface), which allows users to register their own wallets, issue tokens to the public and conduct transactions.

The service has a built-in DEX ( Decentralized Exchange). In April 2016, Waves successfully issued its own tokens. At the start, the organizers collected $17 million, accepting investments in bitcoins. It is not yet possible to deposit and withdraw fiat money, but the corresponding service is currently being built. Among cryptocurrencies, Waves is not the most liquid, but is already in the TOP 20. The languages ​​used on the site are English, as the language of international business communication, and Chinese, which is spoken by the largest number of users of cryptocurrency exchanges. A new website is under construction, and the organizers promise to add Russian to the service. As the project develops, as well as if there are requests from blog readers, I am ready to write a more detailed article about the Waves project and the DEX exchange, but for now I will limit myself to a general description. Write in the comments if this topic is interesting to you.

How to reduce risks when investing in ICO

An existing business with an existing cash flow and a clear profit model does not always go to IPO. Often this is a project that does not even have a working prototype. You assume all risks associated not only with profit, but also with the return of your investment. To choose a suitable investment object, you can use the popular ICO Calendar monitoring service at tokenmarket.net/ico-calendar.

There you can monitor both the ICOs currently ongoing (I counted 39 of them), and see offers for upcoming placements in the coming days, the number of which at different times varies from 60 to 100. As you can see, the choice is large and to make a decision, you need to go follow the link to the organizers’ website and carefully study the offer. As an alternative, I can also recommend the cyber.fund service, where it is also convenient to monitor events in the ICO market. In both cases, you will have to translate from English, but there is no alternative. Let's take an example of the ICO CoinDash (coindash.io), which was released on July 12, 2017 on the Etherium platform.

What should you pay attention to first? We skip the promotional video and calls to “invest in the future”; all ICOs look more or less the same. What is important to us:

  • Availability of expandedwhite paper– a declaration that transparently and thoroughly discloses all the details of the project;
  • The number of investors and the amount collected: figures from several thousand investors and several million dollars can be taken seriously;
  • A team that has experience in implementing similar projects and is presented on the website with a resume and photo;
  • Absence of a negative trail for team members in the press (we look only at verified publications of the levelBloombergAndFinancial Times);
  • Business profiles inin social networks BitcoinTalk, Linkedin, Telegram, where we look at reviews, reposts, and activity of the support community;
  • Status partners from among global corporations who have shown interest in the prospects of this token;
  • Availability of a feedback form, including for receiving investor complaints, with a description of the support regulations;
  • Presence on the siteroadmap– a detailed roadmap with a clear description of the stages of project implementation, budget, production and marketing costs, expected profits of investors and organizers, payment terms.

In any case, when deciding to invest in ICO, you should not forget about cryptocurrencies. Even if the tokens become successful, the risk is huge. The ICO does not give any guarantees: if it fails, all your coins will become worthless. The only guarantee against it can be described by the phrase crowd intelligence - “the wisdom of the crowd.” In other words, pay attention first of all to those projects where the number of applicants is greater than on other platforms. For now, the ICO business is a gray area. It can be compared to the “wild West”, where each player sets his own rules. There is no official ban on ICOs in Russia, but there is no legal status either.

Nevertheless, in Russia this is a promising direction: without liquid collateral and cash flow, banks do not give money, and the classical one is poorly developed. It is technically difficult to prohibit this type of activity due to its decentralization. The risk of a decline in the ICO business in the foreseeable future, in my opinion, is minimal. The market is about $1 billion, and is only growing, regardless of cryptocurrency rates. The advantage is that country risks, unlike IPOs, in this area are minimized. Raiding, problems with security forces and other surprises are excluded thanks to absolute decentralization. If you decide to participate in investing, I advise you to adhere to simple and universal rules:

  • don't invest inICOcritical part for youportfolio.
  • do not use when investing in the field of cryptocurrencies;
  • Don’t be fooled by numerous private offers insocial networks, consider only large platforms;
  • Analyze the share of marketing expenses in the organization’s cost structureICO: the higher it is, the greater the risk that the project is being promoted artificially.

Regarding the last recommendation: this can be determined by an aggressive advertising campaign and the absence of a clear business plan or information about the existing one in the public offer on the site. Obviously, 40-50% of expenses spent on marketing and referral programs indicates high risk.

In particular, it is worth checking the company for the active involvement of video bloggers, as well as numerous spam bots on investment forums. As a rule, these people receive a bonus in the form of free coins for promoting a project on the Internet. For a “snack,” I suggest watching a video with an experienced economic consultant and simply interesting person, Yan Yanych Melkumov. He represents the camp of skeptics regarding cryptocurrencies, whose opinions may not be shared, but are worth considering.

Profit to everyone!