In my previous post I wrote about the benefits of Pre-ICOs. I felt I needed to do a follow up. It was clear from the feedback that a lot of people are hesitant when it comes to Pre-ICOs and ICOs because of the risks.
The risks involving Pre-ICOs and ICOs can be reduced by good old fashioned research. There are two ways of going about it and my suggestion is that you use both methods.
Do your own research:
This is very straightforward. When a projects is announced they publish facts about the project on their site. What you want to do is do some fact checking for yourself. See if the numbers add up and if the published info holds up.
The propaganda
Break the marketing blah blah down into something that is comprehensible for you. The project will present you with some cool marketing buzz words and riveting stories but it is up to you to dumb it down and get to the heart of the story. Just ask yourself these important questions:
- What is the project trying to do accomplish?
- Is there a demand for their product/service?
- What is their unique selling point?
- Are the goals attainable?
- Who is the competition?
- Who are the partners? (be sure to check if the partnership is legit)
Ignore the buzz words like decentralized, cutting out the middle man, lightning fast transactions, secure transactions, decrease in costs etc. All ICOs use these terms.
The team
For this you need to do some googling, just look up the members of their team, every person should have some digital footprint. Are they for real or is it bogus?
The white paper
Yup, gotta read the white paper. To be honest I usually just skip the techie stuff myself and go straight for the summary and pictures. I do look for things that stand out or things that I noticed on the site and see if everything adds up. I also look if the white paper is something of quality and not something that has been hastily copy-pasted together.
The numbers
How many tokens/coins are available? How many will be distributed? How many are for the team members? If you know how many tokens will be distributed and at what price then you will be able to calculate the market cap. Check on WorldCoinIndex or CoinMarketCap how that number stacks up against the other crypto.
Proof of work
If possible check out their endeavours up until now. Do they have a working site? is it in Alpha, Beta, when are they planning to release their service to the public?
Check with the experts
Whenever I find an Pre-ICO/ICO that I find promising and I have done my homework (Method 1) I also check what others think.
Spreadsheets
These are spreadsheets made by knowledgeable crypto traders. They rate ICOs and add all the relevant info. Good examples are:
TheGobone
Sergio’s ICO ratings
Oh Hey Matty
ICO ranking sites
There are a number of sites dedicated to reviewing and ranking Pre-ICOs/ICOs. My personal favorites are:
ICO bench
ICO ranker
Top ICO list
ICO projects
Yup talk about governing ourselves. There are cryptocurrency backed projects out there that also screen ICOs. This is something I will be using a lot more in the future. Beside the fact that they screen the ICOs they also provide a way for the holders of their own cryptocurrency to invest in the ICOs that make it into their list.
WINGS lets you make forecasts for ICOs. A portion of the crypto from those ICOs is reserved for the forecasters. So you are indirectly investing in the ICO.
ICO Headstart is probably the most promising (and much needed) project for ICO investments. You can invest (and vote on) ICOs screened by their experts through their own cryptocurrency the MOAT token.
If you are reading this now then you missed out on the ICO Headstart Pre-ICO but their Public sale is coming up soon.
The thing with Pre-ICOs and ICOs is that you have to be sure of the ICO and play it safe. You can do this by doing good research. If you see any red flags don’t take the risk or you might be setting yourself up for a major disappointment.
Do your own research but also consult with the experts to see what they think.
PS. My 1K followers milestone is coming up. The first 10 people to congratulate me will receive a 100% upvote so stay tuned, my fellow Steemians.
Congratulations for the 1000 followers! It's a huge milestone! I am loving your content, keep up the good work!
Yes, thank you. Just woke up and saw the numbers. You are the first to congratulate me!
This has earned you an upvote and a follow. Yeeeeeh 1k milestone reached!
@xervantes Congratulations on reaching 1000! Followers. With the good articles you write, you should hit the next step much faster.
Thank you @canni for you nice compliments!
Also huge congrats on the 1000 followers! Impressive milestone, and well deserved! Keep up the great content!
Thank you very much. I will do my best!
Hello, I think your publication is very interesting, keep it up. Greetings from Venezuela.
Hi thanks, Venezuela none the less. Looking forward to the Petro coin...Keep steemin' Brother.
Nice tip you gave us in your article post. I myself is very interested in the new ICO. Planning to invest some of it. This will be a great informatio. for me.
No problem, always happy to share. Be sure to do some research first though! Good luck with your investments.
Great post and thanks for sharing these useful links best adviced I've heard about ICOs is:
Your a tech company looking for millions of dollars with only 2 requirements. If you can't make both those look great chances are you shouldn't invest in the ICO.
Was hoping to be the 1000th follower, but only # 997.
Hey @gniksivart, thanks man. Yup waiting anxious to get that 1k milestone. Have been checking my phone none stop today. Oh well at least I know what my post tomorrow is going to be :)
I agree that the website and whitepaper are a big clue whether an ICO is serious or not. I do tend to dig a little deeper though, the scammers are getting really creative these days. ICOs are earning millions and that's attracting a lot of attention.
Agreed the scammers are getting better, but just saying if either one of those is a bad then just don't do it.
Yup, those are major red flags. BTW love what you are doing with the buried treasures posts!
Congrats on the 1000 sad I wasn't the first to congratulate
No Problem, you are still one of the first 10 persons to congratulate me so this comment gets.......
O and thanks for the encouragement on the buried treasure posts. It takes some time going through and finding good ones, but comments like this make it worth it.
fantastic article! :) people need to do more homework before they blindly throw their money at ridiculous projects... Also you provided some wonderful resources! thank you!