10 keys for evaluating Initial Coin Offering (ICO) investments

An initial coin offering (ICO) is a fundraising method that trades future crypto coins for cryptocurrencies which have an immediate, liquid value. Usually, a percentage of the tokens is sold to ICO participants and a percentage kept for the company’s needs (private investors, etc. Terms differ from one ICO to another). An ICO allows both big and small investors to fund the projects they like. The recent year carried thousands of successful ICO stories. The motivation for the project is obvious. The motivation for the investors of the ICO is that the price of the token would be higher (or much higher) than the token’s price during the ICO.

The highest value raised by an ICO is Tezos, which raised a record breaking $232 million in less than a month! Many factors influence the chances for a successful ICO and they can predict whether it will be valuable for its investors.

At this point it is right to mention less successful stories like the Mycelium ICO. Its team members just disappeared after raising the money, and later it was reported they used the funds to pay for their own vacation. The lack of regulation might be one of the reasons it happened. Just days ago, $7 millions were stolen as CoinDash’s ICO started. Right before the start of the token sale, their website was hacked and the ICO wallet address was changed to the hacker’s address.

This article will discuss the main keys to pay focus on when evaluating an ICO investment.

• Important warning before we start: ICOs are a high-risk way of fundraising. Never invest anything you can’t completely afford to lose. Keep in mind that due to a lack of regulation, you will have difficulty getting back your lost money in case of any failures.

1 – Team Composition

Find out everything you can about the team, especially the development team and the advisory board. Look up each team member for relevant experience. Google their names. Visit their LinkedIn profiles. Look for famous names among the advisory board of the project. Find out if the team has any crypto experience and more importantly – in which projects, or ICOs, they were involved with and the impact they had.