ICO's have been really hot in 2017, i don't see this cooling off for the forceable future and for as long as Crypto market is alive and kicking. This year, most of my buying will be in ICO's for that reason. Also though, i still think the Crypto market has a lot more to develop, so new ideas will keep flowing in, just need to keep researching and finding those gem's that make 20 bag's +
Step 1.
Finding ICO's
For me, investing in coins works no different to me investing in the spec end of the stock market. The few things i ask my self when looking at a new company is the following:
1.1. What problem is the company trying to solve ?
I do this by looking in depth at the technology they have created then searching for other companies that are trying to the same thing, obviously the more people in the space, the harder it will be for a particular company to stand out, but also it gives me a chance to see what value/market cap & gain have others experienced.
1.2. Who is the team behind the company & are they capable of running it ?
This is important part of the research.. No faces on the project = no money from me.
It's funny saying that because Bitcoin had no face to it's project but back when we where buying BTC for a few dollars to use on the darkweb to get some ayahuasca, it didn't really matter.. So whats changed ? Time.. BTC or Bitcoin has a cap of $50 billion, most bad story that is related to BTC is due to others being robbed, the one story of BTC network being hacked happened in 2010 but the nodes where on to it & was quickly rectified resulting in no loss to anyone.
So you could follow a coin for a lengthy time period to see if the community takes to it but i much prefer having faces i can research on linked-in or general web pages. I like to see a a team of 5 or more with one or two seed capitalist involved, the way i see it is if they have money in it then they have skin in it.
1.3. Is there a road map of how the company is going to be run, what milestones are they looking to achieve & in what time frame are they looking to achieve those goals/milestones ?
ICO's put out these details in what's called a "White paper". It's detailed plan about the company & what they hope to achieve over time, when i don't understand something because it is to technical, i email the company & most always get a reply stright away. Some ICO's have their pool of money tied up in escrow and relied agreed amounts only when milestones are meet are. The community of backers/investors will vote on realising money to the company which is a nice why of trusting the investment.
Some websites worth bookmarking with ICO lists, 3 - 9 are my top links for ICO info
1. Ambisafe
With Ambisafe you can quickly issue any type of asset on the blockchain, and add it to cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide.
2. Bitcoin Talk forum
Alternate cryptocurrencies and altcoins forum discussion.
3. CoinFund Slack channel
Diverse discussions about token sales.
4. CoinSchedule
The best projects and ICO crowdfundings. It only lists the projects it considers worth following and investing.
5. CryptoCompare
CryptoCompare is an interactive platform where you can discuss the latest crypto trends and monitor all markets in real time.
6. CryptoSmile
Blog that posts commentary on several new ICOs.
7. CyberFund
Listings of crowdsales, assets and funds.
8. ICO Countdown
Gives spotlight to new crypto projects with a focus on crowdfunding methodology. Also says it conducts due diligence to ascertain viability of these projects.
9. ICO List
Lists a variety of token sales.
10. ICOO
Services for launching ICOs.
11. ICO Rating
ICOrating specializes in evaluating companies that are planning an ICO. Its analysis seems thorough and objective, reviewing companies as potential investment objects.
12. ICO Timeline
Partial list of ICO projects.
13. ICO Tracker
Lists ICO crowdsales according to five factors: white paper, roadmap. team, escrow, ICO conditions.
14. Newbium
Provides crypto news and information.
15. PrivateMarket
PrivateMarket Technologies enable wealth managers to access, analyse and execute primary and secondary market transactions online.
16. TokenMarket
TokenMarket is a marketplace for tokens, digital assets and blockchain based investing. Users can research and invest in tokenized assets, or launch a crowdsale for a project.
17. Reddit's ICO Crypto forum
Hosts discussions of active and upcoming ICO/crowdsales, and is building a due diligence community.
18. Smith + Crown
Maintains a curated list of ongoing and upcoming cryptocurrency ICOs, token sales, and crowdsales. Projects are evaluated for listing using multiple criteria, but in general, they list ICOs that should raise the equivalent of $30,000 or are unique in some way. Provides summaries and commentary for select ICOs. Listing or research is not considered an endorsement.
Step 1.
Knowing what coin does the ICO support for buying there tokens
If you want to participate in an ICO, you will need to have one of the leading coins to buy your chosen ICO with. Almost all ICO's will take BTC or ETH. Every ICO will list what you can use to buy there tokens with on the website.
View attachment 902897
Image above taken from
https://crypterium.io/ .
Clearly we can see BTC, ETH and LTC, Crypterium has added Credit card but it will charge you a 25% fee.
You will need to sign up to there website where you will see instructions on how to buy
Most ICO's will show an address per coin they except, you simply send coins to that address and you will receive tokens
Crypterium works a little different and have seen a few ICO's like this, you send coins to them which they then credit your account with in fait, once you see the credit applied to your account, you can then buy there tokens.
Step 2.
Getting from AUD to a crypto so you can participate in an ICO
Refer to step 2
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/setting-up-crypto-trading-acc.3443649/
to learn how to get from AUD to Crypto
Please note on step 1 it is related to Bitcoin wallet, you will need to download the wallet of your choice of coin that you are buying. Really if you only want to participate in an ICO or trade coins, you can skip step 1. Step 1 IMO is only good for long term investing.
That's really all it is to it.
Of note:
I have seen a few times the coin trades less then the ICO price in the first few months or even year. This happens due to lack of demand caused by lack of publicity. ie: coin lists on small exchange with low liquidity, decent news is far ect..
ICO's will have a countdown on there website showing you when they will start to except money, once the countdown is finished, refresh the page and you will see instructions on how to participate.
Once an ICO is closed and if you missed it, you will need to keep track of them to see what exchange they will list on. Unfortunately no easy way of doing this other then keep researching or checking there website for updates or following them on twitter where they always update info.
