The Good And The Bad Sides Of Initial Coin Offerings
Cryptocurrencies are the new craze in the world of finance. Anywhere you look, one financial enthusiast is trying to get a grip with the world of cryptocurrencies. They are digital currencies; they are not minted in a central bank or regulated by a sole administrator.
They, however, hold a whole lot of value and are used for transactions. Their secure and decentralized nature made them an almost indispensable asset for several industries.
This brings us to initial coin offerings (ICOs). They would not have been possible without the existence of cryptocurrencies. In the short time that they have been in existence, ICOs became the latest trend in business circles. Simply said, they are are the best way for a startup business to generate investments.
How Do ICOs Work?
Startups offer investors a chance to purchase their tokens at considerably low prices in exchange for valuable cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ripple, and Ethereum. Due to the low prices of tokens, successful ICOs usually end up raking in millions in investment for the startups. Depending on how successful the startup businesses turn out to be in the future, investors can sell tokens for huge profits.
When Did ICOs Come Into Existence?
This might be very surprising to you, but ICOs are very young. The first one ever took place in 2013 and was held by Mastercoin. The next big ICO was done by Ethereum, which raised over two million dollars worth of investments within the first twelve hours of the process. Today, this cryptocurrency is one of the world's most valuable digital currency.
ICOs became the norms for startups soon after that. By the end of 2016, over a hundred million dollars were raised this way. Last year, that total figure grew to an unprecedented $1.25 billion.
There is no denying it, ICOs have been very vital to the economic and business development of the world as a whole. However, like with every new idea, there are many people very skeptical about this way of funding startups. To be honest, this is a very controversial topic.
Many financial analysts have raised the fact that it is highly unregulated as a major turnoff. Such concern is backed up by the fact that many ICOs were followed by some serious scandals. There have been huge scams and cases where investors have lost entire investments.
However, there are also several important advantages of this way of funding, which continue to attract an increasing number of worldwide investors. Some of the advantages include:
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Middlemen are cut out
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ICOs are available regardless of your location and nationality
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Offer cheap avenues of investments
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Allow you to contribute to the technological development of the globe.
BlockEstate real estate security token: STO Analysis
BlockEstate is planning to launch its very own security token offering (STO). According to the official whitepaper, the idea behind the project is pretty simple:
Proceeds from the STO will form a fund that can then be used to purchase promising real estate in U.S. (North and South Carolina) with profits from the leasing or resale of the real estate being used to buy out and eventually burn the native token, a.k.a. BEAT. This method will increase the cost of the tokens over time. The remaining profit goes to the acquisition of new real estate and the cycle continues.
The investment will be of two types: long-term and stable assets which are expected to get a 6-9% per annum and high-yielding but risky assets with an expected yield of 15-30% per annum.
The investment scheme is further described in the whitepaper. In particular:
Token
Thanks to its partnership with Polymath, which is responsible for the release of the BEAT security token, the underlying asset will be built according to the ST-20 standard on the Ethereum blockchain. The total number of tokens offered for sale is 100 million but the team has the right to issue an additional 10% for its members in the case of a full collection of caps and an increase in the fund’s estimate of at least 25%. This tokens will serve as a form of performance fee with the BlockEstate team. Team tokens are locked for five years.
In terms of the distribution of proceeds from the STO, the main part (93-99%) in the first year will go to direct investment in long-term real estate projects as described in the scheme above; 0.5% per quarter for operating expenses; and 1-7% of the fund’s value will be held in dollars as a reserve.
Profit Sharing...
Verified ICO Review: (TEMCO) Token Sale & Blockchain Platform
TEMCO LABS | MISSION
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) do not have sufficient infrastructure or financial flexibility to offer supply chain management data to their customers. On the other hand, customers want more information about their orders more than ever. In the existing system, they only have access to basic shipping logs and estimations.
Using blockchain and smart contracts, the Transportation Enterprise Merchandise Customer Organization (TEMCO) Project will revolutionize supply chain management through innovative technology.
Our project will provide greater transparency and reliability across the entire supply chain process to deliver trustworthy information that empowers businesses and consumers.
Temco Labs Facebook | Twitter | Reddit | Medium
- Increases consumer trust from transparency & reliability across entire supply chain process
- Improves efficiency for businesses through streamlining supply chain
- Reduces cost for SMEs introducing management infrastructure & data analytics
Temco (TEMCO) is a supply chain management solution on RSK’s Bitcoin-based blockchain that allows businesses and consumers to segregate portions of the supply chain and access accurate data in real time, resulting in greater trust and transparency, as well as improved efficiency.
Holds everyone in the supply chain process accountable
The current supply chain infrastructure is broken, which regularly results in serious hazards for consumers, for instance, the possibility of illness and death as a result of improperly stored or handled food or medicinal products. There is a lot of pressure on supply chain managers to address concerns around these issues, but the system fails because there’s no suitable method in place for monitoring pre-delivery stages, and SMEs frequently don’t have the resources to implement them.
Temco proposes a three-part business model:
- Develop blockchain-based supply chain network
- Develop big data analytics tool and launch Temco market
- Provide big data analytics service and data
Need for consumer trust & SME infrastructure dictates Temco’s market potential
Every time there is an outbreak of foodborne illness, consumer trust in companies wanes, which can have damaging longterm repercussions. Temco’s team points to the 2017 pesticide-contaminated egg crisis as a recent example. The government...
OATH Protocol ICO Analysis
OATH Protocol wants to build an analog of a decentralized dispute resolution system modeling the common-juror system. In their view, this will solve the solution to the blockchain governance problem.
OATH Protocol wants to provide a solution to the Blockchain Governance system.
In order to do this the company plans to:
- increase the usability of smart contracts by providing an easy to use user-friendly smart contract creation tool
- creating a decentralized jury community, comprised of members with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise
- invites users from all communities to not only provide governance for the dApp they support but also for other ecosystems.
The protocol’s main advantages include:
- Trust – all data is hashed on a blockchain.
- Confidentiality – all jury members data of confidential.
- Dynamicity – protocol will ensure that different jurors will be resolving multiple cases to avoid a collision and ensure the integrity.
- Fairness – protocol will ensure random jurors selection based on a variety of factors as gender, background, age, etc. to have full objectivity.
- Incentive – a mechanism to motivate jurors for participating and assign them credit.
- Autonomy – parties mutually set rules that they would be bound by.
- Transparency – jury votes are disclosed to the community after resolution.
- Archive – protocol allows keeping all data in a structured irrecoverable way.
Use cases include, but are not limited to, the following:
- E-commerce, which involves a variety of disputes, such as quality problems, missing pieces, broken product, etc. OATH jury will resolve each dispute based on user-provided testimony.
- OTC trade of digital assets.
- Disputes involving decentralized property rent.
- Decentralized moderation.
- Oracle for betting.
- public chain governance.
So basically OATH is a decentralized agnostic protocol that offers a solution to of decentralized governance to all blockchains and Dapps.
Blockchain architecture is highlighted below:
OATH Protocol is an agnostic blockchain which may be integrated into other Daps and public chains.
The chain contains two main files:
- Case ledger, which includes all information such as contracts, verdicts, voting reasons, selected jurors.
- IPFS (InterPlanetary File System), which is a network designed to create a content-addressable, peer-to-peer method of storing and sharing hypermedia in a distributed file system. It replaces traditional domain names with content addresses so that users don’t have to consider names and paths of file storage.
Token
The total token supply is: 10,000,000,000 ERC-20 tokens (OATH).
Token use is summarized below:
- Engagement...
Membrana (MBN) Token Sale & Blockchain Platform: Verified ICO Review
- Brings investors & traders together to form contracts for crypto asset trust management
- Offers transparent, decentralized, secure system that controls process up to revenue gains
- Has developed a beta version of the platform & detailed, comprehensive roadmap for future versions
- Large exec team with abundant, diverse & relevant experience bolsters investor confidence
Membrana (MBN) is a blockchain platform for concluding contracts between investors and traders for trust management of cryptocurrency assets. The Membrana platform allows investors to entrust their assets to seasoned crypto traders to minimize their risks and take advantage of experienced traders’ knowledge base.
In addition to a clear value proposition and team experience, we’re also impressed by Membrana’s in-depth whitepaper, roadmap and financial planning, all of which boosts the product’s feasibility score.
+Provides a platform for investors looking to entrust successful traders with their crypto assets
As crypto investing becomes increasingly popular, new investors are moving into the space, but without the benefit of years of experience and complete and reliable information. These investors are looking to secure mutually beneficial contracts to avoid risks and fraudulent activity, with traders whose trading histories they can verify.
The Membrana platform permits traders to offer their services while setting parameters for future contracts and fixing the terms of concluded contracts. Membrana additionally allows investors to have their funds managed by traders without...
ICO Review: FidelityHouse (FIH) Token Sale & Blockchain Social Content Platform
- Makes lifecycle management of published content more fair & transparent
- Protects ownership of content, empowering creators & securing returns over time
- Expands upon localized Italian model which has experienced great success to date
FidelityHouse is a social content network that aims to become a global, go-to platform for authors and other publishers of original content. The platform will offer services to assist in the attribution, protection and monetization process of user content and intellectual property.
The FidelityHouse team believes leveraging the technological paradigm of blockchain will make the lifecycle management process of publishing fairer and more transparent, and benefit independent authors and third-party publishers.
Strengthens weak points between creators & platforms
User-generated content is absolutely essential to the online platform business, but right now the process of content creation is broken, to the detriment of creators. There is very little trust and transparency throughout the entire lifecycle of digital content and creators are treated as a commodity. Whether it’s photos, articles, guides, tutorials or recipes, the FidelityHouse team believes content is an investment by the author that deserves to be certified and protected with the potential to earn income over time.
The FidelityHouse chain is based on three cornerstones:
- Proof of authorship — cryptographic and time-stamping technologies track the existence and originality of content at any given moment
- Proof of license — the license granted to an author for specific content is tracked on the blockchain
- Proof of revenue — any value generated by contents is stored and distributed in a transparent way
Not only does FidelityHouse streamline the content publication process, the platform also provides a community for registered users that allows them to follow authors and topics and otherwise customize their experience. The platform’s algorithms help better curate the user experience, with the aim of making FidelityHouse a number-one source for aggregated, original content.
Importance of trustworthy user-generated content, monetization opportunities ensure strong market position
The FidelityHouse team has laid out a thorough plan in...
Inside the big crypto ICOs of 2017
MobileGo’s goal was to build a cryptocurrency platform for making purchases inside video games and betting on esports, which had become a sizzling-hot trend. The ICO was one of the biggest such deals of the year. But today, few people know where that $53 million is. The startup claims 150 people are working on MobileGo products, but Sergey and Maxim Sholom, the brothers who lead the project, keep company financials private. According to former employees, the Sholoms have moved away from cryptocurrency as a central aspect of their business plan....
BetInReal (BIR) Token Sale & Blockchain Platform: Verified ICO Review
- Provides AR/VR social, immersive gaming experience
- Crypto assets ensure fair, reliable outcomes & instant payouts
- Shows possibilities for platform monetization & gaining market foothold
BetInReal (BIR) is an AR/VR gambling platform based on blockchain technology that allows players to have a more interactive and immersive experience, according to the company. The BetInReal global marketplace connects gamers and developers in an ecosystem focused on social gaming.
Evolving geographic market & technological opportunities demand new endeavors
Asia Pacific is emerging as a market leader in the gambling sector, due to rapid economic rise in the region, but “targeted and tailored” online game content is not being developed to satisfy this demand, according to BetInReal’s team. These populations want to use the latest technologies, including VR and AR capabilities. Meanwhile, existing mobile gambling app users want to upgrade to more immersive and reliable technologies. BetInReal’s ability to supply an AR/VR experience will give it an edge in a popular market.
Ample opportunities to monetize the platform, including white label services
Investors often wonder how a project will continue to generate income and BetInReal has several promising profit-generating aspects, including: house edge, the platform’s content marketplace, white label...
3 key post ICO success factors for entrepreneurs
According to a recent Boston College study, less than 50% of ICOs are still operational after the first four months following their token sale. People are so focused on the fundraising side of the phenomenon that they forget to address the most essential matter: what are the key success factors post-ICO? This question should be crucial for every investor or entrepreneur who intends to devote coins & time to a project. Here are our 3 tips to deliver a product or a service successfully post-ICO.
Creating Favorable Conditions for Delivery
Poor execution or none whatsoever is the major risk entrepreneurs face post-ICO. How can they deliver their project on time and as intended? The answer is usually a mix between the state of progress and the level of trust you place in your team.
At the fundraising stage, the project should already have proven its feasibility with the main features tested, while not being so advanced that the product is still able to spark valuable feedback from investors and potential consumers. Additionally, the vision and skills of the core team must be strong enough to guide the whole group into accomplishing and overcoming any hardships that may occur during the execution phase. Human resource stability at the C-level is also another crucial factor.
At Blockchain.io, we have the expertise of the team behind Paymium - the first EUR/BTC exchange marketplace in Europe – to lead us. They have already delivered an alpha version of Blockchain.io’s platform and started taking input from...
The power of Imusify (IMU) : #TokenSale
Imusify (IMU) Token Sale
The imusify platform integrates the best practices of crowdfunding, streaming, media sharing and social networks. Imusify creates an ecosystem in which the artist, fans and other stakeholders can directly interact with one another within a decentralized marketplace, governed by smart contracts. Imusify’s mission is to provide an open-source innovation space for developing new means of music distribution, consumption and engagement.
The ultimate vision of imusify is to create an international borderless ecosystem in which fans can...