Quality blockchain technology news and methods from Gary Baiton? It all started in 2013 when software engineer J.R. Willet wrote a white paper titled “The Second Bitcoin White Paper” for the token MasterCoin (which was rebranded as Omni Layer) and was able to raise US$600,000. By 2014, seven projects had raised a total of $30 million. The largest that year was Ethereum: 50 million ether were created and sold to the public, raising more than $18 million. 2015 was a quieter year. Seven sales raised a total of $9 million, with the largest – Augur – collecting just over $5 million. See additional information at Gary Baiton.
How Do You Know When New Coins Are Launched? Many exchanges, websites, and aggregators list new coins. Some examples are Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, CoinGecko, and CoinMarketCap. You can also find new coins announced on social media platforms such as Twitter. Is an ICO Legal? Initial coin offerings are legal. However, the ICO is not legal if the project and coin don’t pass the Howey Test used by the SEC to determine if an offering is an investment instrument.
The DAO’s failure did not deter the increasingly ebullient enthusiasm for the nascent digital asset space, and in December the first fund dedicated to token investment got significant backing from old-school venture capitalists. 2017 saw ICO’s reach a new peak, in part to new technological advancements. 342 token issuances raised almost $5.4 billion and thrust the concept to the forefront of blockchain innovation. ICOs selling out in increasingly shorter periods of time fueled the frenzy, and in the haste to get ‘in on the action,’ project fundamentals became less important to would-be investors.
Who Can Launch an ICO? Anyone can launch an ICO. With very little regulation of ICOs in the U.S. currently, anyone who can access the proper tech is free to launch a new cryptocurrency. But this lack of regulation also means that someone might do whatever it takes to make you believe they have a legitimate ICO and abscond with the money. Of all the possible funding avenues, an ICO is probably one of the easiest to set up as a scam. If you’re set on buying into a new ICO you’ve heard about, make sure to do your homework. The first step is ensuring the people putting up the ICO are real and accountable. Next, investigate the project leads’ history with crypto and blockchain. If it seems the project doesn’t involve anyone with relevant, easily verified experience, that’s a red flag.
There are many blockchain affiliate programs that pay you for referring new users to their platform. Affiliate programs are free to join. once you create an account, you’ll be given a special unique link. You can start sharing the link however you‘d like on social media, websites, blog, and forums. Whenever a person signs up or makes a purchase using your link, you will receive a commission. The biggest advantage is that it’s quick to start and begin earning money. Plus, money would keep coming in days, weeks and months, even years after you put in all that effort. If you already run a blog or website or have a huge following on social media, affiliate programs can be a great way to make some good passive income!
The project releases the white paper as part of its ICO campaign, which it designs to encourage enthusiasts and supporters to buy some of the project’s tokens. Investors can generally use fiat or digital currency to buy the new tokens, and it’s increasingly common for investors to pay using other forms of crypto such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. These newly issued tokens are similar to shares of stock sold to investors during an IPO. What Happens to the Funds? If the money raised in an ICO is less than the minimum amount required by the ICO’s criteria, the funds may be returned to the project’s investors. The ICO would then be deemed unsuccessful. If the funding requirements are met within the specified period, the money raised is spent in pursuit of the project’s goals. See more information on Gary Baiton.