Cryptocurrency All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 6

Getting Ahead of the Crowd: Investing in ICOs

IN THIS CHAPTER

Discovering the fundamentals of an initial coin offering (ICO)

Getting invested in an ICO launch

Going about an ICO launch of your own

ICO is short for initial coin offering. In an age where ICOs aren’t subject to many regulations, some would call them the easiest path to scams. And though a ton (and we mean a ton!) of ICO scams are out there, if you do your homework, you may be able to catch a few diamonds in the rough as well. In this chapter, we explain ICO basics and show how you can get involved.

Understanding the Basics of Initial Coin Offerings

Initial coin offerings are something like fundraising for a new start-up, except that your new idea revolves around a new cryptocurrency rather than a business idea or product. You’re trying to raise “money” in the form of other, already established cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. In other words, an ICO is crowdfunding, using other cryptocurrencies, for a new cryptocurrency that’s (hopefully) connected to an awesome product. The following sections provide the basics on ICOs.

How an ICO works and how to start one

Simply put, an ICO works exactly ...