What to look for when investing in an ICO

We will soon be launching our ICO Mission Control, a complete ICO platform where token issuers can host their ICOs directly within our secure exchange. We take the stress out of ICOs with thousands of QUOINERS already KYCed and on the hunt for new and exciting projects to invest in.

From our side, all ICOs will be thoroughly checked, vetted and reviewed before we decide to list them. We want to bring only the best projects to our customers, but we also want to encourage QUOINERS to do their own due diligence and properly research the token sales they choose to participate in, both on an individual level and also with the help of others in the community.

With that in mind, we put the question to the good people over on the QASH subreddit: What do you look for when investing in an ICO?

/u/ilmarinen2 had some wise words on the subject:

Apart from the… things such as the quality of the team, the quality of the whitepaper and the potential for real world application, an investor needs to make a judgment that the project stands a very good chance of actually getting implemented, and that’s very hard to work out.

There are certainly lots of projects that will never be realised, and as far as possible they need to be identified and avoided. Some projects sound very good but won’t get very far. QUOINE’s team are promoting only projects they consider bona fide, so they are doing the job for us of selecting ones they reckon are worth seriously considering, but how many of the ICOs will actually prosper cannot be known.

So there is a risk in investing in any ICO. Caveat emptor: Buyer beware! I’ve invested in only one ICO I think, but when I saw their last recent video I realised how little the project has been developed and I concluded I’ve probably selected a dud. I hope I’m wrong. (Btw I’m not talking about a QUOINE-backed ICO.)

/u/ilmarinen2 is right. While we will carefully choose the ICOs we host, you still have to use your own judgment in deciding whether you want to invest. /u/RyFry96 followed up with another important point:

I haven’t participated in any ICO, but transparency is important. Communication is key in providing updates in what’s going on with the project. Looking for in depth information on the team behind the project. Is the ICO doing something unique that can help push crypto even further. I feel these are some of the things that are most important before throwing your money into something like an ICO.

/u/EvilRedNL shared the sentiment:

To me it is important that what they want to develop has an actual use case in this world. And not another way of payment or platform. Of course you have the standard DYOR things like: read the whitepaper, check the team, github activity. And ask yourself the question: why could this product benefit from the use of blockchain?

As you can see, there are many within the QUOINE community who are happy to share their knowledge and help others learn. The key takeaway here is to be careful with your money and do as much research as you can.

Join the discussions on Reddit or in our Telegram group and never be afraid to ask questions.