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When I first learned of cryptocurrency, to say that I was very very very happy is an understatement. I was actually very very very very happy! I can't get over the fact that I am seeing my money's worth grow, and all I did was convert it to bitcoin. Truth be told, at first I was just testing the waters having had my first fiat to BTC conversion only for Php 5,000 or about $100 via coinsph.

I continued converting more and more fiat to crypto, without me realizing that I already invested a good amount.

Not a bad move at all since my money is better off in crypto than in bank. Actually, I overheard that my bank's per annum interest have been shying away seeing the daily growth on my crypto investment.

Getting into crypto, I think, entails an act of bravery. Truly, the question "are you a risk taker?" is THE question to ask. When I started investing in the market, I only have the basic understanding of the cryptocurrency world.

Yet I was all for it!

One of my favorite activities to past time for quite a while now is joining ICO's or INITIAL COIN OFFERING. It can be compared to IPO or Initial Public Offering for companies listed in stocks exchange.

So, ICO is a way to crowdsource funds for brilliant projects by different teams. Example, you'd send in BTC, ETH, or whatever crypto they accept, then you'd receive some of their own coins in return. It's like being the first one to buy that coin.

There are many different styles in ICO. Others would have presale stage, usually there will be a set minimum investment required to receive the bonus or discount within the presale period. Others would have straight-up mainsale.

There would be differences with their financial models too, with some icos having a fixed cap amount and others having no cap at all.

For those with cap, or maximum amount the ICO team is trying to raise during the crowdsale, oftentimes it is a game of fast hands. FIRST COME FIRST SERVED, and once the hard cap is reached, the system will automatically refuse any more payment on their way. If it happens that you are not able to get in on the ICO and would really want to have this coin, then you'd have to wait for it to show on exchanges.

For those uncapped, they will be willing to accept any and all contribution from everyone. Invest-All-You-Can with this model.

Proof of my ICO's addiction on 2017- I only was able to join 30 ICO's.

1. Aragon
2. Mobilego
3. Braid
4. Superiorcoin
5. Civic
6. Tezos
7. Status
8. Bancor
9. Monaco
10. Wagerr
11. Funfair
12. Dcorp
13. Zrcoin
14. Starta
15. Opus
16. Dentcoin
17. Everex
18. Skincoin
19. Boscoin
20. Eos
21. Dmarket
22. Corion
23. Chainlink
24. Kyber
25. Redpulse
26. Quantstamp
27. Blockvee
28. Bankex
29. Phireon
30. BountyOx

I'm on the lookout for Nucleus, Bluzelle and Gonetwork this January.

I really do not like ICO's . Please please please don't force me in joining ICO's. Please.

Lots and lots of ICO's for me right? But there are many many more I wasn't able to join.

Reality bites- ICOs are higher-risked investment because there will be some who don't keep their commitment and you'd end up losing the funds.

I've had some, ahm, difficulties with a couple of my coins. But I have way more coins that did well.

How do I choose these?

• The team behind is the top-most consideration for me, no matter how great the project seems to be. Weak team, even with all the resources at their disposal, is a little tricky to make succeed.

• Beauty of the project. Questions like- What do you want to achieve from this project? Will this help make the world a better place? Is the real-world application feasible?

Read on whitepapers, even when your brain bleeds from confusion.

• Community popularity or hype. How popular is it in crypto community? Who are pushing and promoting this coin?

It is a fact that we're in it to earn. Community push is a good indicator of how profitable the project can be.

Be up to date with the news, find people or groups who actively shares crypto-news.

• When moon? This is my fourth one . I learned this along the way as for some ICO's, investment money can be tied up for a while. Review their roadmap or discuss this via telegram, discord or slack group chats.

And there you go. I'm no expert and is still learning too.

What I can say though is ICO is one big chunk of my crypto-shopaholism haha.

Got tales of your own? Share away!

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