Do I Participate in an ICO or Do I Sit on the Sidelines?
2016 Was the Year of Crypto Currency ICO's for Me.
All through 2016 I participated in every ICO I could afford to buy into. It was very exciting. The world of Crypto Currencies were expanding rapidly and all of these teams needed seed money to launch their ideas. We were happy to be part of the early stages of Lisk, Waves, Rise and a handful of others. We were unfortunate to have participated in the DAO debacle. That one tied up a good amount of funds and we barely broke even.
Why I Stopped Buying Into Every ICO.
The DAO was a big downer for me but the one that really pissed me off was the Synereo AMP crowdsale through BnktotheFuture in the Fall of 2016. You see I was a big holder of AMP and when they announced the crowdsale it literally killed all momentum for the token. Why does a company need so much money to launch a platform? Why would you hurt the current holders of AMP?
In the end I realized that much of what is being done in the world of crypto currency is purely based on speculation. This is how I feel when I see most ICO's, "Give us money so that we can begin working on some big idea". There are so many good projects that are already doing big things and they did it without $20 Million in Bitcoin or Ethereum.
When I saw the ZCash launch it gave me hope that the era of large ICO's will come to an end but it looks like 2017 will be another huge year. Wouldn't it make sense to invest in projects via ICO that already have some deliverable product or service? These are the ones I am looking for.
One Thing ICO's Taught Me.
If you are purely joining an ICO to speculate on the price of the token, the day it opens for trading, you might be disappointed. I found it to be a super stressful event if you are purely involved for the immediate profit. The only token that I hit a home run with was LISK. I hit a 7X profit on the first day! The rest opened trading down and I would just break even or be down for a few months. I would be better off trading my Bitcoin on the markets.
Are You Participating in ICO's.
If you are, which ones do you like and please give me a reason other than speculation. In the end the tokens that actually do something will be the ones that survive. This is why I love Bitcoin, Steem, Dash and Monero.
My Favorite Launch So Far in 2017.
My favorite recent non ICO launch was ZenCash. If they can do it I know more companies can self fund and then bring their token to market to continue development and growth. There are a few others that will be launching soon and I will continue to bring you the news.
Zen will be a 50x er. I am like you though. Made a ton of money and now playing conservative. Bitcoin is top my top holding while a few months back it was big bets on Ether from last year. My thesis is if Segwit get in, which I think it will by Aug. Bitcoin will go to $10,000 with very little risk. I will do a few more Etherem based ICOs but that's it. Correction will come at some point even though now it seems like this massive price increase will go on forever. Makes me nervous.
I would hate to tie my money up in ICO's and then we go through a correction. At least if I have control I can move to USD on Wirex or SBD.
True. However, the good ICOs will multiple even in correction or bear market since valuations lower. Bitcoin will crash the least if we get one. Hope that makes everyone feel better....LOL.
Based solely on the charts Steem looks like the best coin to be in. 300% return looks easy in short term. Fundamentals are here also.
I sure hope that happens, truly life changing.
Informative Post @hilarski
I like Golem because of the team behind the project. I see a possible $1 a coin in its near future.
I own some, but it has not performed well compared to the rest of my portfolio. Hopefully good news coming soon.
I think Golem is overvalued. I know you are a fan but the valuation makes no sense to me.
You might be right but there are far too many coins out that there that are overvalued and decent profits are being taken by the willing. I'm Buy and Hold BTC and Steem All Day! Golem is a Pure trade for me. I got in around .23...
I agree about the riskiness of ICOs and stay away from them as a rule. Your preferred coins - Dash, Bitcoin, Monero, and Steem - are high quality and I think you'll do better trading those. If I really want to get a piece of an ICO, I think it's always smarter to buy after the sale is over, when he hype has died down and the price is usually lower.
I'm willing to give a good start-up a try. No more than $100...I'm interested in this one. https://www.fundyourselfnow.com/
excellent article. Thanks for the background. I have been contemplating participating in an ICO but have wondered about the points you discuss, will it pop only to decay underwater quickly - as many equity IPOs do, will it tie up cash for a long time, is it better to just wait until it is trading.
I am interested in Tezos and Bancor. Do you have thoughts on those?
Everyone I know is all over Tezos, but to me it is purely speculation. I will not be participating. I don't know of Bancor.
yeah, what concerns me about Tezos is that it is unlimited ico and it seems like EVERYONE is hot for it. Since it is unlimited EVERYONE can buy it and if they do, then there will be no further buyers after it is trading - at least for a very long time.
I am still learning about cryptocurrencies, so I don't buy into ICOs.
I didn't buy into any ICOs. What are your guidelines for investment? What exit strategy do you use?
They must actively be doing something, not just hype. I try to take my initial investment out immediately and then let the house money sit and hopefully grow.
I find your current strategy very reasonable, @hilarski, as well as the selection of your preferred coins.
I am staying away from ICO's. A large majority of my crypto holdings are in Bitcoin and now I'm growing my portfolio by regularly investing in Ether, Dash, Monero and ZCash, while earning STEEM on this platform.
Sounds like a safe plan to me. It is essentially what I am doing.
I never did like the "ICO" process. You would think all these smart minds would create a better model for distribution. As opposed to using the same rules of the "old monetary system".
The things is that some like ZCash and ZenCash chose a different path and it works. Plus it won't be so negative in the eyes of Bureaucrats.