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Understanding the Initial Coin Offering Concept: What is ICO Fundraising?

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Understanding the Initial Coin Offering Concept: What is ICO Fundraising?

People who want to be involved in the Initial Coin Offering must do their research and work carefully.

With the increasing popularity of crowdfunding , the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) has become the latest project in raising funds and capital needed to start a business. 2017 is the year where the Initial Coin Offering became popular. This popularity may be due to the increase in crypto and blockchain in the media, or perhaps because of the convenience provided for contributors to support a project.Technology that Enables Existence of Initial Coin Offering

Initial Coin Offering benefits from blockchain technology.

Blockchain is a unique block of data that is interconnected to form a public database. This database is considered public because it connects hundreds or even thousands of computers. Try to imagine these computers as a blockchain or database server. Every change that occurs in a public database must be verified by more than 51% of the computers on the network. If there is no confirmation, then no changes will occur. Therefore it is very difficult to hack the database because a hacker must control more than 51% of computers connected at the same time. There are various companies and institutions that hold these computers. Moreover, this is referred to as decentralization because there is no single institution in control. It means, blockchain is a secure database that is not under the control of a single entity. Anyone can tamper with the database as long as 51% of the computer users approve it.

Database changes in question are a variety of transactions that occur in the network. In the case of Bitcoin, this transaction is when someone is buying and selling Bitcoin. The database will track how much Bitcoin a person has. Blockchain itself can not only track transaction data. By use, blockchain can do anything, as long as it includes the value of objects and services that are on the network.

For example, a transaction can include a car or electricity bill. Of course it is not possible to physically record this transaction. There must be something that represents the value of this transaction. One of the symbols of this value representation is Token.

Tokens and Smart Contracts

A token is created as a representation of the value of the transaction. This token cannot be entered directly in the blockchain because the blockchain only processes transactions based on certain cryptocurrency, such as Ether in Ethereum Blockchain and Bitcoin in the Bitcoin Blockchain.

Initial Coin OfferingToken transactions must be processed using the application. This application is referred to as smart contract. In 1994, Nick Szabo (a cryptographer ) had a vision. He wants to make a smart contract using computer code. This contract will be activated if there are conditions that are fulfilled. That means, there are no loopholes to commit fraud, because all processes will use computer code.

Because third parties are no longer required to make contracts, each contract (or transaction) will automatically take place in a trusted network. The computer will fully control this network. Here are the essential characteristics of smart contracts:Can process transactions automaticallyTransactions will occur if the right conditions are met.Smart Contract uses Blockchain technology, so the terms of the smart contract condition cannot be changed.

Initial Coin Offering uses the advantages of smart contracts and blockchain technology to raise project funds.

A smart contract and token will be needed when creating an Initial Coin Offering. The next step is to determine the conditions of the smart contract conditions. For example: if 0.1 ETH is sent to the smart contract, the smart contract will send 1 token to the address that sends 0.1 ETH. This condition will guarantee that everyone who participates in the Initial Coin Offering will get the right amount of tokens. There is no human control, no manual distribution. Smart contracts will be publicly available so that each sender can read the conditions of the smart contract.

Two common reasons why people participate in Initial Coin Offering:

The token can be used in the application if the final product is ready to be launched.

As the popularity of the project increases, the price of tokens or coins will increase. The more people use the service, the demand will also increase.

Mastercoin, the earliest Initial Coin OfferingImagine the Initial Coin Offering as a Kickstarter version of Blockchain. The main difference is, Initial Coin Offering automates the sales process in a safe and reliable way. It all started with the first Initial Coin Offering made by Mastercoin in July 2013.

Mastercoin made a public project in January 2012. They proposed the idea that the existing Bitcoin network could be used as a protocol layer for advanced protocols. The purpose of Mastercoin is to empower new rules of smart contracts. This allows people to create new crypto without the need to create a different blockchain network. This process is the same as that done by Ethereum at this time. Ethereum is also known as Mastercoin 2.0. Even though it was made public in January 2012, fundraising to start this project began on July 31, 2013. JR Willett was the figure who created the Initial Coin Offering for the first time.

August 15 is the historical date when the Mastercoin transaction first occurred. The network was tested by sending 1 Mastercoin. After being tested, Mastercoin was opened to the public and increasingly experienced stable funding. It's just that, the biggest investor from Mastercoin is found when they make a presentation to BitAngels. BitAngels is an investor and incubator who exclusively invests in crypto money startups. BitAngels were interested in doing a project with Mastercoin and they soon joined.When raising Mastercoin funds with a Bitcoin address, if someone sends BTC before August 31, they will get 100x Mastercoin. So, if someone sends 0.01 BTC, he will get 1 Mastercoin. At the end of the Initial Coin Offering event, Mastercoin collected around 4700 BTC, which was around 500 thousand USD at that time. In comparison, 4700 BTC was already worth 41 million USD at the time this article was written. As a record, Mastercoin was once worth 0.25BTC: 1MSC.

Initial Coin Offering

In 2015, Mastercoin changed its name to Omni and started rebranding. Their aim is to leave bad news, criticism and public anger directed at Mastercoin. As a result, many Mastercoin leaders, such as JR Willet, CTO Craig Sellars and BitAngels co-founder David Johnston moved to Omni. Unfortunately this project has lost momentum and made many people disappointed. Mastercoin or Omni is only around 0.0041 BTC: 1 Omni today. However, this example does not stop people from contributing through Initial Coin Offering.

This fundraising method has proven to be effective for starting a project. Mastercoin has managed to get 500 small investors from all over the world rather than just relying on large investors to get large funds.

The Most Successful Initial Coin Offering in History

Until 2017, companies that have managed to raise several million dollars through an Initial Coin Offering have started to become scarce. Ethereum (which is the second largest crypto money in 2018) has raised $ 18 million in 2015 thanks to their smart contract innovation. Another success occurred in 2016. DAO managed to raise 150 million dollars in just minutes. DAO experienced security problems that caused them to be hit by hacker attacks resulting in losses of more than 50 million dollars. Since the rise in popularity of Mastercoin, Ethereum, and others, the concept of Initial Coin Offering has gained a lot of momentum. Collectively, the Initial Coin Offering action successfully raised 10 billion dollars in 2017 and 2018. The crypto money market itself began to slow down at the end of 2017. December 2017 is the most active month where there are 1 billion dollars collected through the Initial Coin Offering. In March 2018, the Initial Coin Offering became popular again. There are 2.9 billion dollars collected through various Initial Coin Offering campaigns.

Initial Coin OfferingIn August 2017, Filecoin Initial Coin Offering received 257 Million Dollars through more than 2,100 investors. This number makes Filecoin the most successful Initial Coin Offering in 2017. Users can rent free space on their hard drives for use by Filecoin. As a reward, users will get Filecoin which can be exchanged for Dollars, ETH, BTC and other crypto money. The success of Filecoin and other Initial Coin Offering prove that Initial Coin Offering is a good way to start a business.

1. EOS (EOS) has collected 7,162,546.39 ETH, meaning they have earned around $ 4,201,836,214 ($ 4.2 Billion) with Ethereum exchange rates in the range of $ 586 (based on BitGuru). The Initial Coin Offering from EOS lasts for 350 days and finishes on July 1.

2. Telegram (GRAM) is known as the second most successful Initial Coin Offering with a value of 1.7 billion dollars. However, Telegram may not be included in this category because they do not use Initial Coin Offering and their crypto money has never been offered to the public. According to theverge, the way they get 1.7 billion dollars is to use 2 private Pre Initial Coin Offering. They get 81 investors who give 850 million dollars and then they sell it again to 94 investors who also give 850 million dollars. Because Telegram only does 2 Pre Initial Coin Offering, they do not need public funds so that their Initial Coin Offering is fulfilled without the need to start a campaign.

3. Dragon Coin (DRG) According to Bitrazzi, DRG has raised 320 million dollars. Dragon is a decentralized currency used for gambling. DRG functions in casinos and is used to advance the industry.

4. Huobi tokens (HT) get 300 million dollars. HT is a blockchain supported by the loyalty point system . This token will allow users to get discounts at Houbi stores and make transactions with ETH or BTC.

5. Filecoin Futures (FIL) gets 257 million dollars. Filecoin is becoming popular because their Initial Coin Offering is adjusting to the SEC's new regulations. This means that only contributors with accreditation can participate in FIL's Initial Coin Offering. If they do not comply with SEC regulations, then their crypto money will be rejected by the bank, so ETH transactions to FIAT will be impossible. Filecoin has obeyed all regulations so that this incident did not occur.

6. Tezos (XTZ) gets 232 million dollars. Tezos created an accounting book distribution that was used to make smart contracts. Tezos users can get involved and fund the renewal of the protocol system. This process allows Tezos to avoid conflicts over network development in the future.

7. Siren Labs Tokens (SRN) have earned 158 million dollars. Sirin is intended for the mass adoption of blockchain technology. They focus on developing hardware for monetization of additional devices through micro transactions. At this time, Sirin is creating a blockchain ecosystem.

8. Bancor (BNT) has earned 153 million dollars. Bancor is a protocol that allows people to launch their crypto money. They call it a smart token. The biggest advantage of using a smart token is that it doesn't need a second party if you want to make a transaction. Bancor launches smart tokens and modifies ERC-20 in their internal system.

Conclusion

People who want to be involved in the Initial Coin Offering must do their research and work carefully. The crypto world is not a world for certain people. Crypto is a large industry where investors can make or lose money in a matter of weeks. There is a lot of potential in blockchain technology for future projects. Using Initial Coin Offering is the easiest way to get funds. Of course, everything has its own risks. For your Initial Coin Offering to be successful, you must think carefully about a project. You also need an experienced and dedicated team for your campaign to be successful and get public support

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