What is an ICO and how does it work?

The ICO has proven to be a revolutionary way to raise funds for many companies and projects. ICO can be called a combination of conventional methods and advanced techniques. The primary point to consider here is that investors investing in ICOs will be 100% risk free due to the technology used.

So far, most of the ICO funds have been raised through Bitcoins (BTC) or Ether (ETH). When performing the ICO, the project creates a Bitcoin or Ethereum address to receive funding and then, it shows up on the corresponding web page. The procedure is similar to opening a bank account, and then showing it to people on a specific web page so that they can send money.

The Initial Currency Offer (ICO) is basically an illegal way of raising crowdfunding through various cryptocurrencies (in some cases Fiat currency) and is used by cryptocurrency companies to obtain the capital funds needed to execute the project. In an ICO, a certain portion of the recently issued cryptocurrency is being sold to investors in exchange for a valid tender or another cryptocurrency. This can be called a token sale or crowd sale which involves taking the amount of investment from the investors and providing some features associated with the project they are launching.

An IPO, or initial public offering, is a process related to an ICO where investors receive shares in the company’s ownership. While at ICO, investors buy company coins whose value may increase if the business expands.

The first token sale, i.e. an ICO was conducted in July 2013 by Mastercoin. Ethereum raised money in 2014 through an ICO. The ICO has adopted a completely new definition in recent years. In May 2017, it was almost. 20 offers and most recently a web browser Brave’s ICO generated about $ 35 million in just 30 seconds. As of the end of August 2017, a total of 89 ICO coins worth $ 1.1 billion had been sold since January 2017.

Investors send Bitcoin, Etherium or any other cryptocurrency to the given address and then in exchange, they get new tokens which can greatly benefit them if the project hits.

  • ICOs are primarily designed for cryptocurrency-based projects that rely on decentralized strategies. So naturally such projects will only compel investors who have a deep interest in the concept of cryptocurrency and are friendly to the technology used.
  • The document that belongs to an investor is actually in the form of a webpage, white paper or web post. Some of these documents show accurate descriptions of the project, while others literally falsify its features to confuse interested parties. So before relying on any white paper or e-document, check the good quality.

Decentralized Money in Etherium (DeFi): The Future of Money?

Decentralized money, or “DeFi” for short, has taken the crypto and blockchain world by storm. However, its recent resurgence masked its roots in the 2017 bubble era. While everyone and their dogs were making an “initial currency offer” or ICO, very few companies saw the possibility of a blockchain that was out of quick profit on price. These pioneers envisioned a world where financial applications, from trading to savings to banking to insurance, would be possible only in a blockchain without any intermediaries.

To understand the potential of this revolution, imagine if you had access to a savings account that earns 10% per year in USD but without bank and virtually no funding risk. Imagine sitting in your office in Tokyo doing a crop insurance business with a Ghanaian farmer. Imagine being able to become a marketer and earn a fee as a percentage of Citadel’s choice. Good to hear the truth? It’s not. This future is already here.

DeFi’s building block

DeFi has some basic building blocks that you should know before we move on:

  • Creating an automated market without an intermediary or clearinghouse or exchanging one asset for another without trust.

  • Being able to lend overcollectralized or “use your resources” for traders, speculators and long-term holders.

  • Stablecoin or algorithmic assets that track the underlying value without being centralized or supported by actual assets.

Understand how Defy is made

Stablecoins are often used in DeFi because they mimic traditional fiat currencies such as the USD. This is an important development because the history of crypto shows how volatile things are. Stablecoins like DAI are designed to track the value of USD with minor deviations even during times of strong beer market, i.e. crypto prices crash like the beer market in 2018-2020.

Lending protocol is an interesting development that is usually built on top of stablecoin. Imagine if you could lock up your million dollar assets and then borrow in stablecoins. The protocol will automatically sell your assets if you do not repay the loan when your collateral is no longer sufficient.

Automated market makers form the basis of the entire DeFi ecosystem. Without it, you are stuck with an inherited financial system where you have to trust your broker or clearinghouse or an exchange. Automated market maker or AMM in short lets you trade one asset for another based on the reserves of both assets in its pool. Price discovery occurs through external arbitrators. Liquidity is pooled based on other people’s assets and they get access to trading fees.

You can now gain exposure to a wide variety of resources in the Etherium ecosystem and never interact with the traditional financial world. You can make money by lending assets or becoming a market maker.

For the developing world, this is an amazing innovation because they now have access to the complete suite of financial systems of the developed world without any barriers to entry.

Cryptocurrency What is an ICO?

ICO short for initial currency offer. When launching a new cryptocurrency or crypto-token, developers offer investors a limited number of units in exchange for other major cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin or Etherium.

ICOs are amazing tools for accelerating development funding to support new cryptocurrencies. Tokens issued during ICOs can be sold and traded on cryptocurrency exchanges, assuming there is sufficient demand for them.

The Ethereum ICO is one of the most significant successes and the popularity of the initial currency offerings is growing as we speak.

A brief history of the ICO

Ripple is probably the first cryptocurrency to be distributed through an ICO. In early 2013, Ripple Labs began creating Ripple payment systems and created nearly 100 billion XRP tokens. These were sold through an ICO to finance the development of Ripple’s platform.

MasterCoin is another cryptocurrency that sold millions of tokens for Bitcoin during an ICO, even in 2013. Mastercoin’s goal is to tokenize bitcoin transactions and execute smart deals by creating a new layer on top of existing bitcoin codes.

Of course, there are other cryptocurrencies that have been successfully financed through ICOs. In 2016, Lisk raised about $ 5 million when offering their initial currency.

Nevertheless, Ethereum’s ICO, which took place in 2014, is probably the most prominent so far. During their ICO, the Ethereum Foundation raised about $ 20 million by selling ETH for every 0.0005 bitcoin. Ethereum uses the power of smart compacts, paving the way for the next generation of early currency offers.

Ethereum’s ICO, a recipe for success

Ethereum’s smart contract system has implemented the ERC20 protocol standard, which sets the basic rules for creating other compliant tokens that can be transacted in Ethereum’s blockchain. This allows others to create their own tokens, complying with the ERC20 standard that can be traded directly to Ethereum’s network for ETH.

DAO is a significant example of Ethereum’s successful use of smart contracts. The investment company raised T 100 million worth of ETH and investors received DAO tokens in exchange that allowed them to participate in the management of their platform. Sadly, DAO failed after being hacked.

Ethereum’s ICO and their ERC20 protocol outline the latest generation of crowdfunding blockchain-based projects through initial coin offering.

This makes it much easier to invest in other ERC20 tokens. You simply transfer the ETH, paste the agreement into your wallet and the new tokens will appear in your account so you can use them if you wish.

Obviously, not all cryptocurrencies have ERC20 tokens on Ethereum’s network, but virtually any new blockchain-based project could launch an initial currency offer.

Legal status of ICO

When it comes to the legitimacy of ICOs, it’s a bit like a jungle. Theoretically, tokens are sold as digital products, not financial assets. Most jurisdictions have not yet regulated ICOs so assuming the founders have an experienced lawyer in their team, the whole process should be paperless.

Nonetheless, some jurisdictions have become aware of ICOs and are already working to control them, similar to the sale of shares and securities.

In December 2017, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) classified ICO tokens as securities. In other words, the SEC was preparing to stop ICOs which they considered to be misleading to investors.

There are cases where the token is only a utility token. This means that the owner can only use it to access a specific network or protocol in cases where they may not be defined as financial security. Nevertheless, an equity token whose purpose is to appreciate value is quite close to the concept of security. Truth be told, most token purchases are made specifically for investment purposes.

Despite the efforts of regulators, ICOs are still stuck in a gray legal area and entrepreneurs will try to benefit from initial currency offers until a clear regulation is enacted.

It is also worth noting that once the regulations are finalized, the costs and effort required to comply may make ICOs less attractive than conventional funding options.

Last word

For now, ICOs have remained an amazing way to finance new crypto-related projects, and many more have been successful.

However, keep in mind that everyone is launching ICOs nowadays and many of these projects lack scams or solid foundations that need to be improved and made investable. For this reason, you should thoroughly research and investigate the team and background of the crypto project you want to invest in. There are multiple websites that are ICO listed, just search on Google and you will find some options. .

8 Computing solutions at the forefront of the new economy

Over the past few years, we’ve seen new and exciting technologies that promise a more decentralized and secure economy. In this article, I have included some of the key players in this developing market.

1. Golem

Golem is an open source, decentralized computer network.

How Golem Works

The Golem Network is a market for computing power, where users can earn money by ‘renting’ their machines or by creating and selling software.

Within the network, users who hire computing power are called “providers” and users who acquire power are called “requesters”. Applicants use Golem for a variety of purposes, including graphics processing, data analysis, microservices, and machine learning.

Advantage

  • Work division means that tasks can be completed simultaneously, thus enabling shorter timelines for projects.

  • The cost of doing business is lower than cloud-based services.

  • The Ethereum blockchain token Golem Network Token (GTM) allows users to be instantly paid for their work.

  • Golem is building their entire stack from bottom to top, a process that usually results in great UX.

2. iExec

IExec is a decentralized market for blockchain-based distributed applications and cloud services focused on affordable, high-performance computing.

iExecc Daps

Unlike Golem, iExec (since its release v1) allows anyone to develop and run applications.

The iExecc Dapp Store has a variety of apps. Considering the experienced team behind iExec, the reason they chose the Dapp route is probably because there is less competition here. After establishing itself in the decentralized Dapp market, iExec plans to expand into decentralized computing operations.

RLC

RLC stands for ‘Runs on Lots of Computers’ and is a native token of iExec. There are currently 87 million ERC-20 tokens in circulation.

3. Etherium

Ethereum is an open source, blockchain-based platform that enables users to build decentralized applications. The calculations are performed in an isolated environment called the Ethereum Virtual Machine, which is located on all nodes connected to the network. Counting products are stored in blockchain.

Characteristics of Ethereum Blockchain

Ether

Ether is the currency of Ethereum blockchain. Cryptocurrency ETH (Ethereum Hard Fork) and ETC (Ethereum Classic) are the two values ​​of Ether.

Smart deal

EVM is capable of implementing a “smart contact”, an algorithm that saves and automatically executes contract terms. Both parties to a transaction agree to the terms of the Smart Agreement.

Bitcoin vs. Ethereum platform

The Bitcoin blockchain focuses on a set of predefined activities, such as tracking bitcoin transactions, while Ethereum allows users to execute code of any complexity, making it suitable for any decentralized application, including cryptocurrency.

Consensus process

Due to the parallelism of computing, computing on Etherium networks is more expensive and takes more time than a standard computer. In order to maintain consensus, all participants must agree to the order of all transactions that occurred, whether they participated in the transaction or not.

Ethereum nodes store the latest status of each smart contract, including all ether transactions. Since EVM is an isolated system, the code runs without access to the network or file system. Thus, even smart contracts have limited accessibility.

4. Hyperlaser fabric

Hosted by the Linux Foundation, HyperLaser Fabric is an open source distributed laser technology (DLT) with a modular and configurable architecture that can be deployed at the enterprise level in a variety of industries.

Characteristics of hyperlaser fabric

Privacy, development, and performance

  • The fabric platform enables permitted, private activities where operators know each other and may be bound by rules such as legal agreements.

  • Fabric supports smart contracts written in plain language like Java and Go, so no additional training is required to create smart contracts.

  • Performance has improved because, unlike Ethereum, only the parties involved in the transaction have to reach a consensus.

Fabric node

Also different from Ethereum, fabric nodes have different roles and functions in the consensus process. Nodes can be ordering, client or co-worker.

Native currency

Fabric does not have a native cryptocurrency. However, chaincodes can be used to develop a native currency.

5. Tendermint

Tendermint has a blockchain consensus engine, known as the tendermind core, and a generic application interface, known as the application blockchain interface (ABCI). The software enables secure and consistent copying of an application across multiple machines.

Tendermint core

The Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) middleware of the Consensus engine can safely replicate the state conversion machine. BFT can tolerate one-third failures, including middleware hacking attacks.

The goal of the tender was to provide a more secure and efficient consensus algorithm than Bitcoin’s PoW (proof of work). The software formed the basis of important research by Casper’s team on consensus protocols: a fault-tolerant chain, such as Tendermint, could make better decisions about who made the block when a less reliable chain turned into a chicken and egg problem.

The software is user-friendly, replicates applications written in any language and has multiple applications.

6. Lisk

Lisk is a decentralized and distributed platform that allows users to develop apps and support them with customized blockchains.

Lisk properties

Developers can use Lisk’s JavaScript-based Software Development Kit (SDK) to create both the backend and frontend of their app. However, Lisk does not provide protection against uncontrolled behavior. Also, the platform cannot resist infinite loops and cannot measure memory costs.

Lisk’s consensus process

Lisk asks developers to follow the “rules” for the agreement to ensure consensus. For example, they tell developers to “do not use Math.random ().”

7. Corda (V 3.0)

Corda is an open source, distributed laser platform (DLT) catering for the financial industry.

Features of Corda

Corda’s network is an authorized network – it is not open to all node operators. The nodes move into Corda and CoDapps and communicate with each other point-to-point.

Each network’s ‘gatekeeper’ sets admission rules for the node of those who wish to join the network. Like Fabric, Corda offers more privacy because of its finer control over access to the record, and better permutation due to the limitations of the parties involved.

At Corda, contract developers also add legal prose to their contract. This feature consolidates the agreement by validating it with the relevant legal prose. The platform does not have a native token.

8. Rootstock

Rootstock (RSK) is an open source smart-contract platform built on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Rootstock properties

Smart deal

RSK is enabling smart deals on the Bitcoin network. It uses the Turing-Complete Rootstock Virtual Machine (RVM) for smart computing. A 2-way peg allows users to send bitcoin directly to the rootstock chain. RSK Coins can be used with Smart Deals and DAPs. RSK agreements replicate ‘proof-of-existence’, which is used to prove the existence (or property rights) of a document.

Security

The RSK blockchain has merge-mining, giving it the same security as Bitcoin in terms of settlement finalities and double costs.

SBTC

RSK is a sidechain of Bitcoin. Bitcoins in the rootstock blockchain are called SBTC.

RSK is filling the gap in the Bitcoin network by enabling faster transactions. In addition to being convenient for users, it also helps to limit the size of the bitcoin block.