For months now, there has been some competition across the globe for the ICO site advantage. Come to Zug in Switzerland, say the Swiss. Come to the Isle of Man, say the British. Or there is Gibraltar, Malta, Singapore, and a few others who want their location to be chosen.
Switzerland seem to lead, but …
Switzerland seems to be in the lead because foundations are, and always have been, the hobby horse of the Swiss. Therefore, Switzerland seems to be the ideal site for ICOs with the foundation model. They specialized in this market long before others woke up, and in the pretty canton of Zug, they founded “Crypto Valley.” “We quickly institutionalised the coincidence of the Ethereum Foundation and their ICO in Switzerland,” said a spokesperson of the Crypto Valley Association.
The Ethereum Association also started its ICO from Zug in Switzerland in July 2014. Within just forty-two days, 31,591 Bitcoins, with a value at the time of $18,439,086, were sold for 60,102,216 ETH. That all happened completely legally under Swiss law. It was also more or less the birth of the Crypto Valley, where many more ICOs would be initiated in the following years.
Until the summer of 2017, the only competition was coming from Singapore, where lots of project groups and companies were situated and undertook their ICOs under the favorable regulations of the city-state.
The starting point of an ICO, the seat of the foundation, or the seat of the company are thus an important criterion for the investment. Switzerland and Singapore would probably not allow Mooncake ICOs. Nor would Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, or Malta. If the seat cannot be determined or is located in a lesser-known region, that should be a warning sign.
Exception to the Rule
A genuine technical paper, one that is verified technical experts, and a solid Foundation site are things to pay attention to when considering an investment in an ICO. These three factors will ensure you don’t suddenly get a mooncake in front of you instead of a legitimate crypto project with great profit opportunities. Of course, just as with any rules, there are exceptions. For example, if the ICO maybe you haven’t heard of the people behind the ICO but it is being made by an established and credible company or companies.
That was the case with the Kik ICO. Kik is a Canadian company that was founded in 2009 and produces a messenger app. Kik is in direct competition with Skype, WhatsApp and WeChat.
Despite this tough competition, the Canadian’s behind Kik have managed to gain popularity with over 300 million users—predominantly in North America—actively using their app. In addition, Kik has also received $120 million from traditional investors and venture capital firms. We can safely assume that these investors have carried out their own careful due diligence before investing.
After the Kik team experimented with various internal “currencies” like bonus points, loyalty points, and in-app purchasing, they discovered Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. In late-summer 2017, they carried out an ICO with the KinCoin for the internal currency of the Kik Messenger. This rewarded users for certain activities in the future, and allowed them to earn internal Kin tokens, which they could then use to purchase things like stickers or emojis.
The ICO was very successful and brought in nearly $100 million for the company, which came from more than 10,000 backers in 117 countries. It was a complete success.
Beside the jurisdiction itself, there is another aspect which you need to understand: The type of token. There are basically two types: the security token and the internal currency. What that means for your money and your investment success will be our topic in the next part.
Cheers
Joe
Only information, not investment advice This course is not just about the opportunists and rip-off artists that lurk at every turn; it is also about the enormous opportunities that proper ICOs offers to investors. However, it must be stated categorically at this point that this course is only intended to explain and inform. The statements in this course are in no way intended as instructions or advice for investment, nor can they be construed as such. Any investment in an ICO and every purchase and sale of cryptocurrency is undertaken at your own very high risk, and should not be based on any of the statements presented in this course under any circumstances. Do your own due diligence in every instance before you participate in any transaction
Episode #1 of 10
Episode #2 of 10
Episode #3 of 10
Episode #4 of 10
Episode #5 of 10
