What Is an ICO?

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) has exploded fairly recently. They allow startups to raise money directly from the public, early adopters and enthusiasts, without going through the strict process required of venture capitalists and banks. No wonder, that this innovative model has become a very popular means to fund Blockchain and cryptocurrency projects.

As a rule, an ICO takes place before the project is finished, and helps return money spent by the founding team until launch. ICOs participants, in their turn, make investment decisions which may lead to future success of the project. Also, they can help spread the word about someone’s idea and raise awareness in the broader community.

An ICO is often compared to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for stocks. However, there are significant differences. Let’s consider some of them. For instance, only established companies, which have worked effectively for some time, carry out IPOs. On the contrary, any new start-up can use an ICO. Still, this very way of crowdfunding doesn’t offer any cash flows, while an IPO promises to share dividends from company profits. In the case of ICOs, companies issue tokens with the forward-looking statement that its price will grow and the participant will be able to benefit from the project. Moreover, IPOs deal with the centralized organization, while ICOs are applied for open source projects with no central authority like many Blockchain-based ones.

What Is a Token?

It appears from the above that any ICO is based on the same principle as IPOs: the issuing of digital assets, or tokens — a Blockchain-based investment tool and relatively new concept brought about by the digital economy. A token is essentially nothing more than a unit of value that a private entity offers to facilitate projects’ development, and empower its users to interact with products, as well as promising some rewards and benefits to all stakeholders.

Thus, ICOs participants are usually motivated by a profit potential if the project is a success and the tokens become worth more than their ICO price. Actually, tokens can represent basically any assets that are exchangeable and tradable, from commodities to even other cryptocurrencies.

About SmartChain

To show you an example of the previously mentioned projects, let us take the case of SmartChain. Leveraging the advantages of the Blockchain technology, we’ve created the world’s first platform providing an infrastructure that is aimed to easily integrate any Blockchain into business.

How did we come up with this idea?

Let’s have a closer look at the prerequisites. If implemented effectively, Blockchain has a tremendous number of opportunities to fundamentally change the way business is organized. The problem, however, is that Blockchain-led transformation of business is still underdeveloped, as not all merchants can currently join the fast-growing Blockchain and cryptocurrency economy, not speaking of those who don’t have IT or banking background. This is what initially inspired us. Our solution to this problem is exactly what the SmartChain team is doing: making this disruptive technology accessible to everyone.

With SmartChain, you don’t depend on Blockchain and can switch easily between the platforms (Ethereum, Waves, KickICO, etc) using any you like or several platforms at the same time. Also, we have integration with the most of web/apps-frameworks providing an open API for new ones. More than that, for the first time ever, any interested user can utilize smart contracts in everyday life, meaning you don’t need to write a code and be proficient in technologies. Just use our native Drag-and-Drop builder to create a new smart contract or choose an existing one out of our large base of ready-made smart contracts that cover 90% of business needs.

The platform is created for a wide audience, professionals and newcomers alike, becoming the gateway to the Blockchain. We strive to facilitate the mainstream adoption of Blockchain through the implementation of SmartChain. Our unique insight into the Blockchain industry makes us special.

SmartChain ICO and Tokens

We are proud to introduce our SmartChain token being the main driving force and a payment method for the whole ecosystem and a unit of value for its holders.

When — Now we are launching the pre-ICO. It runs until the start of the main ICO scheduled to start in April-May.

Supply — A total supply of 80 Million Tile tokens will be created, with a maximum number of 56 million to be sold.

Tokens distribution — After the funding period is competed, our tokens will be allocated based on the amount sold in the following way:

- 70% of tokens will be available for sale;

- 25% of tokens will be reserved for core team;

- 5% of tokens will be reserved for community grants and the bounty campaign.

Hard cap — We aim to raise $46 320 000.

The raised funds from the SmartChain ICO will be used to lay the foundations to enter the global industry and to speed up our development. We’ve chosen to hold this ICO because we really want the community to shape the industry of future with us. You will be able to support our innovative ideas that will get traction over time. You are not only given a chance to help the campaign develop, but you can take part in the cutting-edge project we believe in.

Why do you need it?

Today more and more people are flooding into the Blockchain scene. And we strive to make this process easier and faster for everyone to handle. Let’s face it together! SmartChain is dedicated to disrupting the traditional way we build business, enabling everyone to use Blockchain. We are entering the market with extensive expertise and knowledge. That’s why we hope that our concept will bring changes and will be crucial in enhancing the whole Blockchain industry. And we do believe that our token holders should benefit from cooperation with us. But how? Read our next article to know more!

* This article is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute a solicitation for investment.