The first set of initial coin offerings ICOs for selected startups that interest the NEO ecosystem, its market and platform is set to launch in September – Japanese blockchain-based social media site ALIS on September 1 and Red Pulse, which seeks to be a research content platform that simplifies incentives and directly compensates producers for their insights on September 10.

The debut marks the beginning of the implementation of what the NEO platform initially promised. It also presents an opportunity to get a true perspective of what the platform which was formerly known as Antshares and dubbed the “Chinese Ethereum” has to offer. Since what has been said is about to be seen being put to use, here are some of the attendant observation that may be true of the launch.

Test transmission

The conduct of the proposed NEO-based ICOs would be more of a test run for the users as well as the platform’s team. Going by what later become of the Ethereum platform when it first launched out and how the DAO hack – in which about $150 million was reported stolen – almost brought the Vitalik Buterin-led network to its knees, all hands would be on deck to see that NEO does not come out below expectation. As a first of its kind experience in the Asian region, creating the right impression would speak volume of the budding blockchain industry.

Some hiccups could be experienced but the conduct of the ICOs will present the cryptoworld with the opportunity to critically assess the platform as a true rival to Ethereum and what it offers particularly in terms of the management of huge traffic and its capability to withstand the demand for its service. As a result, the outcome of the crowdsales will determine if and how subsequent fundraising would be held on the platform as well as the frequency.

NEO Gaining Ground

The ICO launch will also push NEO’s boundary into new frontiers. It will publicise the platform and establish it as a de facto network especially in Asia for project fundraising. All these developments are coming at a time when NEO, despite being new, has gradually started gaining the attention of major cryptocurrency exchanges. Bittrex recently lowered their transaction fee for NEO to 0.025 with a promise to adjust accordingly with its market price. Though some users claim that Bittrex’s move was a result of the backlash it got from several users who accused them of robbing their subscribers of their lodged NEO, others think they were forced to do so because of the approach by the newest exchange Binance which offers lower withdrawal fees and also credits users’ GAS for the NEO they keep.

In another development, a campaign has been launched mainly by enthusiasts to get some of the top exchanges – Kraken and Poloniex – to add NEO on their relevant platforms. Elsewhere, NEO and Microsoft Azure are jointly hosting a blockchain programming training in Shanghai, a partnership that shows the platform’s cooperation in terms of smart contracts particularly with its flexibility with other programming languages plus Ethereum’s JS-based Solidity.

NEO Price Rise

Aside the attention that the ICOs will bring to the platform thus drawing new and existing investors to the NEO ecosystem, a jump in the activities that are related to the platform will translate to a rise in the value of its native asset. This is particularly important in the case of the Red Pulse token sales in which it has been stated that only NEO would be accepted for the purchase though some users have expressed that they are yet to see any justification to spend their NEO which has a massive potential for gains on a project that is yet to be tested.

Though the price of NEO has been on the rise in the past weeks, it is likely to get higher in the coming days. This could be as early as August 22 when it is reported that Red Pulse will be starting its token pre-sale to some “randomly selected people”.