Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is an unregulated means of crowdfunding via the use of cryptocurrency, which can be a source of capital for startup companies. In an ICO a percentage of the newly issued cryptocurrency is sold to investors in exchange for legal tender or other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Consequences of a fast-growing market

The ICO concept is arguably the aspect of the Blockchain industry that has experienced the highest growth in 2017.

This year alone, over $1.3 bln has been raised in the ICO market. This figure almost doubles what has been raised in the traditional venture capital market.

The rate at which the token market has grown is a lot faster than anyone could really anticipate. Despite numerous advantages of this rate of growth, certain aspects of the market are unable to keep up with the pace of this exponential advancement.

A lot of entrepreneurial expertise and talent have been on show within the token industry over the past couple of months. At the same time, bad players are taking the opportunity of the new high growth market to defraud investors within the community.

Matthew Dibb, CEO of Astronaut says:

“While coin offerings have benefitted from the success of Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies, there remains a significant need in the market for due-diligence backed investment methodology to avoid boom and bust cycles.”

The recent ICO ban in China is perceived in some quarters as a move by the Chinese government to protect its citizens from insincere setups since the system does not permit normal regulation as well as other investment processes.

Existing ICO problems

Some of the problems encountered by investors seeking opportunities in the ICO market springs from their inability to effectively analyze the opportunities as they arrive. The reasons for this may be due to the fact that the frequency of emergence of these products are sometimes too fast that they cannot be effectively analyzed without distraction. Also, most of the emerging companies while advertising their ICO do not make full exposure of their companies and product. Therefore investors are left to make a decision based on insufficient information.

The inability to access some of these coins during token sales is also a popular complaint from investors. This stems from the fact that some of the token sale processes are not very transparent, sometimes certain stages of the ICOs are even sold out before the opportunities get to the general public.

Then there is also the problem of registration for ICOs which are sometimes difficult and confusing. This is sometimes as a result of the fact that every Blockchain product has its own unique way to register for an ICO. Therefore it is easy for investors who operate on multiple platforms to get confused or to mix up the processes.

The Astronaut solution

Novel Blockchain platform, Astronaut, is out with the mission of solving the above-mentioned problems and other associated ones to offer ICO investors a one-stop shop where they can easily identify and gain exposure to genuine and viable in an efficient manner.

Dibb elaborates:

“Astronaut seeks to establish a streamlined offering, whereby both retail and institutional grade investors can participate in a variety of research-backed tokens and currencies through one simple channel, avoiding the need for their own due diligence and subscription processes.”

The Astronaut project aims to employ its renowned ICO research team Picolo Research to guide thousands of investors through the token market by recommending and applying for verified, secure and high-growth opportunities.

With the Astronaut token ASTRO, investors will gain admittance into an unparalleled platform to access qualified and deeply researched token offerings. One ASTRO gives an investor ownership to a basket of analyst-recommended tokens every month.

Also, Astronaut takes on the full process of researching and accessing ICOs, managing risks and safely exiting positions. In a nutshell, Astronaut serves as an investor’s guide in a nascent but fast developing viable market.

ASTRO token sale

On Sep. 25, 2017, Astronaut had already raised over $1.2 mln in its presale and is opening up the ASTRO token acquisition to the general public by Sep. 29, 2017.

Scott Moore, a key member of the investment committee believes that Astronaut can contribute to ensuring funding for only capable teams, which seek to solve real problems:

“Right now as I see it, there’s a significant lack of due diligence in the ICO markets, and so the way capital is being allocated is incredibly inefficient. I wouldn’t be surprised if over half of the projects funded in 2017 never release a finished product. If companies like Astronaut can help make sure that the ecosystem is funding capable teams trying to solve real problems, then everyone is better off.”