No one becomes rich by stashing money under the mattress. Each and every billionaire or millionaire gets there mostly by investing.

The recent boom in digital currencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) provide ordinary folks with a golden opportunity to make their savings work for them. Some of those are quite risky, others are scams. But sometimes risk yields huge rewards.

In this list you’ll find the top five ICOs, carried out over the first two months of 2018, which might have –or still may– help fatten your wallet. The selection, provided by crypto news website CoinStaker, is based on the potential growth, all-around hype, the strengths of each product and the team behind it. Some of the risk factors are also outlined.

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Telegram

The company’s new Telegram Open Network (TON) promises to become an Ethereum-like ecosystem with applications, services and a store for digital and physical goods. The new product is going to be integrated to the Telegram app.

Telegram plans to raise around $1.6 billion before its TON token sale becomes publicly available. Telegram’s offering was already the largest ICO ever, dwarfing the previous record of $232 million, set by Tezos.

However, the team behind the project is still far from turning the idea into reality. “It’s one thing to build a message app and another to revolutionize the internet with blockchain in every phone,” reports the media.

Moreover, the instantly generated user base may disappear. Telegram has to create its platform, make it user-ready in a short time and provide functionality, without disrupting its user base in the transition.

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Kodak

In January, 130-year-old Eastman Kodak announced the launch of its own digital currency, based on the platform that works on blockchain technology. Along with an image rights management platform KODAKOne, the company introduced a virtual token, KODAKCoin, aimed at protecting photographers’ digital rights using blockchain.

The project reportedly looks attractive due to the company’s fine reputation. “The hashing of the photographs could be almost instantaneous (a word with a history of its own in photography). Combine that with the most futuristic, internet-connected digital cameras, and it could prove an invaluable tool to professionals and amateurs alike,” CoinStaker reports.

At the same time, Kodak had some fails in the past, especially when it came to adapting to the digital sphere. If the firm fails to rewrite history, the project may become a “poorly managed and all around clumsy” photography platform.

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Cointed

Cointed, a major crypto ATM provider and exchange, is motivated by the principle that access to virtual currencies should be as easy as possible. The Cointed token, CTD, facilitates acquisition of the ATMs. This ICO doesn’t look like a scam or bubble, as the firm already has a wide net of devices operating in Austria and is quite safe as regards tech and management.

Crypto ATMs are newcomers in the fintech, where tariffs and costs are intolerable. If Cointed’s ICO can change this situation, the cryptocurrencies could transform the world of financial technologies.

Risks of investing in this ICO could stem from a probable crackdown by governments across the world, or at least a move to impose some restrictions on crypto ATMs. In such a circumstance, the company’s plans to take their business international may be doomed to failure.

AgroTechFarm

Russia’s AgroTech Farming specializes in automated indoor grower appliances. The company has developed and built a special appliance to grow vegetables indoors. This homegrower is app-controlled and comes in two configurations: strawberry, which is made to grow three different small crops, and cannabis, suitable to grow a tall crop.

Via an ICO, the company plans to raise funds for expanding the business into Canada and the US, where the market space for medicinal and recreational cannabis, as well as growing need for organic food, means an increasing demand for AgroTech’s product. The token, ATF, will provide investors with discounts for buying and shipping the appliances, as well as the possibility of conversion to shares.

The main risks are connected with high prices for the company’s equipment. Also, cannabis is not legalized everywhere, so it could be difficult to expand the business.

Envion

Swiss company Envion operates a global and highly profitable, decentralized crypto-mining platform. The Envion’s token, EVN, is focused on people who can mine by concentrating on the niche markets that will offer cheap, oversupplied and renewable energies. The company is planning to distribute mobile mining devices able to make use of the cheap energy, generating usable heat and mining crypto. It is one of the top ten ICOs, with over $60 million raised from 23,000 investors.

However, EVN is hard to get and that makes it less attractive, despite all the eco-friendliness. Unlike most tokens, users have to provide personal data and some documentation. At the same time, shipping and manufacturing costs could be problematic, and bigger starting investment may be required. That’s why the company should rely more on professional users, who are ready to contribute financial resources and time.

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