{"id":10051,"date":"2023-03-12T00:50:14","date_gmt":"2023-03-12T00:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/?p=10051"},"modified":"2025-09-10T15:24:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T15:24:10","slug":"what-is-an-ico-initial-coin-offering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-ico-initial-coin-offering","title":{"rendered":"What is an ICO (initial coin offering)?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Alternar tabla de contenidos\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-ico-initial-coin-offering\/#history_of_icos\" >History of ICOs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-ico-initial-coin-offering\/#ico_scams\" >ICO scams<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-ico-initial-coin-offering\/#ico_vs_traditional_stocks\" >ICO vs. traditional stocks<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutos<\/span><\/span><p>An ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is a form of\u00a0<strong>corporate financing<\/strong>\u00a0that leverages the power of the blockchain. In this way, funding is obtained to\u00a0<strong>start cryptocurrency projects quickly.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Basically, it is an instrument that makes it possible to\u00a0<strong>finance a new project without the administrative<\/strong>\u00a0and legal bureaucracy that would be necessary through traditional channels.<\/p>\n<p>The method is based on bringing a cryptocurrency or token to the market in search of investors to buy that token or cryptocurrency, something similar to traditional stock market shares.<\/p>\n<p>This new form of financing has been revolutionizing the cryptocurrency market in recent years, reaching\u00a0<strong>profits of over 50,000%<\/strong>\u00a0in some cryptocurrency ICOs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"history_of_icos\"><\/span><strong>History of ICOs<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The first ICO took place in\u00a0<strong>July 2013<\/strong>. It was carried out by Mastercoin with the Ethereum cryptocurrency. Thanks to that ICO they managed to raise\u00a0<strong>3,700 BTC which was equivalent to 2.3 million dollars at the time.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t until 2017 that ICOs became more popular, as by the middle of the year there were already about 18 websites tracking various ICOs. In May, the ICO of Brave, a web browser, was launched. In this ICO, a total of around\u00a0<strong>$35 million<\/strong>\u00a0was generated in just 30 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>At the beginning of October 2017 the ICO market had risen in value to\u00a0<strong>$2.3 billion<\/strong>. By the beginning of November, about 50 ICOs were being registered each month.<\/p>\n<p>The ICO that raised the most was the Filecoin ICO in January 2018. It went on to raise\u00a0<strong>$257 million including $200 million in the first hour<\/strong>\u00a0of the ICO. By the end of 2017 cryptocurrencies had grown 40 times more than in 2016. Through ICOs companies managed to raise overall around\u00a0<strong>$6 billion.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"col small-12 large-12\">\n<div class=\"col-inner\">\n<div id=\"image_360710087\" class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\">\n<div class=\"img-inner dark\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-large size-large lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu%C3%A9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu\u00e9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu\u00e9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO-300x205.jpg 300w\" alt=\"Qu\u00e9 es una Oferta inicial de Monedas (ICO) Bitnovo\" width=\"768\" height=\"526\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu\u00e9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu\u00e9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO-300x205.jpg 300w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu\u00e9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"ico_scams\"><\/span><strong>ICO scams<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>As always in the world of cryptocurrencies you have to be very careful to avoid scams and ICO scams are not far behind, and if something abounds in ICOs are scammers, who take advantage of the ignorance of thousands of people.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ICOs have a great technology such as blockchain<\/strong>, however the novelty of this new technology\u00a0<strong>causes the lack of knowledge<\/strong>\u00a0of many investors and their eagerness to chase fast money, especially now that cryptocurrencies have become known worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to invest in cryptocurrencies you can\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/en\/buy\/bitcoin\/\">buy them on Bitnovo<\/a>\u00a0website. However if you want to go further we can give you\u00a0<strong>some tips so you can avoid an ICO scam in time.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Your keys, your money. Remember never to share your private key with anyone<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Do not trust anything, not everything is what it seems, inform yourself about the subject, do not go blindly.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Read carefully the whitepaper of the project where the objectives and functionalities of the project should be written.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">If it does not have a white paper or you can\u2019t find it, don\u2019t take the risk.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Beware of misleading advertising that may appear on social networks.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Remember that no one gives anything away, especially not money.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Learn about the developers behind the project.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Don\u2019t forget that the world of cryptocurrencies is full of scammers who take advantage of people\u2019s ignorance.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">If you have decided to invest after these tips, invest only what you are willing to lose.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"col small-12 large-12\">\n<div class=\"col-inner\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"image_573242516\" class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\">\n<div class=\"img-inner dark\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-large size-large lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu%C3%A9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO3.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu\u00e9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO3.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu\u00e9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO3-300x205.jpg 300w\" alt=\"Qu\u00e9 es una Oferta inicial de Monedas (ICO) Bitnovo\" width=\"768\" height=\"526\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu\u00e9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO3.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu\u00e9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO3-300x205.jpg 300w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Qu\u00e9-es-una-Oferta-inicial-de-Monedas-ICO3.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"ico_vs_traditional_stocks\"><\/span><strong>ICO vs. traditional stocks<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>ICOs differ from stocks mainly in the legal framework, however, this is not the only difference. Below we will look at some of them:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Requirements.\u00a0<\/strong>To participate in an ICO there is usually no minimum net worth requirement, and if there is one, it is usually no more than \u20ac100. However, to participate in an IPO the government requires a multimillionaire, which means that very few people can participate.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Support for buyers.\u00a0<\/strong>The government supports investors participating in the exchange, however, it does not present any support for ICO participants.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Economic Health.\u00a0<\/strong>For a company or citizen to participate in an ICO there is no requirement on the part of the company conducting the ICO. However, if a company wants to go public it must be audited and meet the criteria requested by the government which are usually quite high.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Recognition.\u00a0<\/strong>While stocks are recognized by the government and financial institutions, cryptocurrencies, for the most part, have a more difficult time being legally recognized.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutos<\/span><\/span>An ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is a form of\u00a0corporate financing\u00a0that leverages the power of the blockchain. In this way, funding is obtained to\u00a0start cryptocurrency projects quickly. Basically, it is an instrument that makes it possible to\u00a0finance a new project without the administrative\u00a0and legal bureaucracy that would be necessary through traditional channels. The method is based [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blockchain-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10051"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24689,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10051\/revisions\/24689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}