An ICO, or Initial Coin Offering, is a method of fundraising used by blockchain projects to finance their development by issuing and selling new tokens to the public. In exchange for their investment (often in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, or stablecoins), participants receive tokens that can be used within the project ecosystem, exchanged on platforms, or held with a speculative intent.

The ICO is often compared to an initial public offering (IPO), but it differs in that:

• It takes place without a financial intermediary,

• It is accessible to everyone, everywhere in the world,

• It is based on blockchain technology and smart contracts.

Why ICOs have marked the crypto history:

• They saw a boom in 2017, funding hundreds of projects,

• They allowed for a democratization of investment in Web3 startups,

• But they also attracted numerous fraudulent or unfinished projects.

Associated risks:

Some ICOs have been scams (rug pulls) or have failed to deliver a functional product, which has led several countries to regulate or prohibit this practice.