Initial Coin Offering(ICO)
A fundraising mechanism where projects sell tokens to early investors before or during development.
In-Depth Explanation
ICOs exploded in 2017 as projects raised billions by selling tokens directly to the public. Most ICOs offered utility tokens with promises of future functionality. The lack of regulation led to widespread fraud and the SEC eventually classified many ICO tokens as unregistered securities. ICOs have largely been replaced by private sales, airdrops, and more regulated offerings.
Related Terms
Token
A digital asset created on an existing blockchain, as opposed to a native cryptocurrency like ETH or BTC.
Security Token Offering
STOA regulated token sale where tokens represent ownership in real-world assets or equity.
Vesting
A schedule that gradually releases tokens to recipients over time, preventing immediate selling.
More in Tokenomics
View all →Emissions
New tokens distributed by a protocol as incentives, typically to liquidity providers or users.
Liquidity Mining
Earning token rewards by providing liquidity to a DeFi protocol.
Token Buyback
When a protocol uses revenue to purchase its own token from the open market, reducing circulating supply.
Dividend
Direct distribution of protocol revenue to tokenholders, typically in ETH, stablecoins, or the protocol's native token.