What is an Initial Coin Offering (ICO)?

     An initial coin offering (ICO) is quite similar to the concept of an initial public offering. The main difference is the fact that crowdfunding is in terms of a cryptocurrency rather than a fiat currency. The money raised is used by the founders and developers of the blockchain based project to fund their research. In turn, investors are provided with cryptocurrency tokens. This serves as a form of investment as these tokens are likely to increase in value if the project value increases with time. These tokens can be stored in a cryptocurrency wallet affiliated to the token and eventually traded for another cryptocurrency, or sold privately.

     The number of ICOs available on the market is huge and it is quite difficult to segregate the good from the bad. In today’s date, 5-6 new ICOs are emerging on a daily basis. While this is all well and good, there are several ICO exit scams that are taking place. Teams of fraudulent individuals pose as project members and initiate an initial coin offering, only to abscond with the generated funds and leave investors with nothing to show for. 

Please refer to –

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/07/02/over-800-cryptocurrencies-are-now-dead-as-bitcoin-feels-pressure.html

While searching for upcoming and active ICOs, individuals will come across a large number of ICOs to choose from.

     The lack of a regulatory committee to govern the actions of these ICOs only complicates matters as it is difficult for investors to figure out a potential scam. The fortunate set of investors having the necessary resources to conduct detailed research procedures are unharmed, yet there is a large portion of the community which do not possess this luxury and end up getting duped if they are not careful.  There are several ways an individual can determine whether an ICO is fraudulent himself/herself, but this requires extensive research and many people do not have the time for this. Centra is an example of a scam ICO. Several cryptocurrency platforms take advantage of celebrity endorsements to set up an ICO. Centra was endorsed by Floyd Mayweather and the two co-founders, Sohrab "Sam" Sharma and Robert Farkas were arrested for fraud. The ICO raised 32 million USD and was banned by the SEC. They claimed to offer a debit card authorized by MasterCard and VISA that would allow its users to convert cryptocurrency to USD and spend in stores. This was not the case as they had no connection with both companies. Their profiles were fake as well. 

Please refer to-

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/03/floyd-mayweather-backed-cryptocurrency-ico-fraud-sec-says.html

      ICO ratings enable an individual to be at ease, as there are several institutions adopting these methods to provide convenience of trade to potential investors. ICO ratings help investors establish the sanctity of an ICO. There are several ICO rating and listing websites available but only a few are authentic and are genuinely reliable. Crypto Asset Rating Inc. is a genuine independent ICO rating website offering two security tokens for US-based (ANSA token) and non-US based (AND token) investors.

Refer to for ANSA token details-

www.CryptoAssetRating.io

Refer to for AND token details-

www.CryptoAssetRating.us

      One should never base their investment scheme on the basis of these ratings or listings. They merely serve their purpose to establish that an ICO is not a fraud and can be invested in. 

What is an ICO Listing?

     An ICO listing is a comprehensive list of concluded, ongoing and upcoming initial coin offerings. There are several ICO listing websites available. They merely describe the essence of the project affiliated to an ICO, the duration the initial coin offering will last and the percentage of expected funds raised. ICO listing websites enable investors to choose from a potentially vast list of ICOs. The major drawback of ICO listing websites is the fact that none of the information published on such websites is verified. All information provided by an ICO is published on these websites. This makes decision making for investors difficult as the information is unverified and may result in them losing money if the ICO turns out to be scam.

https://deadcoins.com/

     The above mentioned website has published a list of deceased cryptocurrencies, scams and scam ICOs. Several ICOs mentioned in this website have been listed on ICO listing websites and this proves that the information on ICO listing websites is indeed unverified and untrustworthy. An ICO listing basically provides investors with some unverified information about an ICO without really suggesting or comparing ICOs with one another. ICORating, CoinSchedule and ICOAlert are some of the most popular ICO listing websites.

What is an ICO Rating?

     ICO listing websites bring a lot of unverified information related to an ICO to your doorstep and do not necessarily ease the process of selection of a particular ICO. The information provided by these websites cannot be trusted and this is where ICO rating websites come into the frame. There is no parameter to compare between different ICOs and come to a conclusion. Sadly, the market is full of people looking to exploit the lack of a regulatory committee and are determined to abscond with the funds generated during an initial coin offering. ICO ratings could go a long way in solving this problem.

      Projects can be rated on the basis of the risks involved in investing in them and their long term future. Extensive research is done by teams who analyse several aspects of ICOs. This would enable investors to have clearer picture of what the project has to offer. Investors could then segregate projects on the basis of this rating and choose a particular ICO on the basis of what it has to offer in the long term future. ICO ratings merely removes the fraudulent bunch from the market. Investors should not invest in an ICO merely on the basis of an ICO rating. There are several people questioning the relevance of ICO rating websites.

     There are several ICOs being endorsed by celebrities. These celebrities are paid a fee for their endorsement. Hardly any details are provided on the project and investors are drawn into investing in the ICO because of the celebrity associated with the project. ICO rating websites are paid off by these ICOs in turn for a good rating. There are several rating websites paid off by ICO teams to give them a good rating. Some other ICO rating websites and ICOs pay bounty rewards in the form of tokens for promotion of their website and ICO. Crypto Asset Rating Inc. falls under neither category and is a good option going forward for investors.

      Of the many ICO rating organizations, Crypto Asset Rating Inc. is a trusted option to choose from. It is a United States based Rating Agency for Crypto Assets and makes use of an algorithm created by a dedicated team of developers to rate different ICOs. The viability of an ICO in the long run is put to test by this algorithm. The blockchain based rating engine is based on 150 different rating parameters and is divided into over 15 categories, depending on the business, legal, financial and technical risks involved in investing in a particular cryptocurrency asset. Crypto Asset Rating Inc. is an independent rating agency with a trusted team of competent individuals.

Conclusion

     While an ICO listing provides investors with the unverified details of past, ongoing and upcoming ICOs, ICO ratings enable an investor to determine whether an ICO is fraudulent or not. ICO listing websites send emails to their subscribers whenever a new ICO project is launched on the website, when an initial coin offering is to commence, and when an initial coin offering is to end. ICO rating websites are a better option as they bring verified information to the table, of which Crypto Asset Rating Inc. is a viable option. Visit the website for more details on the project!

http://www.cryptoassetrating.com/

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