5 Top Uniquely Promising ICOs In 2021
An Initial Coin Offering is a process in which projects that are still in early stages sell a new cryptocurrency token before it is listed on free market exchanges. Similar to an Initial Public Offering before a stock gets listed on major exchanges, an ICO is a fundraising effort combined with a presale of sorts where a token is sold at a starting price and then eventually, the market will regulate it.
With the maturing of the cryptocurrency market to today’s pace, thousands of projects and tokens are yet to be listed, but it is understood that once in circulation and usage, they will be traded on certain exchanges, holding true to a token even if it’s nature is to serve as the native token of only one exchange.
Thus, the process of an ICO is to assign liquidity and value to a token by project developers by selling it at a centrally fixed price before it’s full utility and trading capacity becomes determined by large markets.
To simplify this concept in older cryptocurrency terms, all the way back to 2009, once bitcoins had been sufficiently mined, they were sold. With bitcoin, this process happened naturally once the mining software was released as open source, and all sorts of differing values were assigned by the individuals mining them. That all changed when Bitcoin became publicly traded, and when crypto currency transcended bitcoin it also transcended single application usage. Nowadays, cryptocurrencies can serve an endless variety of purposes.
When one looks at upcoming ICOs, the sheer versatility of cryptocurrency, the blockchain, Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and all of the related technologies that merged or integrated into a world of endless possibilities that continues to provide more integration innovation and growth becomes clear to all who care to take an interest in the forefront of new cryptocurrency applications.
1. ByteDex. (BYTEDEX)
ByteDex is a team and a project launching a feature rich unique hybrid exchange in a competitive market. Their project is to build a cross-chain exchange with a native token. Their exchange is a hybrid CDEX (a combination of centralised [CEX] and decentralised [DEX] exchange). ByteDex token will serve a similar role to Binance’s BNB and Kucoin’s KCS tokens, with a variety of staking and other reward-based applications that give it further utility on the platform and planned blockchain that will differentiate it as a token. Users will enjoy the control, privacy and integrity that comes with transacting on the open source blockchain as they trade in real time, holding their own private keys, but also able to buy cryptocurrency through traditional banking methods provided by the centralised aspect of a team of facilitators.
Pros:
● ByteDex will have its own wallet, thereby cutting out any middlemen.
● Exchanges will happen on the blockchain in real time, giving privacy and full control equalling ownership of your assets.
● It will initially run on 3 seperate blockchains.
Cons:
● Lacking visibility, the project could use more marketing to achieve its ambitious goals.
● Commission rates have not been clarified as of yet.
● Information on the coins ByteDex exchange will initially list is also unclear.
● The market is incredibly competitive, so it is important that they implement their ambitious roadmap.
2. SafeLaunch. (SFE)
SafeLaunch is a crowdfunding project based on the Binance Smart Chain. It’s aim is to create a crowdfunding and lending platform with a token that holds its value based on the success of the team of investors trusted to handle it. In their own words;
“The SafeLaunch research team does the hard work required to select the projects most worthy of investment along with the screening, auditing and due diligence required to ensure investors can participate with confidence.”
What this means is that by funding their efforts at investing in emerging crypto projects, you will acquire their token. Your holdings of that token will in essence represent your participation in the funding of a project funding other projects.
Pros:
● A token whose value depends entirely on the competence of the team behind it is a puritan concept for crypto enthusiasts, a form of decentralised dividends assigned value upon success.
● This is a fragile concept with a bold mission statement and declaration of their own competence. Once fully live, the project will be judged fairly and fast by the results it produces.
● Despite a broad yet specific mission statement and summary, the project does have a versatile roadmap for the future, making it adaptable down the line if well managed.
Cons:
● You are handing over control of your crypto investments as far as you participate. This could (but does not have to) go very wrong. It is a risk.
● The centralised nature of the managing team means that you do not own the liquidity behind your investment directly, hence it is maybe a bit too centralised for many puritans.
3. Creator Platform. (CTR)
Creator Platform project that aims to create a simplified interface for those wishing to create and launch their very own smart contracts and DApps with little to no coding knowledge required. It emphasises a user friendly interface and aims to help facilitate growth in the NFT markets and ecosystem.
Pros:
● Opening up previously closed off (due to requiring technical skill) creative outlets to not so tech savvy people bridges a gap that could see plenty of outside the box thinking and and accelerated pace of new innovations.
● The token, CTR, will be readily exchangeable on Ethereum’s ERC-20 network.
Cons:
● .A very large portion of tokens will be allocated to the founding team, giving them huge initial control.
● Less than a 20th of that will be for public sale.
● Fundraising distributions is just as centralised.
4. MyCryptoCheckout. (RWD)
This project aims to serve as a payment processor, initially as a wordpress plugin, allowing users to pay for services and items (or anything a website wishes to sell) with a vast array of cryptocurrencies, bridging the gap between the vast currency utility of so many coins and the lack of outlets that accept them. Their token will serve as a loyalty program offering benefits and rewards to token holders in the form of cashback, discounts and other rewards.
Pros:
● Huge coin variety.
● The agenda of mass adoption of crypto as a functional payment method can only benefit from the success of such a project.
● More featureful than existing crypto payment processors.
Cons:
● Small project team.
● The project launched a lacklustre initial version, potentially killing interest.
● Existing payment processors mean large competition, as their initial model was surely overshadowed by giants like Cryptounifier and Coinpayments.
5. DeFiCity. (DFC)
DefiCity is an in-browser application that serves as a “virtual world”, making the experience of monitoring and managing one’s yield farming and staking activities into a singular video game-like interface with an incorporated statistical dashboard. Their token will serve as a currency used to purchase necessary “in game items”(NFTs – or Non-Fungible Tokens) that unlock platform utility features.
Pros:
● A successful and effective project of this nature would grow interest in DeFi amongst the gaming community.
● The planned measures to minimize gas fees make sense, and will be beneficial to streamlining many high-cost DeFi protocols.
● An all in one user-friendly virtual interface for multiple existing DeFi projects is unique and interesting.
Cons:
● The flagship gaming interface may detract older and more experienced investors from taking the project seriously.
● Many of their stated objectives do not state how they will be achieved, making the whitepaper a document that is incomplete and therefore less than optimal credibility-wise.