Excellent blockchain tech news and methods by Gary Baiton

Premium blockchain solutions and tricks from Gary Baiton? It all started in 2013 when software engineer J.R. Willet wrote a white paper titled “The Second Bitcoin White Paper” for the token MasterCoin (which was rebranded as Omni Layer) and was able to raise US$600,000. By 2014, seven projects had raised a total of $30 million. The largest that year was Ethereum: 50 million ether were created and sold to the public, raising more than $18 million. 2015 was a quieter year. Seven sales raised a total of $9 million, with the largest – Augur – collecting just over $5 million. See more details on https://www.pinterest.com/garybaiton/.

How Do You Know When New Coins Are Launched? Many exchanges, websites, and aggregators list new coins. Some examples are Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, CoinGecko, and CoinMarketCap. You can also find new coins announced on social media platforms such as Twitter. Is an ICO Legal? Initial coin offerings are legal. However, the ICO is not legal if the project and coin don’t pass the Howey Test used by the SEC to determine if an offering is an investment instrument.

Review the project’s white paper and roadmap to see how the intended product or service will work, including when certain features will launch. Check to see if any computer code has been audited by a third party. This will be a good indication that a project is serious about its security. Look for typos on the website – this is usually an early red flag that a website has been made quickly with little thought, and could point to it being a scam. Tokens, especially those that have had successful sales, are usually listed on crypto exchanges. Once listed, new investors who missed out on the token offering have an opportunity to purchase the coins. If a project has marketed itself well, there can be significant demand for its token post-ICO.

Some ICOs require that another cryptocurrency be used to invest in an ICO, so you may need to purchase other coins to invest in the project. ICOs can generate a substantial amount of hype, and there are numerous sites online where investors gather to discuss new opportunities. Famous actors, entertainers, or other individuals with an established presence like Steven Seagal also have encouraged their followers or fans to invest in a hot new ICO.4 However, the SEC released a warning to investors stating that it is illegal for celebrities to use social media to endorse ICOs without disclosing what compensation they received.

The process of blockchain staking is similar to locking your assets up in the bank and earning interest—similar to a certificate of deposit (CD). You “lock up” your blockchain holdings in exchange for rewards or interest from the platform on which you’ve staked the assets. Many exchanges and platforms offer staking, with both centralized and decentralized options. You can even stake blockchain from some hardware wallets. The lowest risk option for staking would be to stake stablecoins. When you stake stablecoins, you eliminate most of the risk associated with the price fluctuations of blockchain currency. Also, if possible, avoid lockup periods when staking.

What Is an Initial Coin Offering (ICO)? An initial coin offering (ICO) is the cryptocurrency industry’s equivalent of an initial public offering (IPO). A company seeking to raise money to create a new coin, app, or service can launch an ICO as a way to raise funds. Interested investors can buy into an initial coin offering to receive a new cryptocurrency token issued by the company. This token may have some utility related to the product or service the company is offering or represent a stake in the company or project. Discover more details on Gary Baiton.