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ICO
Initial Coin Offering (ICO)

Dr. Daniel K.C. Chan

September, 2020
 Contents
◦ The breakthrough with crowdfunding
◦ Initial coin offering (ICO)
◦ ICO white paper
◦ Case study: Gnosis ICO
◦ Other ICO pricing models
◦ Tracking ICO's & performance
◦ Issues with ICO

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 3

The Breakthrough with
Crowdfunding

© 2020 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 4

What is crowdfunding?

▪ Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small

amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet
▪ Traditionally, to raise capital to start a new business or launch a new product,
one would need to pack up a business plan, market research, and prototypes,
and then shop the idea around to a limited pool or wealthy individuals or
institutions (e.g. banks, angel investors, and venture capital firms)
▪ By giving you a single platform to build, showcase, and share the pitch
resources, this approach dramatically streamlines the traditional model
▪ With crowdfunding, it is much easier to get an opportunity in front of more
interested parties and allow them to contribute small amounts in exchange for a
first-run product or other reward
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 5
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b5-iEnW70k

Crowdfunding raises capital by connecting over the Internet

creators with ideas to backers with fund to support or invest
REWARD-BASED
DONATION MODEL PRE-ORDER MODEL EQUITY MODEL
MODEL
▪ People can donate ▪ People make ▪ People get the ▪ Large number of
money in small online satisfaction of regular people to
increments commitments helping investing small
during a campaign amount each to fund
▪ Decision is typically to pre-buy the ▪ Will receive a pre- early startups
based on moral and product for later determined reward
ethical value that is delivery (ticket to an event) ▪ With the expectation
good for the or item of value to receive dividends
community ▪ Example platforms: or investment
Kickstarter, Celery ▪ No equity of appreciation
▪ No return for money ownership
given ▪ Example platforms:
▪ Example platforms: Crowdcube,
▪ Example platforms: Indiegogo, Fundable Syndicate Room
gofundme, Facebook
causes
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 6
 https://www.gofundme.com/

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 7

 https://www.kickstarter.com/

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 8

 https://www.indiegogo.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1ArOjOZuUo

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 9

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 10

https://www.crowdcube.com/
Initial Coin Offering (ICO)

© 2020 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 11

 An initial coin offering (ICO) is a type of funding
using cryptocurrencies. Mostly the process is done
by crowdfunding but private ICO's are not uncommon. In
an ICO, a quantity of cryptocurrency is sold in the form of
“tokens” (“coins”) to investors, in exchange for legal
tender or other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ether.
The tokens sold are promoted as future functional units of
currency if or when the ICO's funding goal is met and the
project launches.

© 2020 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 12

 Initial Public Offering (IPO)

An IPO refers to the process of offering shares

of a private corporation to the public in a new
stock issuance. Public share issuance allows a
company to raise capital from public investors.
The transition from a private to a public
company can be an important time for private
investors to fully realize gains from their
investment as it typically includes share
premiums for current private investors.
Meanwhile, it also allows public investors to
participate in the offering.

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 13

ICO vs IPO

Feature ICO IPO

Strategy Project fund for start-ups Expansion fund for financially
stable companies
Regulatory oversight None Comprehensive
Track record & credibility Weak Strong
Utility Adoption Dividends
Duration of offerings Short Lengthy
Access to offerings Open to All Exclusive
Intermediaries No middleman Exchange, brokers, underwriters

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 14

The main strategy of an ICO is to raise project funds

▪ The main strategy of an ICO is to raise funds for the project (i.e. working capital)
and enter the market, and the ICO is usually performed by the startup
companies
▪ However, IPO is usually performed at a later stage when a company is
financially stable and wants to expand and develop to the public (i.e. long term
capital)
▪ Its raised capital is used for the future expansion projects of a company

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 15

ICO's are not bound by any legal requirements

▪ ICOs are not bound by any legal requirements to issue any form of legal
documentation – no prospectus is required
▪ However, a document in the form of a white paper is often prepared to outline
key information of the project, such as its purpose and mechanics
▪ However, it is important to note that there is no standard for an ICO whitepaper;
any project could construct a white paper with the ability to include or exclude
any information they deem fit
▪ In order for an IPO to sell shares and thus provide liquidity to existing
shareholders, it must be listed on an exchange
▪ ICOs in comparison are not obligated to list on any exchange in order to provide
liquidity
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 16
ICO's play less attention to the track record & credibility

▪ Since ICOs do not require adherence to any regulatory framework & legal
protocol, a majority of them do not have a track record and only have a white
paper to back up their project
▪ While some have a working prototype (in alpha or beta stages), most projects
only have a conceptual framework manifested through their white paper
▪ Your due diligence is focused on the project’s future expectations rather than its
past history since there is none
▪ It is true you can extract some form of credibility by looking at the project
developers’ experience or renowned individuals backing the project, but you can
never actually know whether the project will work

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 17

ICO's are service or product pre-sale and do not entitle
investors for any dividend
▪ Unlike an IPO, acquisition of ICO coins does not grant ownership of the project
▪ Instead, a ICO must be positioned as a pre-sale of inventory to finance
development - a claim to the usage of that token in the future
▪ There are many ways that investors of the coins may reap future benefits, and
that depends on how the coin is structured
▪ Generally, a cryptocurrency’s value directly correlates with its perceived utility
▪ Some coins generate value by conferring a stake in the future revenue of the
projects, while some coins equate its value to usage within its ecosystem; the
more adoption the coin gets, the higher its value will be

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 18

ICO's are comparatively short and the bidding can be over
in minutes in some cases
▪ Traditional IPO issuance can be a lengthy process, due to the requirement of
legal and compliance processes
▪ From getting approval through the regulatory authorities to the IPO itself, it can take up
to 4-6 months.
▪ The entire ICO process is much shorter in duration
▪ The duration depends on the nature and timeline of the project itself
▪ Once a white paper is conceived and a smart contract for the crowdsale is
finalized, the crowdsale can begin
▪ The length of the crowdsale can be dependent on reaching the maximum hard cap, or a
fixed sale duration, which usually lasts from a few days to a month or two

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 19

ICO's are accessible to anyone over the Internet

▪ IPOs are often allocated only to institutional investors such as investment

banks, mutual funds, and endowments
▪ Sometimes, only a small portion is allocated to retail investors
▪ We can only buy the stocks once they are traded on exchanges

▪ Literally, anyone can participate in an ICO; all you need is the base currency of
either Bitcoin or Ether, and you can convert them into the ICO token
▪ This level playing field empowers the masses to participate in investments that
can potentially earn them multiples over their capital

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 20

Key Characteristics of an ICO

▪ The prices of an ICO are usually set by the creators of

the economy, decentralized autonomous organization
(DAO), or project
▪ The crowdsale may have multiple rounds of fundraising
with token/coin offerings
▪ Early investors are likely to have greater rewards
embedded within their tokens as an incentive
▪ The value of the offered cryptocurrency tokens will increase in
value until the release date
▪ It will conclude once the coins or cryptocurrency tokens
are tradable in the open market
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 21
Key Characteristics of an ICO

▪ The creation of coin/token is defined prior to sale

▪ After the final token sale, in some cases all the unsold
tokens are burned
▪ The investors have no right to vote on the direction of a
project
▪ Early investors have the right to give input throughout the
lifespan of the project
▪ The ICO generally sells participation in an economy of
the project
▪ The ICO will tend to be open from between a few days to
a month or two
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 22
 Beginners Guide to Raising Money via Initial Coin Offerings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v-jrgRZ8hw

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 23

ICO White Paper

© 2020 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 24

 A white paper on ICO is a document that informs
investors, enthusiasts, and traders of an
organization’s initiative to launch their
cryptocurrency, the inherent crypto problem the
new cryptocurrency is likely going to solve, and the
strategies the organization has mapped out to
enable them solve the problem.

© 2020 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 25

Why the new token, what challenges are addressed, and
what strategies to adopt are the key questions to answer
▪ In the white paper, key questions about the project will be answered
▪ What is the new crypto?
▪ The inherent crypto market challenge (e.g. centralisation of exchanges)
▪ How will the new crypto tackle the challenge?
▪ The strategies (or roadmap) the organisation is taking to address it
▪ Milestones achieved thus far in the course of tackling the challenge
▪ A cryptocurrency white paper is a technical paper but writers are advised in their
interests to keep the paper simple and understandable
▪ If you wish to publish a more technical document, you can release a yellow
paper

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 26

More specific questions that the white paper needs to
answer
1) Why ICO and not a normal fundraiser?
2) What amount is estimated to accomplish the project?
3) How long will the campaign run?
4) What blockchain will host the token and how can the tokens be bought?
5) What is the number of tokens produced?
6) What happens to unsold tokens (any)?
7) What type of currency (fiat currency or cryptocurrency) will be accepted in exchange for
the tokens?
8) What is the cost of token in fiat currency?
9) What does the organisation plan to do with the fund realised from the ICO?
10) What steps have been taken thus far to acquire the required funds?
11) What do investors stand to benefit?
12) Who are the team members?

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 27

Other considerations to include

▪ Detail the token smart contract

▪ How many tokens are being issued and how many are being sold in the ICO?
▪ Are the tokens being sold in stages or all at once?
▪ It you are selling in stages or withholding token, explain why
▪ What currency you will accept during ICO?
▪ In most ICO’s, both fiat currencies & the world’s leading cryptocurrencies are accepted
▪ How will individuals participate? Are all individuals welcome to participate,
regardless of jurisdiction?
▪ When will the issuance run?
▪ Will the token be listed on an exchange?
▪ Are there any special token-holder rights?
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 28
There is no standard ICO process

Come up Prepare a Advertise Create Go live

with an idea roadmap ICO tokens

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Build a team Prepare a Launch Register with

white paper ICO exchanges

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 29

Case Study: Gnosis ICO

© 2020 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 30

On May 2, 2017, Gnosis raised US$12.5M in its GNO token
ICO that ended in merely 15 minutes
▪ Founded in 2015, the Gnosis prediction market platform was one of the first
projects backed by the Ethereum-focused incubator, ConsenSys
▪ The prediction market platform is designed to trade outcome of events
https://coincentral.com/gnosis-gno-beginners-guide/

▪ GNO is an Ethereum-based native token for the Gnosis platform

▪ The primary use case of GNO is to generate OWL tokens via staking
https://blog.gnosis.pm/owl-token-use-cases-6094027ecb37

▪ The total supply of GNO is fixed at 10M tokens https://blog.gnosis.pm/wiz-turns-owl-813555100010

▪ In 2017, the ICO for the GNO token, raised 250,000 ETH (~US$12.5M) by
selling 4% of its supply and the sale ended in under 15 minutes
https://gnosis.io/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtF8d9ZB4Wo
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 31
 0.04178888 BTC

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 32

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 33
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 34
 Contents

▪ Executive Summary
▪ Roadmap
▪ Platform Model
▪ Gnosis Products
▪ Ongoing Research
▪ Building on Gnosis
▪ Legal Consideration
▪ Leadership
https://gnosis.io/pdf/gnosis-whitepaper.pdf
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 35
Gnosis did a very smart token sale through the use of
reverse Dutch auction
▪ While there were many crowdsales in the Ethereum space
(from Augur to Golem), Gnosis put together a different auctioning system
▪ The idea behind the "Dutch-style auctioning system" was for the tokens to
grow less expensive over time, thereby encouraging investors to buy in later,
prolonging the time it would take for users to buy up all the tokens
▪ But, that’s not what happened
▪ Further, Gnosis did not add any cap on the amount of tokens to be sold, as is
typical for other projects
▪ Rather, the sale was scheduled to end once US$12.5M was raised or 9M GNO
tokens were sold
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 36
 Reverse Dutch auction is
Auctioneer sets initial high price po and starts the clock
simple and transparent
po _ ●
t
po δ
po-δ _ ● Auctioneer solicits bids from ▪ An artificially high price (po)
po-2δ
_ ●
buyers by reducing the price at
clock speed δ/t
where demand is believed to be
_ zero
po-3δ ●
_ ▪ At publicly known time interval
Price

po-4δ ●
po-5δ
_ ●
(t), the price ticks down in
publicly known price value (δ)
po-6δ _ ●

po-7δ
_ ● ● pe ▪ The price continues to tick down
First bidder becomes the winning bidder
po-8δ
_ with bid price pe and ends the auction
until the first bid is received
| | | | | | | | | | ▪ The auction ends immediately
0 t 2t 3t 4t 5t 6t 7t 8t 9t
Time
and the bidder wins the goods at
that price point (pe)
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 37
GNO used an exponential function for price falling and sales
volume / funding amount for auction termination

Market Cap

An exponential function
for price falling

https://blog.gnosis.pm/why-so-complicated-ddff533c5620 https://blog.gnosis.pm/introducing-the-gnosis-token-launch-1e1552b04bfb
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 38
The token price was determined by the final lowest price
before auction termination, which set the price for all bidders

Bids can be placed at any

price point / time before
auction termination

Bids will receive more tokens as the price falls with time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBF8s3FZnX0&t=7s
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 39
Other ICO Pricing Models

© 2020 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 40

 Without the
knowledge of the
price (assuming the Alice: 6 ETH
number of tokens for Bob: 3 ETH
Sam: 1 ETH
sale is known), the
What will be the
only way to share of each
“outsmart” other investor?

purchasers is to
invest more

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 41

 ALTERNATIVE PRICING MODELS
With alternative
pricing models,
purchase price
changes as the
token sale
progresses.

This way
purchasers get
some
understanding on
how the market
perceives the
project, before
making a
purchase.
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 42
The decision on investment cap has important implications
on the project’s valuation too
IS INVESTMENT CAPPED?
YES NO
Certainty of valuation Can lead to better token distribution

Possible token distribution concentration Dilution in valuation

Generally, less attractive to investors

▪ Successfully raising an amount determined by cap shows the market’s

confidence and the team’s discipline
▪ Not setting a cap, on the other hand, protects the project from the shame of not
raising a lot, in a pessimistic scenario, and, vice versa, lets all funds in, in case
of high demand
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 43
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 44
It is expected that more ICOs would implement both price
and cap mechanisms to ensure wide participation
▪ The substance is in
▪ Letting extra time for smaller investors to get in
▪ Making a cap hard to figure out
▪ Slicing the cap in smaller lots

▪ May take various forms, some of them do result in a broader token distribution
▪ With more ICOs coming into pipeline, we would expect that more of them implement
both price and cap mechanisms ensuring wide participation
▪ Otherwise, no matter how you call it, if a crowd sale results in 30% of tokens in one
third-party address, it is rather a club sale and that is not the ecosystem is about

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 45

 Uncapped Capped
First-Come First-Served
◦ An unlimited number of tokens is sold ◦ A fixed number of tokens is sold at a
at a fixed price over an extended fixed price on a first-come, first-served
period (FCFS) basis until all tokens are sold
◦ All buyers can buy as many tokens as ◦ There is a cap on the amount raised
they desire (expressed as a cap on the number of
tokens to be sold)
◦ No cap on the amount raised
◦ Insiders are allocated a fixed
◦ Insiders (i.e. foundation, investors percentage of the total token supply
and/or development team) are
allocated a fixed percentage of the The most common structure. Some sales
total token supply provide a discount for a limited period.

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 46

 Capped with Parcel Limit Capped with Re-distribution

◦ A fixed number of tokens is sold at a ◦ A fixed number of tokens is sold at a

fixed price on a first-come, first-served fixed price, in proportion with each
(FCFS) basis until all tokens are sold buyer’s pledged total spend
◦ There is a limit on the total amount that ◦ Buyers bid a desired total spend
each buyer can buy
◦ There is a cap on the amount raised
◦ There is a cap on the amount raised
◦ Buyers’ excess payments are refunded
◦ Insiders are allocated a fixed
◦ Insiders are allocated a fixed
percentage of the total token supply
percentage of the total token supply
Promote a wider distribution of tokens,
preventing concentration in the hands of Guarantees that everyone can participate
‘whales’, while also selling a fixed number to some extent.
of tokens with a capped raise.
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 47
 Capped Auction Uncapped Auction

◦ Buyers bid a desired price & total spend ◦ Buyers bid a desired price & quantity of
tokens
◦ A variable number of tokens are
actually sold, at the lowest successful ◦ A fixed number of tokens are sold to
bid price, in proportion with each the bidders in descending price order
buyer’s pledged total spend until all tokens are sold
◦ Can be a dutch auction or a blind ◦ No cap on the amount raised
auction
◦ Insiders are allocated a fixed
◦ There is a cap on the amount raised percentage of the total token supply
◦ Insiders are allocated a variable
percentage of the total token supply, Is there a cap on the number of tokens
depending on how many tokens are to be issued?
sold in the sale
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 48
What are the objectives of a token sale?

▪ Raise a capped amount

▪ Sell a fixed percentage of total token supply
▪ Enable buyers to buy an ascertainable percentage of the total token supply
▪ Distribute tokens widely
▪ Guarantee that all buyers will get some tokens
▪ Sell tokens at the market value

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 49

How do token sale models stack up against the objectives?

Re-distribution
Capped FCFS

Capped with

Capped with
Parcel Limit
Uncapped

Uncapped
Objective

Auction

Auction
Capped
Raise a capped amount
Sell a fixed percentage of total token supply
Distribute tokens widely
Sell tokens at the market value
Guarantee that all buyers will get some tokens
Enable buyers to buy an ascertainable percentage of
the total token supply
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 50
How do token sale structures stack up against the
objectives?

Re-distribution
Capped FCFS

Capped with

Capped with
Parcel Limit
Uncapped

Uncapped
Objective

Auction

Auction
Capped
Raise a capped amount ✓  ✓  ✓ ✓
Sell a fixed percentage of total token supply ✓    ✓ ✓
Distribute tokens widely  some   some ✓
Sell tokens at the market value   ✓ ✓  
Guarantee that all buyers will get some tokens  ✓   ✓ 
Enable buyers to buy an ascertainable percentage of ✓   ✓  ✓
the total token supply
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 51
Tracking ICO's & Performance

© 2020 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 52

 https://icomarks.com/icos?status=upcoming&whitelist=&kyc=&bounty=&mvp=

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 53

 https://elementus.io/token-sales-history

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 54

 https://coinmarketcap.com/coins/

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 55

 https://coinmarketcap.com/tokens/

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 56

Issues with ICO

© 2020 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 57

Issues with ICOs

▪ Almost no government regulation/enforcement & no qualification process

▪ ICOs have been prone to scams and securities law violations
▪ Fewer than half of all ICOs survive four months after the offering while almost half of ICOs
sold in 2017 failed by February 2018
▪ On January 30, 2018, Facebook banned ICO advertisements as well as those
for cryptocurrencies and binary options
▪ By April 9, 2018, ICO advertising has been banned also by Twitter, Google, and MailChimp
▪ Facebook has since changed their mind and June 26, 2018 announced to reopen for approved advertisers
▪ Snapchat, LinkedIn, Baidu, Tencent, Weibo, Line, and Yandex all have limited companies from
marketing ICOs via their platforms

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 58

ICOs are banned in China

▪ On September 4, 2017, Chinese financial regulators officially banned all ICOs

within the country, demanding that the proceeds from all past ICOs be refunded
to investors or face being severely punished according to the law
▪ The action by Chinese regulators resulted in large sell-offs for most cryptocurrencies
▪ Prior to the Chinese ban, ICOs had raised nearly US$400 million from about
100,000 Chinese investors
▪ A week later, however a Chinese financial official stated on Chinese national TV
that the ban on ICOs is only temporary until ICO regulatory policies are in place

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 59

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 60
Fraudulent ICOs

Nature Signs Cases

▪ Fabricate a fake ICO, create ▪ Copied whitepaper ▪ Cryptocurrency start-up Confido
marketing hype, persuade people disappeared with US$375,000
▪ Anonymous team (management,
to buy from an ICO
lawyers, bankers, IT teams)
(https://medium.com/@cryptoann
▪ Seen as a quick & innovative ▪ Unusual hurry in execution a/confido-the-latest-
way to kickstart a company
▪ Mismatch of written & said words cryptocurrency-scam-
▪ Ethereum has become the 82aecfc896a1)
breeding ground for these ▪ Ignoring hard questions
▪ Benebit ICO does a runner with
fraudulent ICOs ▪ No strong reason for the token US$2.7 million of investor funds
▪ It is the ignorance of new economy (https://news.bitcoin.com/benebit-
investors who dream of huge ▪ No roadmap ico-runner-2-7-million-investor-
gains in a matter of days by funds/)
holding worthless ICO tokens ▪ Jurisdictions that have little to no
investor protection rights

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 61

References

© 2020 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 62

References

The Crowdfunding Handbook, Gnosis Whitepaper,

Cliff Ennico, 2016 Gnosis, 2017
https://gnosis.io/pdf/gnosis-whitepaper.pdf
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 63
References

A Guide to Writing Cryptocurrency White Art of the Initial Coin Offering,

Papers, Paschal Words, 2018 Andrew J. Chapin, 2017

© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 64

References

ICO Tutorial: 3 to 1 Guide of Analyzing Token Sale Models,

How to Create Your Own ICO, Vitalik Buterin, 2017
Manos Paraskevas, 2017 https://vitalik.ca/general/2017/06/09/sales.html
© 2021 Daniel K.C. Chan. All rights reserved. ICO ISEM4035 65
Thank you