ICO attracts the attention of investors who hope to get quick cash with few regulations. They invest in the hope to reap big profits and get ICO tokens for their monetary contribution. Read this article to find out about possible pitfalls awaiting investors and what you can do to avoid them.
How ICO works?
ICO is a form of fundraising based on the blockchain that is still not regulated by financial bodies. It allows raising money fast for the development of the project without bureaucratic hurdles that are often the case with IPOs. It would be impossible to implement many projects initiated by startups without ICOs and using only traditional methods of financing.
Seeking fast profits, investors study various ICO token lists to determine promising projects and look out for the benefits promised by startups. However, it’s not the benefits they should look at to identify the signs of the best ICO to invest in. It’s security and other features of cryptocurrency ICO campaigns that matter first hand.
ICO scams – why should you verify ICO before investing?
Despite all benefits of the ICO fundraising method, the lack of regulation on the part of the state and financial organizations has turned ICO into a popular tool among fraudsters and swindlers. Verification of ICO is a necessary step for investors who don’t want to lose their assets when pursuing rewards. The Cryptocurrency Scam Report made by Bolster, an agency aiming to reduce the amount of fraud on the internet with the help of AI, has revealed that less than 3% of blockchain projects are audited at all.
Though it can be hard to understand all details when making a coin ICO review, there are some features that help to distinguish real projects, which don’t use fraudulent schemes to pump the value of the token.
But even honest ICOs face security risks. Taking into account that the exchanges offering custody of assets are frequently hacked, the risks get even higher. According to the report made by the consultancy firm Ernst and Young in 2018, 10% of capital raised during ICOs from 2015 and 2017 was stolen via blockchain hacks. In this way, investors lost 400 million USD in crypto attacks during that period.
Decentralized Finance or shortly DeFi that has come in place of ICOs in 2020 also suffers from security breaches. Another report conducted by CypherTrace in May 2021 reveals that DeFi-related hacks and fraud keep on growing.
CipherTrace: the blockchain industry remains as insecure as ever
What ICO review websites offer?
There are many ICO review sites over the web that can be very helpful for investors who need to find a quality ICO. But is their approach comprehensive enough to determine the scam ICO?
A huge selection of ICO rating sites is a little confusing for both ICO founders and ICO investors. The good thing about these resources is that ICOs added on these platforms are reviewed by professionals in the industry and then graded to make it easier for investors to see the top ICO list. Good and trustworthy projects should be visible, while shady ICOs should remain in the darkness. So these services perform a very good job examining and evaluating numerous projects that rely on monetary support from non-savvy investors.
Their in-depth reviews are indeed impressive, but there is still one aspect omitted on ICO listing sites. Although the most advanced services may even analyze the mechanics of value drivers behind the token price, they still don’t examine the code of these projects. Therefore, they may be useful for those who want to be aware of the upcoming ICO list and other news, but they can’t be relied on as comprehensive investment guidance. Even a small error in the code of the blockchain protocol can lead to money loss.
What does TokenGuard offers?
In contrast to the best ICO websites, a technical analysis provided by TokenGuard delivers comprehensive research for you to see a complete picture of the ICO campaign and its token. This is the first security tool backed by the experts from BlockHunters provides automated technical verification of specified token without any need for coding knowledge – just type in the token address and wait for a report.
Potential investors can hardly ever be knowledgeable in coding to find out if there are bugs in the code of the platform. Tokenguard verifies the code of the token in search of well-known bugs and thus saves your funds. In addition, the team plans to expand functionality by adding such useful features as team verification and experts’ comments on projects reviewed on the platform.
