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2018 is upon us, and the cryptomarket has yet to collapse, the bitcoin bubble did not burst, and companies like Telegram and Kodak are planning on holding ICOs. Companies that held IPOs don’t want to stop at that and are staging ICOs. For example, the Naga group, a German fintech company that managed to be listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange. This company held the fastest German IPO in the last 15 years, and a successful ICO too. The market is continuing to develop despite current issues.
New projects will appear in the new year, with good ideas and business models, which can definitely draw the interest of not only experienced ICO and cryptocurrency investors, but new entrants into the cryptomarket as well, which at the moment, invest only in Ether, Ripple, and other obvious cryptoassets for the most part.
In this article I would like to highlight a few ICO projects, which, in my opinion, deserve attention. In order to select a prospective ICO, it is important to evaluate the project from different angles, starting from the site and the Whitepaper, ending with the business model, the need and use for its token.
KODAKOne
One of the most well known producers of photography equipment around the world declared its ICO launch date to be on the 31st of January, 2018, blowing up the cryptocurrency market with this news. And that’s why I just had to include this ICO in our review.
Business model
KODAK (a world renown producer of photography equipment) announced that it will be creating KODAKone, a Blockchain platform for managing images, with an internal currency known as the Kodak Coin. The platform will allow one to inexpensively register, exchange, and sell digital images. KODAKOne is offering a simple, blockchain based, and licensed payment system through the use of smart — contracts.
Token
- Utility-token.
- Platforms internal currency.
Benefits
- A legendary company, whose token might grow simply on the account of Kodak’s reputation.
- A target audience of photographers, which will be genuinely interested in the development of the project.
- Effectiveness and transparency of the platform.
Drawbacks
- Investors have an overly optimistic disposition towards this project, which might lead to an unreasonable inflation of the token price.
Verdict
Kodak definitely deserves the attention of any investor. The company’s long history of experience on the global market is reason enough to expect future success from the projects. Tokens will see demand on the platform, since it solves the issues of many photographers — the target audience of the project.
- Big potential.
- High level of trust in the project.
- Optimal share of tokens in a portfolio — 15%.
Date
31 January — ICO
Safinus
At the start of 2018 there were not so many fintech projects gearing up for ICOs. At that, a huge amount of decentralized gaming, crowdfunding, real estate, data storage, and even energy generating platforms deserve attention.
But, it’s quite difficult to understand which project should be analyzed first. One of the reasons as to why I picked this platform is because its related to ICO projects which help develop the cryptoindustry, at the same time demonstrating the best financial indicators. Also, as a trader, I am naturally interested in testing out their platform for myself.
Business Model
The main goal of the project is to create a platform for investing in cryptoassets for experienced and professional cryptomarket participants as well as new entrants.
The idea of the project consists out of a platform where professional investors (portfolio managers) can create investment portfolios composed of cryptocurrencies and ICOs. And a newbie investor can pick a fitting portfolio of an experienced trader and join it with his funds, after which he can get profits proportionate to his invested funds.
All ICOs placed on that platform will be selected by users via voting, this will impede bad actors in the market and increase investment security.
SAF Token
- Utility-token.
- 200 SAF-tokens give an opportunity to open a portfolio on the platform.
Benefits
- The platform is providing a quality solution for the issue of its target audience: experienced and professional cryptomarket participants as well as new entrants, which will positively impact the demand for the platform’s services.
- Realization of its own decentralized exchange.
- High popularity and profitability of fintech projects.
Drawbacks
- Existing competitors that have a similar business model. However, the platform’s offered functionality should allow it to create its own niche in the market.
Verdict
The Safinus project attracts attention because of its solutions for the issues of its target audience. The mechanism of trusted management, and a voting system that can solve a lot of the issues affecting experienced investors, professionals, and new investors.
- Big potential.
- Foreseeably high profitability of fintech projects.
- Optimal share of tokens in a portfolio 5–10%.
Date
23 January — pre-sale.
LalaWorld
It should be noted that global fintech projects frequently attract investor attention since the profits from them are frequently high.
Let’s look at the LaLaWorld project, an ICO which started on the 5th of January, 2018. The company not only closed its pre-sale successfully but finished its ICO in a short period of time.
Business Model
The main goal of the project is to create an ecosystem which will grant access to financial and banking services to migrants and to unbanked people, as well as to allow these individuals to create a community which aids in the solving of not only financial, but everyday life issues too. The project is creating a digital wallet as well as its own hardware (smartphone, sim card, and debit card).
LaLa Token
- Utility-token.
- Provides bonuses and discounts for participants.
- Gives benefits to partners.
- Used for P2PÂ lending.
- Will grow alongside the development of the project.
Benefits
- Wide target audience range (2 billion people around the whole world).
- A quality, integrated solution for an issue.
- Creation of their own hardware.
Drawbacks
- High risks, tied to counterparty activities.
- High legal risks.
- Low literacy of target audience.
Current situation
The project’s crowdsale was supposed to continue on into February, however, due to a well-held marketing campaign and high project perspectives, the ICO closed on the 14th of January. Though, it should be noted that LaLaWorld has a few competitors with similar business-model. Almost all tokens demonstrate high growth until January 2018. From an analysis of competitor token price dynamics, we can draw a conclusion that, perhaps, the LaLa-token will see a similar trend. In this case, it makes sense to buy this token after it hits crypto exchanges.
Verdict
Despite the fact that the project’s ICO is completed, its worth considering buying these tokens on a cryptoexchange. The LaLaWorld project is very global, targeting not only economic but social problems as well. It should be noted that the project has a strong team and big partnership network. The project is looking to be quite prospective and an attractive investment.
- Big potential.
- High risk level.
- Optimal share of tokens in an investors portfolio, 5–10%.
Date
ICO ended (20,200,000 USD)
Bluzelle
Business Model
The project is attempting to create a decentralized blockchain database, which any PC owner can connect to. Tokens can be earned by offering up some space on one’s computer, and product users will be able to pay for placing info and data in the projects system.
BLZ token
- Utility token
- Exchange for internal BNTÂ tokens.
BNT token
- Token of the internal platform, cheap and fast.
- Payment method on the platform.
Benefits
- Faster and cheaper transactions on the platform.
- Privacy guarantee.
- High reliability.
- Low costs (participant computer resources).
Drawbacks
- Large amounts of competitors.
- The complexity of using two functional tokens could scare off investors.
Verdict
A system of two tokens being offered by the Bluzelle project should significantly cheapen and simplify the process of storing and managing information. It should be noted that the projects White List is already closed. Everything is hinting towards the project gathering its planned sum, and the projects tokens will be in demand.
- Big potential.
- Optimal share of tokens in a portfolio — 5%.
Date
23 January — ICO (1 White List group).
Ink Protocol
Another decentralized platform, which is a marketplace at the moment. The project gathered 3.5 million dollars on a closed presale.
Business Model
Buyers and sellers will be able to see counterparty ratings and use escrow services on a decentralized platform. Ink Protocol positions itself as a platform for any peer-2-peer transactions. The platform can be integrated into any marketplace.
Token
- Utility token.
- Internal currency of the platform.
Benefits
- Actualization of decentralization in the marketing sphere.
- A quality, integrated solution for the issues of a marketplace.
- Opportunity to integrate the platform with all existing marketplaces.
Drawbacks
- Big amount of competitors, might slow down the development of the platform.
Verdict
Ink Protocol is offering an integrated solution for solving existing marketplace issues connected to scam activities. Moreso, the integration of its platform with other, existing, marketplace might guarantee success in terms of the platforms functionality and its popularity, which will lead to token growth.
- Lots of potential
- The possibility of significantly increasing the amount of users on the platform.
- Optimal share of tokens in a portfolio — 10%.
Date
23 January — pre-sale.
Private sale ended (3,500,000 USD).
Conclusion
So, the ICO market, despite a dip towards the end of 2017, is continuing to develop in astronomical proportions. A huge new amount of projects is appearing, some of which definitely deserve the attention of investors.
I tried to point out a few 2018 projects which are promising to be prospective. However, it’s important to remember that investing in the cryptocurrency market carries increased risks. Thus, when investing in an ICO, one should be particularly careful in order to not land on an empty project.
The 5 Most prospective ICOs for investing in 2018 was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.