IDOs: The Rise of the Initial Decentralized Offering
First came ICOs. Then came STOs. Then IEOs. Now there are IDOs. The evolution of digital asset offerings has regressed into a morass of acronyms that make the space confusing and unapproachable for most. Let’s fix that problem, decipher the jargon around these new issuances, and discuss the first two IDOs: Raven and Cubiex.
ICOs
An ICO is an Initial Coin Offering. This is when a cryptocurrency is sold to the public for the first time. Most coins released in the past five years have had some sort of ICO.
STOs
The STO (Security Token Offering) is slightly different from ICO in that it is classified as a ‘security’. These are also coins, but unlike a traditional ICO, they will not have a utility. Rather, they will be closer to an equity of traditional financial instrument, except they are issued on a blockchain.
IEOs
The Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) is not really an different from an ICO. In both methods of fundraising a token is sold to help raise money. The difference comes in the sales mechanism. An ICO is held directly
The first IEO was actually in the first half of 2018 and was held on the Quione Exchange (since renamed to Liquid). However, the IEO didn’t really begin to take off until the latter half of 2018 when they became very popular on Korean exchanges. This year, the Binance Launchpad became the premier destination for IEOs. Projects launched via Launchpad all did exceedingly well on the secondary market post-launch.
IDOs
This brings us to the newly christened ‘IDO’, which stands for ‘Initial Decentralized Offering’. Despite the newfangled name, the only real difference between an IEO and IDO is the launch place. Whereas an IEO is launched on a centralized exchange (e.g. Binance), an IDO is launched on a decentralized exchange. Once again, Binance is leading the charge, although with its decentralised exchange known as Binance DEX.
In June 2019, the first IDO was held on Binance DEX, which was for Ravencoin. The IDO was a success with $500K USD raised. As of July 14th, the price of RVN tokens remains at 2.5X above the IDO price. This counts as a success for all participants.
Cubiex
The next IDO is a project called Cubiex (full disclosure — I am an advisor for Cubiex). Cubiex has taken on Sherman Lee from Revancoin as an advisor to help structure an IDO on the Binance DEX. Cubiex has built an e-gaming social network that allows gamers to connect with each other. The CEO of the project Pierre Chahine is a gamer himself, so he understands what gamers want when it comes to out of game experiences. The product is already quite far along and looks good.
Participants in the Cubiex IDO will directly support the development and release of the Cubiex platform. For this reason alone, I would encourage those interested to check out the Cubiex Whitepaper and register for KYC on Binance DEX.