I have a portfolio of over 30 crypto currencies. Of these 30 not a single one of them is an Ethereum Internet Coin Offering (ICO). I have many reservations about these deals, not to mention the overhyped returns of Ethereum which may be a bubble. Some of the ICO tokens seem developed merely to enrich the promoters at the expense of ordinary investors who don't yet have the expertise to vet deals. The Youtube video below offers similar sentiments:
This article is a good overview of factors to consider to avoid investing in scam ICOs.
ICO Buyer Beware - VC Fred Wilson
Six key ideas are paraphrased from the above article by venture capitalist Fred Wilson.
What is the amount being raised? Many ICOs raise far more capital than they need. Other factors being equal you want a lean management that changes the world on a shoestring budget.
What is the opportunity and can you explain it in simple terms? There needs to be real utility offered by the token, not another me too token that merely rehashes the Ford Model T.
What is the valuation of the crypto token? This should be expressed as market capitalization, not price since the market cap can be distorted by high circulating share counts. And how does number this compare with the perceived valuation 5-10 years out?
If the deal walks, talks and quacks like a scam, then it is scam. Scamming exists in all forms of investing: IPOs, penny stocks, slot machines, etc. Slots aren't investing technically, but the expected returns are surely negative.
Is the technology operational? Or does the crypto token only have a white paper and no technology? The chances of success diminish if you allocate capital to a blue print.
How much of a factor is greed in the investment? If the primary reason for investing is because all your friends are in knee deep that's a bad sign and its worth taking a pause.
The following two articles offer a very critical view of two recent ICOs including an exhaustive review of potential problems with these deals, including Bancor and Patientory.
ICO Patientory 7 red flags - Reddit
Bancor is flawed - Hacking Distributed
My suggestion for investors is to consider ICOs only after the deal blows up and you can purchase the tokens at a 90% discount. At that point the hype premium may be gone and you may have a promising investment. As always I would be delighted to hear back from investors.