14 Upcoming ICOs to Invest in 2024

ICOs (initial coin offerings) allow you to invest in new cryptocurrencies before they trade on exchanges. Not only will you be able to invest in a new project from the ground up – but ICOs typically offer a discount to early investors.

The challenging part is knowing which ICOs to invest in. In this guide, we reveal 14 upcoming ICOs that could produce significant gains.

The 14 Best Upcoming ICOs to Watch

Below you’ll find the 14 best upcoming ICOs for maximum upside potential:

  1. Smog ($SMOG) – Best upcoming ICO on Solana with massive airdrop rewards and 42% staking APY.
  2. Sponge V2 ($SPONGE)A continuation of the Sponge Meme Coin Saga, Rooted in ‘SpongeBob’ Nostalgia. This innovative platform skips the usual ICO, offering a stake-to-bridge model for V2 tokens. With a target to hit tier 1 CEXs, it offers over 2,300% APY and is already staking nearly 700 million tokens, aiming for substantial market impact.
  3. Bitcoin Minetrix (BTCMTX)A brand new presale allows for Bitcoin mining through Ethereum, in an eco-friendly and low-cost stake-to-earn ecosystem through a unified dashboard interface. This ICO offers high PoS yields with income from both staking and mining.
  4. Meme Kombat (MK) – New ICO with blockchain-assisted meme vs meme combat and multiple betting options on fight outcomes. This ERC20 PoS coin offers 112% APY and has high levels of overall transparency, along with offering a revolutionary new paradigm in the meme coin industry.
  5. eTukTuk (TUK) – There are millions of tuk-tuks in the developing world contributing to rising pollution levels. eTukTuk has created an affordable and green alternative – electric vehicle tuk-tuks made with sustainable materials. It’s also developing a network of charging stations. It will initially roll out in Sri Lanka before expanding into other regional locations. The eTukTuk ICO is in stage one, so you’ll currently get the lowest price possible.
  6. Scorpion Casino (SCORP) – With a market size of over $90 billion annually, Scorpion Casino is revolutionizing a major industry. Its decentralized casino allows players to gamble cryptocurrencies on slots, table games, sports betting, and more. It comes as no surprise that Scorpion Casino’s ICO has already raised nearly $1 million. The ICO is offering a 194% upside based on current prices, plus staking rewards and free casino bonuses.
  7. Chimpzee (CHMPZ) – This newly launched ICO is attracting waves of sustainable investors. It’s a win-win situation for CHMPZ holders, as passive income can be earned while helping endangered animals. Not to mention deforestation. Rewards come from staking pools, play-to-earn games, and an NFT marketplace. Sustainable merchandise will also be sold. This ICO is offering an 85% upside based on current and exchange-listing prices.
  8. Patex (PATEX) – This upcoming ICO is building a layer 2 blockchain for the Latin American region. It will support cross-chain functionality and enable citizens to combat ever-rising inflation levels. It uses a proof-of-value consensus model that will reward users as they engage with the network. The Patex ICO is scheduled for September 15, 2023. It has a modest fundraising goal of just $200,000.
  9. Stabble (STB) – Stabble is building a cross-chain decentralized finance platform for layer-1 networks. It’s currently powered by Solana, Sei, Cosmos, and Nitro – but more networks will be added. Key features include cross-chain token swaps, smart order execution, and margin liquidity.  The Stabble ICO campaign will take place in late October 2023. It’s initially looking to raise $50,000 – but additional funding rounds will follow. As such, this is the best chance to buy STB tokens at the lowest price possible.
  10. Kryptview (KVT) – Kryptview is building a global data hub for the cryptocurrency trading markets. While its platform offers many features found on CoinMarketCap; Kryptview operates on a peer-to-peer basis. This means that data is extracted and packaged without human input – ensuring that it’s impartial and without agenda. The Kryptview ICO will commence in late November 2023, so you have plenty of time to register. The ICO will sell 12.5% of the total KVT supply and each token will cost $0.05.
  11. Bitfinder (BITF) – This new ICO project is building the future of search engine technology. More specifically, it’s creating a decentralized search engine aimed specifically at crypto and blockchain-related queries.  Its ICO will take place in October 2023 and an initial fundraising goal of $600,000 has been set. While stage one investors will pay just $0.01 per BITF, this increases to $0.07 in the final round.
  12. Mar3 AI (MAR3) – Mar3 AI has bridged the gap between artificial intelligence and marketing. It enables users to build instant marketing campaigns through simple text prompts. Users can also generate social media ads, not to mention unique images and videos. Its AI ecosystem is backed by MAR3 tokens, which will be sold to ICO investors on October 18, 2023. $150,000 will be raised at an ICO price of $0.022 per MAR3.
  13. AiMalls (AIT) – Another AI-centric ICO to keep an eye on is AiMalls. It’s leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to offer a Web 3.0 shopping experience. The technology learns the user’s unique interests and preferences before suggesting suitable products. AiMalls is also aimed at merchants who want to sell their products in the Web 3.0 era. AIT tokens sit at the heart of the AiMalls ecosystem. AiMalls’s ICO will take place in mid-October, with $100,000 initially being raised.
  14. Spin (SPIN) – Spin is developing a decentralized trading platform on the NEAR blockchain. This will provide traders with a fast, efficient, and cost-effective way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Aimed at experienced traders, Spin will support high-level charts and technical indicators, plus on-chain order books. The Spin ICO will take place in Q4 2023. There are three stages to the ICO, which aims to raise $3.15 million.

The projects on the above upcoming ICO list are reviewed in the following sections of this guide.

Reviewing The Top New Crypto ICOs

You’ll need to consider the risks before investing in new crypto ICOs. While some ICOs go on to generate gains of over 10,000% – others crash and burn. Below, we examine the 14 best upcoming ICOs for 2024.

1. Smog ($SMOG) – Best Upcoming ICO on Solana With Massive Airdrop Rewards And A 42% staking APY

Smog ($SMOG) is a hot new meme crypto on the Solana chain aiming to recreate the success and even surpass predecessors like Bonk, Myro, and Dogwifhat. 

Launched on Jupiter DEX on February 7, 2024, its price skyrocketed by 2000% within a week, highlighting its growth potential. 

Smog’s offers a fair launch without a presale, promoting equal investor access and increasing its credibility.

Smog Presale

The ‘Greatest SOL Airdrop’ is a key feature, with 490 million of the 1.4 billion total supply allocated for rewards. Participants can earn airdrop points through social media engagement and on-chain activities such as buying, holding, and staking. 

The platform has dedicated 50% of its supply to marketing and 35% to the airdrop campaign to build a strong community and drive token success.

Smog also offers a 42% APY staking yield with a 90-day lock-in period, promoting long-term investment. Moreover, a bridge to Ethereum has also been introduced, expanding its cross-chain accessibility.

Smog Presale

With 10% of the supply reserved for future centralized exchange listings and 5% for decentralized exchange liquidity, Smog is set for widespread adoption and trading.

Investors can stay updated on Smog’s developments and engage with its community by joining the Smog Telegram group and following it on X (Twitter).

Hard Cap N/A
Total Tokens 1.4 billion
Tokens available in presale Not a presale
Blockchain Solana
Token type SPL
Minimum Purchase None
Purchase with ETH, USDT, USDC, SOL or any other Solana-based token

2. Sponge V2 – Top Meme Coin ICO with Stake-to-Bridge Model, Over 2,300% APY, and Impressive Presale Momentum in the Crypto Market

After the resounding success of Sponge, the meme coin, which is based on the famous Nickelodeon TV character “SpongeBob,” is back with the V2 launch but with more fun and excitement. 

Sponge V2 Home Page

During the launch of the original Sponge in May 2023, the meme coin had a blast, having secured a 100x. Now, the project is all set to offer early adopters yet another opportunity to enjoy hilarious memes, community-building, and significant upside. After all, ‘tis the season of meme coins with BONK and WIF helping traders and investors make life-changing money in a matter of days. 

So, this upcoming ICO for you to invest in is Sponge V2, which is the continuation of Sponge V1, but instead of having a presale or ICO, it has developed a stake-to-bridge model for users to own Sponge V2 tokens.

As per this model, you need to first have Sponge V1 tokens, which, if you already own them, are great, and if you don’t, then you must buy them first. To buy V1 tokens, just go to the Sponge website and exchange your ETH or USDT for Sponge V1. Then, lock in your tokens permanently in the staking pool to get an equivalent amount of Sponge V2 tokens. These V1 tokens will continue to accrue V2 tokens for the next 4 years.

Sponge V2 tokens will be released after the stake-to-bridge phase is over, and then they will be listed on crypto exchanges, with the project aiming to have it on tier 1 CEXs. For this, 10% of the 150 billion total supply is reserved for CEX liquidity. 

As for the rest of the supply, 7.50% is set aside for marketing, and 26.93% is available for early investors. A major chunk of supply, i.e., 43.09%, is for staking rewards. This is why almost 700 million SPONGE tokens are already staked. The thing is, in addition to getting V2 tokens equal to your V1 tokens, you also earn V2 tokens at a variable APY, which is currently more than 2,300%. 

The team has also allocated 4.47% of SPONGE V2 supply for game development, while 8% is for P2E rewards. The Play-to-Earn (P2E) game the project is developing will bring additional utility to the token as users will be able to buy credits with SPONGE V2 as well as earn more tokens.

Sponge V2 Staking Interface

SPONGE V2 launch is coming at a time when the market is rejoicing in bullish momentum ahead of two biggest bullish events: the potential approval of the first Bitcoin Spot ETF in the US and Bitcoin halving, which can be the perfect catalyst for sending the entire market including Sponge V2 higher. 

So, this is the perfect time to get in early before SPONGE V2 potentially becomes the next billion-dollar meme coin. For real-time updates, you can join the Sponge V2 Telegram group or Discord channel. 

Hard Cap NA
Total Tokens 150 billion
Tokens available in presale Depends on Staking
Blockchain Ethereum
Token type ERC-20
Minimum Purchase None
Purchase with USDT, ETH, Card

3. Bitcoin Minetrix – Brand New ICO Revolutionizes BTC Mining With Eco-Friendly Stake-To-Mine Model

Bitcoin Minetrix ($BTCMTX) is at the cutting edge of Bitcoin mining, providing an opportunity for ordinary individuals to take advantage of rewards. This is relevant because the Bitcoin mining industry is dominated by a small number of centralized mining companies with expensive hardware. 

Bitcoin Minetrix $106K raisedRight now, it is difficult, if not impossible, for anybody to compete in the Bitcoin mining game. Bitcoin’s proof-of-work mining system is also extremely bad for the environment. This is where Bitcoin Minetrix steps in, providing an Ethereum-powered stake-to-mine system where users stake tokens, burn cloud mining credits, and receive rewards for doing so. 

Bitcoin hashing power is converted into rewards, but through an Ethereum architecture. This is a much more accessible and eco-friendly design. The entry cost is just $10 and all mining activity can be monitored from a single dashboard. It could not be easier to mine Bitcoin through this new presale. 

APY yields with this campaign are currently 77,112%, though such yields will likely go down drastically with time. The price per token is $0.011 and this will rise to $0.0119 in the final stage of the 10-stage presale. In terms of both APY reward and price entry, it’s better to get in early. There are a total of 4 billion $BTCMTX tokens, of which 2.8 billion are available in the presale. 

This is our top pick as a crypto presale. It has a unique concept that might be of interest to individuals who want to take part in BTC mining rewards. It also offers huge yields.

This campaign has also gone through an advanced manual smart contract audit, and zero issues were found.

More information can be obtained from the official Bitcoin Minetrix Whitepaper, as well as the project socials – Twitter and Telegram.

Hard Cap $32 Million
Total Tokens 4 Billion
Tokens available in presale 2.8 Billion
Blockchain Ethereum Network
Token type ERC-20
Minimum Purchase $10
Purchase with USDT, ETH, BNB

4. Meme Kombat ($MK) – Creative Ethereum-Based ICO With 112% APY, Meme Warfare, And Live Wagering

Meme Kombat ($MK) is a creative ICO project that offers meme vs meme fighting. This includes battles among the world’s most successful meme tokens; Doge vs Floki, Pepe vs Shiba Inu, Floki vs Sponge, etc.

Memes are known for their explosive popularity and many have online followings in the millions. Meme Kombat might benefit from some of this traffic, as it provides an exciting way to witness combat and possibly make an ROI from fight outcomes. This is one of few (if any) presales that aim to capture many memes under one roof.

Meme Kombat PresaleThere are many betting options available and Season One features eleven of the world’s most popular memes. More memes and betting features are likely to be added after Season One concludes and there will be special fights that take precedence over regular events. Aside from betting, the two main ways to make an income from Meme Kombat are staking (112%, at the present time) and price appreciation.

The token price is $0.1667 and there is a total of 120 million $MK tokens, for a hard cap of $10 million. It has raised over $600k so far. 50% of the overall supply (60 million) is available in the presale. Another 30% goes to staking and battle rewards, 10% to DEX liquidity, and 10% to community rewards.

So the founders have not kept anything to themselves. The founder can also be accessed on LinkedIn and Meme Kombat did very well in its smart contract audit. No critical issues were found within the codebase. In terms of overall project transparency, Meme Kombat is about as clean as it gets. Very few Web3 presales meet these criteria.

This project accepts ETH, USDT, or BNB in return for $MK.

But investors will need a compatible Web3 wallet, such as MetaMask or Wallet Connect, to finalize the transaction. 

Additional information can be obtained in the Meme Kombat Whitepaper, as well as the Telegram social account. 

Hard Cap $10 million
Total Tokens 120 million
Tokens available in presale 60 million
Blockchain Ethereum
Token type ERC20
Minimum Purchase $10
Purchase with USDT, ETH, BNB

5. eTukTuk – Help Combat Rising Carbon Emissions and Fuel Prices Through Sustainable EV Tuk-Tuks      

eTukTuk has a clear objective – to help combat rising carbon emissions and fuel prices in the developing world. In a nutshell, this new cryptocurrency project is developing a network of electric vehicle (EV) tuk-tuks. Currently, there are millions of tuk-tuks in the Asian and African economies releasing harmful gasses into the atmosphere.

In turn, there are increasing concerns about pollution and broader air quality. Moreover, the developing world is finding it more challenging to fuel their vehicles, considering record oil prices and a cost of living crisis. eTukTuk solves these growing concerns through clean and sustainable EV tuk-tuks that are affordable.

eTukTuk presale

Not to mention significantly better for the environment. In addition, eTukTuk is developing a regional network of EV charging stations that will support its vehicles. It will initially roll out in Sri Lanka, which is where the project is based. It will then move into other developing countries.

Territory partners are incentivized to support eTukTuks, as they will be rewarded in TUK tokens. This is the project’s ecosystem token and it operates on the BSc standard. The eTukTuk ICO was recently launched, so you can still invest in stage one. This means you’ll currently pay just $0.024. This represents a 40% discount from exchange-listing prices.

Token symbol TUK
ICO supply 200,000,000 TUK
Token type BEP-20
Payment methods ETH, BNB, USDC, USDT, ADA
Listing price Not stated

6. Scorpion Casino – Invest in the Future of Online Gambling and Get a 194% ICO Upside Today    

Scorpion Casino is a decentralized casino that supports hundreds of gambling games. This includes everything from table games and slots to sports betting and provably fair. What’s more, while Scorpion Casino is a regulated gambling site, it doesn’t have KYC processes in place. It also offers instant payouts – so players receive their winnings in minutes.

As such, Scorpion Casino could revolutionize the online gambling industry – a market expected to surpass $90 billion in revenues this year. Best of all, the Scorpion Casino ICO allows you to gain exposure to its long-term growth. You’ll be buying SCORP tokens, which are native to Scorpion Casino’s gambling ecosystem.

Scorpion Casino ICO

We found that ICO investors are currently getting an unprecedented deal. First, you will pay just $0.017 per SCORP by investing today. After the ICO, Scorpion Casino will set an exchange listing price of $0.05. That’s 194% higher than the current ICO price.

ICO investors will also receive a Scorpion Casino NFT when investing at least $1,000. This offers many perks, such as 5% in casino credits and a 10% ICO bonus. That said, larger investments will receive an NFT upgrade, which ranges from gold to platinum. The latter comes with 40% in casino credits and a 60% ICO bonus.

Token symbol SCORP
ICO supply 200,000,000 SCORP
Token type BEP-20
Payment methods ETH, USDT, BNB
Listing price $0.05

7. Chimpzee – Sustainable Eco Project With Generous Rewards for Token Holders [Get an 85% ICO Upside Today]    

The Chimpzee ICO is in full swing and is currently in stage 11, having raised over $1.3 million so far. It’s building an eco-friendly blockchain platform that connects sustainable investors with good causes. Put otherwise, by purchasing and holding CHMPZ tokens, you’ll be contributing to a range of good causes.

Initially, the focus is on combating deforestation – particularly in the Amazon rainforest. Chimpzee has already donated funds to this cause, helping plant thousands of new trees. It’s also fighting animal poaching. This includes endangered Elephants in Africa; it recently donated $15,000 to the WILD Foundation.

Chimpzee presale

That being said, this ICO isn’t just about good causes. On the contrary, you have the potential to grow wealth in multiple ways. First and foremost, the Chimpzee ICO is currently offering an 85% upside based on current prices. While today you’ll pay just $0.001, CHMPZ will be listed on exchanges at $0.00185 after the ICO.

There are lots of passive income streams available too. For example, if you buy a Diamond NFT Passport, you’ll earn staking interest of 20% per year. You’ll also receive a share of the trading fees that the Chimpzee NFT marketplace collects. You’ll also earn additional rewards by playing the Chimpzee Zero Tolerance Game.

Token symbol CHMPZ
Total supply 200 Billion
ICO supply 40 Billion
Network Ethereum (ERC20)
Purchase methods ETH, USDT, Credit Card

8. Patex – Layer 2 Blockchain With Cross-Chain Functionality Aimed at the Latin American Economies      

Patex is a newly founded project that has developed a layer 2 blockchain solution for the Latin American countries. It will support cross-chain functionality, meaning that multiple network standards will be supported. Patex believes that Latin America is one of the most under-tapped cryptocurrency markets globally.

Its network will enable citizens to fight ever-rising inflation levels – a major issue in this region. Patex uses a proof-of-value consensus mechanism that rewards users for their input. In other words, the more transactions processed, the more PATEX rewards received.  What’s more, it will also support Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

PATEX ICO

This will allow progressive governments to introduce cryptocurrencies into the domestic economies. The Patex ICO will commence on September 15th, 2023. The ICO price has been set at $0.95 per PATEX token. The ICO is looking to raise a modest $200,000 from investors. The Patex ICO will be hosted on WePad.

Token symbol PATEX
ICO supply TBA
Token type ERC-20
Payment methods USDT
Initial ICO price $0.95

9. Stabble – Innovative Decentralized Finance Platform Powered by Multiple Layer- 1 Blockchains        

Stabble is the best upcoming ICO for exposure to decentralized finance (DeFi). It’s developed an innovative ecosystem that supports multiple layer-1 blockchains. In fact, its DeFi ecosystem is already powered by Solana, Sei, Cosmos, and Nitro. But more networks will be added in the near future.

Nonetheless, the Stabble ecosystem comes packed with features that will appeal to DeFi traders. This includes cross-chain functionality, meaning that tokens can be traded across competing networks. Moreover, Stabble has implemented ‘smart order execution’ into its trading processes.

Stable ICO

In simple terms, if a trade will result in slippage of over 0.2%, it will be broken down into smaller segments. This greatly reduces the risk of trading at unfavorable prices – especially when there are low liquidity levels. This upcoming ICO is scheduled for late October 2023. The initial ICO round will raise just $50,000. This will get you the lowest price possible at just $0.03 per STB token.

Token symbol STB
ICO supply 1,666,666 STB
Token type ERC-20
Payment methods USDT
Initial ICO price $0.03

10. Kryptview – Peer-to-Peer Ecosystem for Cryptocurrency Trading Data and Insights         

Kryptview aims to challenge the monopoly of CoinMarketCap. It has built an innovative data hub for the cryptocurrency trading markets. This includes core data points linked to market capitalization, trading volumes, and circulating supplies. However, unlike CoinMarketCap, Kryptview operates on a peer-to-peer basis.

Kryptview ICO

This means that it is fully decentralized, so there are no biases or agendas with its data. Moreover, the Kryptview community will be able to manually review data to ensure it’s accurate. In doing so, they’ll be rewarded with KVT; the native token backing Kryptview. The Kryptview ICO is scheduled for November 2023. 12.5% of the token supply will be sold. The ICO price has been set at $0.05.

Token symbol KVT
ICO supply 37,352,941 KVT
Token type BEP-20
Payment methods BNB
Initial ICO price $0.05

11. Bitfinder – Innovative Search Engine for Crypto-Related Queries [Backed by the Blockchain]         

Bitfinder has a unique and innovative concept – it’s building a search engine aimed specifically at crypto and blockchain queries. For instance, users can search for the most trending coins or for a link to an ICO whitepaper. Either way, its search engine will be powered by blockchain technology – so it’s completely decentralized.

Bitfinder ICO

Bitfinder is in the very early stages of development, which is reflected in its upcoming ICO price. Stage one, which will take place in October 2023 and raise $600,000, is offering BITF tokens at just $0.01. By the final stage, BITF tokens will be sold at $0.07 – seven times higher than the initial phase. However, do note that stage one investments will be vested for six months.

Token symbol BITF
ICO supply 240,000,000 BITF
Token type ERC-20
Payment methods USDT
Initial ICO price $0.01

12. Mar3 AI – Marketing Solutions for the Web 3.0 Era via Artificial Intelligence        

Mar3 AI is a new ICO project that is revolutionizing the global marketing space. It enables users to build effective marketing campaigns through text-based prompts. The AI-backed protocol will then suggest suitable steps to maximize marketing budgets. What’s more, Mar3 AI also enables users to create their own marketing materials at the click of a button.

Mar3 AI ICO

This includes social media ads, including Facebook and LinkedIn. Users can also automate their ad copy, not to mention generate unique images and videos. Its ecosystem is backed by MAR3 tokens. The upcoming ICO is scheduled for October 18, 2023. This ICO stage will raise $150,000 and MAR3 tokens will be sold for $0.022 each.

Token symbol MAR3
ICO supply 6,818,181 MAR3
Token type BEP-20
Payment methods Not stated, but likely BNB
Initial ICO price $0.022

13. AiMalls – AI-Driven Shopping Experiences in the Web 3.0 Era  

AiMalls is building the future of online shopping in the Web 3.0 era. Backed by artificial intelligence, AiMalls gets to know the user’s preferences and interests. It then suggests products that are likely to be of interest. In other words, it’s like having a personal shopper at your fingertips.

AiMalls ICO

AiMalls also enables merchants to sell their products, with payments processed in either fiat money or cryptocurrencies. Merchants will benefit from a fully-fledged customer service chatbox that comes preinstalled in their respective stores. The AiMalls ICO will launch on October 14, 2023. It will initially raise $100,000 and AIT tokens will be sold at $10 each.

Token symbol AIT
ICO supply 10,000 AIT
Token type ERC-20
Payment methods USDT
Initial ICO price $10

14. Spin – Decentralized Trading Dashboard Built on the NEAR Blockchain       

Spin is the final upcoming ICO to consider on this list. It’s building a decentralized trading suite that operates on the NEAR blockchain. This means that buy and sell orders will be executed quickly and cost-effectively. The Spin trading suite will come packed with features, including on-chain order books, custom charting screens, and technical indicators.

Spin ICO

It will also support advanced order types, allowing traders to enter and exit positions efficiently. What’s more, there are no counterpart risks, as Spin does not hold client-owned funds. Instead, traders simply need to connect their wallet to the Spin dashboard. The Spin ICO is scheduled for Q4 2023. There will be three stages, with SPIN tokens selling between $0.035 and $0.05.

Token symbol SPIN
ICO supply 70,000,000 SPIN
Token type NEP-141
Payment methods NEAR
Initial ICO price $0.035

What is an ICO?

An ICO, or initial coin offering, is a fundraising process used by new cryptocurrency projects. Also referred to as a ‘crypto presale‘, ICOs follow a similar concept to stock IPOs (initial public offerings). For example, ICOs collect funds from investors before their crypto tokens are launched on an exchange.

This is the same as buying IPO shares before being listed on a stock exchange, such as the NASDAQ. However, instead of selling shares, ICO projects offer investors their newly created digital tokens. For example, when Ethereum held its ICO in 2014, it sold ETH tokens to early investors. ETH has since increased in value by over a million percent.

As an ICO investor, you’ll be investing capital into a brand-new concept. While you can invest from the ground up, it also means that the risks are high. Just like an IPO stock, there is no guarantee that the ICO will be a success. After all, once the tokens are listed on crypto exchanges, the project’s success will be determined by market forces.

What is ICO?

For example, if more people buy the tokens after the ICO, this will help increase their value. But if too many ICO investors cash out, the value of the tokens will decline. Nonetheless, many upcoming ICOs offer a discounted price. This means you’ll pay a lower price when compared to the exchange listing – which happens once the IPO has finished.

For instance, yPredict’s ICO is selling YPRED tokens at $0.10. After the ICO, YPRED will be listed on an exchange at $0.12. This means that the yPredict ICO offers a discount of over 16%. Another benefit is that most ICOs list on exchanges with a micro-valuation. This enables you to target large gains, as micro-cap cryptocurrencies have more room to grow.

Ultimately, the main appeal with crypto ICOs is the huge growth potential. It’s not uncommon for post-ICO tokens to increase by 10,000% or more. This can happen in a matter of days or weeks if the ICO project creates hype. Equally, however, new cryptocurrencies can also trade below their ICO price; so proceed with caution.

Are ICOs the Same as Presales?

  • ICOs follow the same concept as presales. In fact, the two terms are used interchangeably.
  • That being said, due to regulatory issues with ICOs in certain countries, ‘presale’ is now more commonly used by newly launched projects.
  • Nonetheless, both ICOs and presales give you access to new cryptocurrencies before they launch on exchanges.

How do Initial Coin Offerings Work?

If you’re new to ICOs, you should understand how the process works before buying ICO tokens. In this section, we explain everything there is to know about ICOs as a beginner.

Key Takeaways of the ICO Investment Process

The standard ICO investment process is as follows:

  • The ICO project creates a brand-new cryptocurrency token via a smart contract. This will usually be through a secondary blockchain, such as Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain.
  • Once the ICO launches, it will usually have a private funding round for select investors. Once the main round begins, anyone can invest.
  • Most ICOs accept established cryptocurrencies as payment, such as BNB or ETH. Some will also support debit/credit cards via a third-party processor.
  • After the ICO finishes, you’ll receive your tokens. The ICO tokens will then be listed on at least one exchange. This allows anyone to buy or sell the tokens.

Initial Concept and Whitepaper Development

Before the ICO takes place, the cryptocurrency project will need to complete some initial steps. For example, it will create a whitepaper, which details the ins and outs of the project. This gives ICO investors a 360-degree view of what the project is all about. For example, the project’s concept, what issues it solves, and what steps it will take to achieve its goals.

The whitepaper should also outline a clear roadmap. This highlights specific objectives and when the project aims to complete them. The roadmap should also be referenced long after the ICO finishes. As an investor, this will enable you to keep track of the project’s progress.

Smart Contract Development 

Once the whitepaper has been created, the ICO project will need to take care of its technical framework. With the odd exception, an overwhelming majority of ICO tokens are built on a secondary blockchain. While Binance Smart Chain is also popular, the Ethereum blockchain dominates this space.

It’s simple for an ICO project to build on top of Ethereum. In doing so, it becomes an ‘ERC20 token’. This simply means that it follows the Ethereum standard and that it can handle smart contracts and NFTs. Irrespective of the chosen blockchain, the ICO project will have a unique smart contract address.

This will be published to the ICO community, enabling anyone to audit the underlying code. That said, the best upcoming ICOs will use a respected smart contract auditor for this process. Examples include CertiK, Solidproof, and Consensys Diligence – but several others exist.

Wall Street Memes (WSM)

The auditing process ensures that the smart contract is secure. In other words, the smart contract should not have any weaknesses that could be exploited by scammers. Moreover, the smart contract should not allow the ICO project to withdraw liquidity before a certain timeframe. Nor should it allow the project to restrict sell orders or limited transactions.

If there are any issues identified during the audit process, this will be included in its final report. As such, ICO projects are incentivized to get it right the first time. If they don’t, it can take a while for smart contract revisions to be made. By this point, the ICO project might have already lost credibility.

New Crypto Token Creation 

Once the smart contract has been deployed, a new cryptocurrency token will be created. These tokens are what you will be purchasing during the ICO campaign. They will operate like any other cryptocurrency, meaning that the tokens are stored in wallets.

Moreover, the ICO tokens can be transferred on a wallet-to-wallet basis. All transactions will appear on the respective blockchain network – ensuring full transparency. Most ICO projects create a finite supply of tokens. This ensures that the supply is capped and that the project doesn’t suffer from inflation.

For example, Bitcoin ETF Token has created a total supply of 2.1 billion tokens. Furthermore, 25% of the supply will be burned over time.

Pre-ICO Marketing and Awareness 

Before the ICO launches, it will need to undertake a solid marketing campaign. Otherwise, it won’t be able to attract any investors. After all, new crypto ICOs launch pretty much every day. This means the ICO market has very quickly become oversaturated.

Not all ICOs will have sufficient funding, however. These projects will often struggle to get their ICO campaign off the ground. While organic marketing can yield results, the most successful ICOs are able to target a huge audience. Just remember – the more investors the ICO attracts, the more capital it will raise.

Conversely, this will give the ICO project sufficient funding to meet its objectives. Not to mention more funds for marketing after the ICO finishes. Raising a lot of capital during an ICO is also a marketing perk in itself.

Private ICO Stage 

When researching the best upcoming ICOs, we found that some projects offer a ‘private’ round before launching to the public. This usually reserves a tiny percentage of ICO tokens for accredited or well-known investors.

For instance, if an investor is looking to inject a 6-figure sum into the ICO, they’ll often get a private round allocation. This means buying the ICO tokens at a slightly lower entry price.

In other cases, private-stage ICOs are available to those completing certain tasks. For instance, the project might ask users to follow their social media channels or share their whitepaper on Reddit.

Alternatively, we also found upcoming ICOs that run a lottery-style selection process. Interested parties provide their wallet address to the ICO, which grants them entry to the draw. Winners of the draw will receive access to the private ICO stage.

Main ICO Stage 

Projects will sell the majority of their ICO allocation during the main fundraising round. This means that anybody can invest. Most ICOs only accept cryptocurrencies as payment. This is usually an established cryptocurrency like BNB or ETH. We also found that some projects accept credit cards.

Wall Street Memes (WSM)

To ensure the ICO is compliant with anti-money laundering regulations, it will use a licensed third-party processor. The processor is legally required to perform a KYC process on the investor. This means asking the investor to upload some ID. A KYC process isn’t required when paying with cryptocurrencies.

Either way, most ICOs are run directly on the project’s website. You’ll need to connect a wallet to its website. This is the wallet where you will receive your ICO tokens. You will likely receive your tokens after the ICO campaign has finished. This will happen on a specified date or once the hard cap total is reached – whichever comes first.

What is an ICO Soft Cap and Hard Cap?

  • Two terms you’re likely to see when investing in ICOs are ‘soft cap’ and ‘hard cap’. Both refer to specific targets of the ICO campaign.
  • The soft cap target is the minimum amount the project can raise to meet its goal. If it doesn’t reach the soft card target, ICO investors will be refunded. The project will then need to seek alternative funding.
  • The hard cap target is the maximum amount the project will attempt to raise. Once the hard cap is met, the ICO is over. The newly created tokens will then be listed on an exchange.

After the ICO has Finished  

As noted above, the ICO campaign will usually finish once one of two things happens:

  • The hard cap target is reached
  • The ICO deadline has been reached

Either way, you’ll likely receive your ICO tokens once the fundraising campaign is over. When it is, the ICO project will list its tokens on a cryptocurrency exchange. This is similar to a stock IPO listing its shares on the NASDAQ or NYSE. In other words, the cryptocurrency exchange listing allows the general public to buy the respective tokens.

The best upcoming ICOs will secure exchange listings before the campaign has finished.

However, most ICOs struggle to arrange centralized exchange listings. Instead, they initially opt for a decentralized exchange like Uniswap. Decentralized exchanges have no listing criteria – the project simply needs to add the smart contract to the platform. They also need to add liquidity so that the tokens can be traded.

Either way, once the ICO tokens are listed on exchanges – their performance is dictated by market forces. If the ICO does a good job with marketing, it will continue to attract investors. And as more investors buy the tokens on exchanges, their value will increase. However, there is no guarantee that this will be the case.

Why Invest in Upcoming Crypto ICOs?

We’ll now examine why crypto ICOs continue to raise significant amounts of capital from investors.

ICOs Offer Huge Profit Potential 

ICOs attract investors who seek huge profit potential. Even more so than established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Cardano. To illustrate the growth potential of successful ICOs, let’s look at a couple of case studies.

Ethereum ICO (2014)

One of the earliest ICOs was run by Ethereum – which is now the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Ethereum’s ICO offered cryptocurrency enthusiasts a completely new concept – the ability to develop and execute smart contracts.

This showed that cryptocurrencies and blockchain could offer so much more than just financial transactions. Therefore, the Ethereum ICO was a huge success. According to CNBC, the Ethereum ICO raised over 31,000 BTC. At the time, this amounted to approximately $18.3 million. 60 million ETH tokens were sold to early investors at just $0.31 each.

So, had you invested in the Ethereum ICO in 2014, you could have bought 1,000 ETH for just $310. Since its ICO, Ethereum has gone through many market cycles.

Nonetheless, Ethereum hit its all-time high in late 2021 – $4,891. Compared to its ICO price of $0.31, that’s gains of 15,777x. As such, your $310 ICO investment would have been worth almost $5 million by November 2021. Naturally, it’s simply not possible for a traditional asset, such as stocks, to grow by this much in such a short period of time.

Filecoin ICO (2017)

Another case study that we will explore is Filecoin. In a nutshell, Filecoin describes itself as an Interplanetary File System. It enables users to store data on a peer-to-peer basis. Meaning – users can access decentralized storage networks in exchange for FIL, Filecoin’s native token.

According to TechCrunch, the Filecoin ICO was launched in August 2017. There were two main stages to the ICO. First, ‘advisors’ had access to the private round stage, which priced FIL tokens at $0.75 each. This raised $52 million from investors.

Filecoin price chart

The main ICO round offered FIL tokens at $1 each. The main ICO round raised over $200 million, making it one of the biggest of its kind. After the ICO, FIL was listed on crypto exchanges. $11.48. This meant an immediate upside of over 10x for ICO investors.

But that wasn’t all – Filecoin went on to hit all-time highs of $237.24 in April 2021. When compared to its ICO price of $1, this represents gains of over 237x. That’s $23,700 for every $100 invested. However, like many cryptocurrencies, the value of Filecoin has since declined  – it’s now trading at just $3.16.

Lucky Block ICO (2022)

A more recent example of how ICOs can explode in value is Lucky Block. This innovative project bridges the gap between online gambling and blockchain technology. It enables players to register a gambling account anonymously – meaning no intrusive KYC process. Lucky Block has its own casino and sportsbook, and players benefit from instant payouts.

The Lucky Block ICO was launched in early 2022. It enabled early investors to buy LBLOCK tokens at just $0.00015 each. After the ICO raised its hard cap target of approximately $5.7 million, it was listed on various cryptocurrency exchanges. As per CoinMarketCap data, Lucky Block hit an all-time high of $0.009617 in February 2022.

This means that in just one month of trading, Lucky Block’s ICO generated gains of 64x. This shows just how quickly an ICO project can grow if it’s managed correctly.

Many ICOs Offer an Immediate Upside Potential 

The framework used by ICOs will vary. That said, when searching for the best upcoming ICOs, we found that many offer an immediate upside. This is because many ICOs have various stages, each with a slightly higher price.

For example, the Scorpion Casino ICO is currently in stage 7 – and tokens are priced at $0.017 each. While this means that it’s not at its lowest price point – there is still a huge upside available. This is because SCORP tokens will be listed on exchanges at $0.05 after the ICO. So, if you invest in its ICO today, you’ll secure an upside of 194%.

Scorpion Casino ICO

In addition, Scorpion Casino is also offering a 40% bonus on the ICO investment amount. This is paid in credits, which can be used on its regulated casino and sportsbook. For example, if you invested $1,000 in the Scorpion Casino ICO, you’d receive $400 worth of credits.

However, ICO upsides are never guaranteed.

For example, if all ICO investors have the same plan – to sell the tokens immediately once listed, it will create a price decline. On the flip side, if the ICO has a strong marketing campaign in place and it creates a lot of hype – the tokens could continue increasing. This is why it’s important to have a clear strategy in place before the ICO tokens are listed on an exchange.

In another example, the Chimpzee ICO is currently in its latter stages. Nevertheless, investors can buy CHMPZ tokens at just $0.001 right now. After the ICO, the tokens will be listed on an exchange at $0.00185. This offers an immediate upside of 85%

There are Many ICOs to Choose From; Invest in a Concept You Believe in

Although the ICO market is oversaturated, this also comes with its benefits. Put simply, having such a large number of ICOs to choose from allows you to invest in a concept you believe in.

For example, if you’re passionate about the future of artificial intelligence and predictive models, you might like yPredict. This project will offer a subscription-based ecosystem that is built by data scientists and quant traders.

If you’re more interested in sustainable investment causes, you might like Chimpzee. This project allows investors to earn passive income through NFT trading fee rebates, play-to-earn rewards, and staking interest. Chimpzee donates a percentage of its revenues to endangered animals and other worthwhile causes.

Some of you might instead want to focus on meme coins. After all, meme coins are super-hot in the cryptocurrency markets right now. Even though the broader markets are bearish, meme coins like Pepe have generated huge returns. If you’re looking for the best meme coin ICOs, check out Bitcoin ETF Token.

That being said, the cryptocurrency markets are unpredictable. Trends can change at a moment’s notice, so it’s best to diversify across many different ICOs. You usually only need to invest a few dollars in each ICO, as minimum requirements rarely apply.

ICO Investments are Suitable for Short and Long-Term Strategies

ICOs are suitable for all types of investor profiles. This includes both short and long-term strategies. For example, if you’re looking for a quick entry and exit, you might consider an ICO that offers an immediate upside. This means buying the ICO token at a lower price than its exchange listing.

Once the exchange listing takes place, you can then offload your tokens and lock in your gains. Some investors prefer to hold onto their ICO tokens for several days or weeks after the exchange listing. This is because some ICO tokens can generate significant returns in a short period of time.

For example, it took just three weeks for Pepe to generate returns of 70x. And as noted earlier, Lucky Block required just a month to grow by 64x.

All that being said, if you’re looking for ‘life-changing’ gains, then you might need to consider a much longer-term strategy. History suggests that the best-performing ICO investments were held for several years. For instance, while Ethereum has grown by 15,777x since its 2014 IPO, investors needed to wait until late 2021 to achieve these gains.

Crucially, if you’re investing in an ICO with solid utility and a huge target market, long-term investing is often the way to go. But you will need to regularly check in on your investments. For instance, assessing the project’s progress in comparison to its roadmap objectives. As long as it continues to meet its goal, you could see continued growth.

How to Find the Best New ICOs to Invest in

Finding the best upcoming crypto ICO can be a cumbersome task. Not only are there a significant number of ICOs launching every week, but very few offer a viable investment prospect.

We’ll now point you in the right direction so that you can find quality new crypto ICOs with ease.

ICO Calendars

A great starting point is the ICOBench.com website. Our ICO calendar offers real-time information on the best upcoming initial coin offerings. You can view key information such as the name of the ICO project, which blockchain network it is built on, and the start and end dates.

ICObench.com

You’ll also find a link directly to the ICO project’s website. This enables you to do your own research – something that is crucial when investing in ICOs.

In addition, CoinMarketCap also has an ICO calendar, albeit, with a limited number of entries.

Join Reddit Groups 

Many investors use Reddit to find the best upcoming ICOs. Newly launched projects – especially those on a tight budget, will use Reddit to spread the word about their fundraising campaign. They’ll also post information on why their project could be huge and reply to any questions from the Reddit community.

Consider joining the r/ICO subreddit, which has over 53,000 members. Another subreddit to join is r/ICOAnalysis. With over 33,000 members, the group is aimed at in-depth discussions and analysis of upcoming ICOs.

If you’re looking for a much larger subreddit, check out r/SatoshiStreetBets. While this isn’t specifically linked to upcoming ICOs, the focus is on finding the next 100x cryptocurrencies. Some of the best altcoins have appeared in this group, so it’s worth joining.

IEOs via Established Exchanges  

While not strictly an ICO, IEOs (initial exchange offerings) work much the same. So what is an IEO? In simple terms, IEOs allow new cryptocurrency projects to raise funds via a reputable exchange. This means that the exchange takes care of the fundamentals – such as collecting cryptocurrencies from investors and distributing tokens after the IEO.

One of the core benefits of IEOs is that exchanges can KYC their clients. Not only does this provide a safe environment for investors, but it also opens the door to fiat money purchases. In other words, IEOs allow investors to buy tokens with a debit/credit card or bank wire.

Crucially, just like ICOs, IEOs will be traded on exchanges after they are completed. Naturally, this will usually be the same exchange that facilitated the IEO.

  • Binance was one of the first pioneers of IEOs.
  • It facilitates IEOs through the Binance Launchpad.
  • BitTorrent Token was the first IEO to launch on Binance – it raised its hard cap target of $7.1 million in under 15 minutes.
  • After the IEO, BitTorrent Token was listed on exchanges at $0.0004684.
  • Just over two years later, BitTorrent Token hit all-time highs of $0.01426 – meaning early investors secured gains of nearly 3,000%.

Binance isn’t the only IEO platform to research. You can also consider the following providers:

  • KuCoin Spotlight
  • Huobi Prime
  • OKEx Jumpstart
  • Gate.io Startup

Another benefit of IEOs is that they can instantly reach a huge audience. For example, exchanges like Binance and Huobi have millions of active traders.

Check Out Popular YouTubers That Specialize in ICOs   

YouTube is home to many crypto enthusiasts, some of which specialize in upcoming ICOs and the best cryptos. For example, Jacob Bury’s YouTube channel is a popular destination for ICO investors. Bury does all of the hard work behind the scenes and presents his findings via concise video reviews.

This includes finding upcoming ICOs, researching the whitepaper, and evaluating its price potential. Jacob Bury tipped Lucky Block in the first stage of its January 2022 ICO. As we mentioned earlier, Lucky Block investors saw gains of 64x after the ICO finished.

YouTube video

If you’re wondering which ICOs Jacob Bury is talking about right now, he’s extremely strong on Bitcoin ETF Token.

Telegram Channels Dedicated to ICOs 

Telegram is also worth checking out when searching for the best upcoming ICOs. You’ll need to do some research to find suitable groups, as there isn’t a centralized directory available. Nonetheless, you’ll find suitable groups by searching for something like ‘Telegram ICO Channels’ on Google.

For example, we came across the ICO SPEAKS NEWS channel, which has over 530,000 subscribers. This popular channel not only covers upcoming ICOs but it also reviews them. Crucially, ICO SPEAKS NEWS has a huge audience, so its recommendations can lead to a lot of investor interest.

Potential Risks of Upcoming ICOs

We must stress that the risk of loss when investing in ICOs is very high. This is a very oversaturated market and there is only so much investor capital available. In other words, not all ICO projects can generate gains of 10x or more – especially in today’s bearish cycle. On the contrary, many ICO investments will result in a loss.

Let’s break down some of the key risks to consider when searching for upcoming ICOs.

ICO Tokens Decline in Price After the Exchange Listing

One of the biggest risks is that the ICO tokens decline in value after the exchange listing. For example, suppose you buy an ICO token at $1. After the ICO, the project lists the token on an exchange at $1.20. In theory, this offers an ICO upside of 20%. However, as soon as the tokens are listed, the price declines to $0.80 within minutes.

There could be several reasons why this happens. First, due to the immediate upside available, many ICO investors might have instantly cashed their gains out. This can push the token’s price down rapidly – meaning if you missed out, you’re now looking at an ICO loss. Of course, the price can reverse if more buyers enter the market.

Newly launched cryptocurrencies can also decline below their ICO price if the project’s team begins dumping their tokens. The best way to prevent this is to avoid ICOs that don’t have a vesting agreement in place. For example, the smart contract might prevent the team from selling their tokens for at least one year after the ICO finishes.

Scam Projects, Hacks, and Smart Contract Vulnerabilities 

There are many scams related to the ICO industry. You can avoid becoming a victim by knowing what to look for.

  • First, consider that some ICOs are simply scams themselves.
  • The ICO will come up with an innovative ‘idea’ and create a solid whitepaper.
  • It will then collect funds from investors, even though it has no intention of working towards its whitepaper objectives.
  • Instead, the ICO is simply looking to collect as much money as it can before disappearing.
  • The scam ICO can sell the established cryptocurrencies that it raised.
  • Fortunately, blockchain analytics are becoming more advanced, so many ICO scammers are being identified when they attempt to cash out.

Another scam to look for is ‘imitation websites’.  Here’s how it works; a scammer creates a website that imitates a legitimate ICO. The scammer will run a Google ad campaign, targeting search terms related to the ICO campaign. Unwittingly, somebody visits the imitation website and connects their wallet.

The scammers then steal all of the cryptocurrency tokens held in the victim’s wallet. To avoid becoming a victim yourself, always check that you are visiting the ICO’s official website. You can usually verify this through other channels, such as Telegram or Reddit.

Squid Game token BBC

In addition, you’ll need to ensure that the ICO’s smart contract has been adequately audited. If there are any contract vulnerabilities identified, it’s best to walk away. For example, in late 2021, the BBC reported on an ICO scam called Squid Game token.

After launching, the token went from $0.01 to $2,856 in less than a week. While investors were seeing life-changing gains, there was one caveat – Squid Game token’s smart contract prevented people from selling. Once the scam was identified, the Squid Game token lost 99% of its value in minutes.

Conclusion

In summary, ICOs enable investment in new cryptocurrencies before they trade on exchanges. Among the 14 top ICOs for 2024, Smog ($SMOG) is our top choice. It is a trending new meme token on Solana offering massive airdrop rewards and a high staking APY of 42%.

References

FAQs

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By Kane Pepi

Kane Pepi is an established financial and cryptocurrency writer with over 2,000 articles, tutorials, and market insights under his belt. Kane has a reputation for offering concise explanations of complex financial matters due to his competence in specialized fields such as asset valuation and analysis, portfolio management, and financial crime prevention. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Finance, a Master's Degree in Financial Crime, and is now working on his Doctorate degree, which will focus on the difficulties of money laundering in the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology industries. Kane's abundance of knowledge and expertise in the sector make him an invaluable resource for anybody navigating the world of finance and cryptocurrency.