My ICO Trading Toolbox
In many of my posts on Steemit I go pretty abstract, using writing as a way to clear up a disparate idea in my head. Attempting to break down something so others will understand it, furthering my own understanding.
However today I'd like to talk about the process I go through to keep track of all the ICO's coming out. Something a little more practical, hopefully I can help a few people streamline their own process and improve my own at the same time.
How to keep up with all the ICO's?
There's currently a huge flow of information. The trick is to break it up into bitesize, organised chunks.
What do I look at daily?
- Ico based sites
- Steemit
- Mastermind chat groups and individual discussions
Twitter...
I use Twitter entirely for crypto, I follow any new ICO's, anyone I respect in the community and a bunch of already established influencers, such as Vinny Lingham.
The main benefit of Twitter is the speed at which I have access to information. Normally Twitter is the first place announcements are made, it's also the place where the most candid statements are made. Where people may let a little too much information slip... Things an observer can take advantage of.
Ico based sites...
There are a couple of sites I use to get information on upcoming ICO's.
Token market is my go-to ICO announcement site these days, they cover the majority of ICO sites along with their website and social media communication.
I used icocountdown much more in the past, however the owner charges the cash monies for ICO's to list, it's a little skewed and a bit of a money grab.
They, however have a good telegram group with a few knowledgeable investors, I've managed to find out about a few ICO's well before they would have landed on my lap.
Given all of this, the next step is to immerse yourself in the white papers and intensely study every single aspect of the icos. After you've done this a dozen times you'll start seeing patterns and the next dozen will be significantly easier to read through and apply quick heuristics on what has value. I may have brushed over this point, but it's the most important - embrace the intensity.
Steemit
I'd take anything financially expressed on Steemit with a pinch of salt. However there are some valuable posters here, take @kingscrown for example. Not a poster that would win any awards for formatting or presentation, however he gets info out there almost as soon as it's released, he's a hub of useful info that I've used on several occasions in the past.
However there is a flip side to Steemit, for example, the surge of posts a few months back regarding viva crowns, the most convoluted Ponzi exit scheme I've ever seen. Be aware.
For me it's not the posts, but the people of Steemit that I get an edge from.
Mastermind chat groups and individuals
This is probably where I get most of my value. It's largely been through connections on Steemit.
My background is a trader. But in the last few months I've managed to connect with people that work for blockchain companies, people that have a highly technical understanding of blockchains and even a couple of guys in founding ICO teams.
I'm part of a few chat groups where we discuss ideas and ways to allocate capital.
It's always better to have a few more, diverse eyes on a topic than just your own. You may do well in one area, but combine that with a group of specialists in their own areas and you have a group that is greater than the sum of its parts.
This is probably the most time consuming piece of the puzzle, but also the most rewarding, not only financially, but also socially.
Conclusion
Filter down the immense amount of information through Twitter and the Ico Sites.
Develop your strength. Let say we were playing tennis, what do you do best, serving, backhand...etc?
Find others around you, create a mastermind group. Where you all add value to eachother.
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I'm running semi-pubic group on steemit.chat around trading, anyone interested please DM me on rocket chat.
Hey what is the URL for the rocket chat? Also, I am going to short ETH for the TenX ICO. I am making this decision because I feel that ETH will be congested again, therefore, driving the price down. I realize that the immense amount of irrational exuberance for this ICO will bring more money into ETH but I don't think that will lead to a price increase because of the congestion. I know predicting the future is not a sound way to invest but I have seen Civic and Status lead to congestion, therefore leading to price decrease so I have past data to form this system off of.
I think that's a reasonably fair call to make, there's certainly been a pattern recently around ICO's that seems to confirm the upsurge in ETH and then decline.
There do seem to be be moves up on the day of a major ICO, only to be followed by a drop so I'd say either time your short right before or be able to cover your short losses during a potential uptick.
I have gotten into the field 2 weeks ago. It requires a lot of time to analyse the projects and see if they're worth the investment. I don't want to rush to the most popular projects. that basically take the system down. My personal strategy is to pick niche projects. For example, I am thinking about trying the True Flip ICO next week. They have had a rough start with people trying to scam their system. But I kind of like the idea of a decentralized-lottery, their product. I think the state monopoly on lotteries should come to an end.
The niche ones can sometimes offer up the best returns. Especially given a few of the popular ones are uncapped now. I'll check it out, thanks.
Great stuff man. I'm a new follower after @razvanelulmarin mentioned you in one of his posts.
I'm looking forward to some great advice / new info from the world of crypto
A good friend. Hopefully you can learn and improve from the both of us :p
A very informative post and clearly written for a newbie like myself. I just got into cryptocurrencies 3 days ago and boy has it been overwhelming! It is quite the challenge to suddenly look at trading on a subject you had never heard before (blockchain technology) a week ago.
I have been doing a lot of research however over the last few days and really got excited by ICO's. My eye was drawn in particular to Civic and it was quite fascinating to see how it played out. I am not on any exchange yet as it is difficult to do living in Ghana but I did tell my friend about Civic a few hours after the token offering started. I thought it would be straightforward but no sir!! He was in a queue behind 14,000 people! It was crazy how quickly the tokens got scooped up!
Anyway, just wanted to pass on some kudos to you and to say that this is going to be a really exciting journey for me. Hope I make some money at the end of it but I hope even more that I learn some really useful information along the way that will take me further in life.
Thanks. :)
Haha! Good luck on your journey, it really is slipping down into the rabbit hole.
As you're starting out I'd recommend using very small amounts and making as many mistakes as you can. Better to do it with small amounts and learn from it.
You certainly have a great attitude and have picked up on one of the best icos of recent times in your first few days.
Upvoted & followed
I recently wrote about ICOs and made a practical example with a step by step guide how to participate in an ICO (it is in German language, but the pictures can be followed easily b everyone)
https://steemit.com/deutsch/@blocklab/was-zum-teufel-ist-ein-ico-initial-coin-offering-praktisches-anwendungsbeispiel-cryptoping
Been getting more and more interested in ICOs, will definitely put Tokemarket and ICOCountdown to use. Thanks for the info!
You'll have to get a little obsessed for a bit :p Well worth it in recent times :p
Great....going down another rabbit hole ;-) Thanks!
Great post! Didn't use tokenmarket before but definitely will use it now too. I definitely agree with you on the Whitepapers, they are a must read if you want to invest in an ICO. Especially the ICO stucture. For my ICO a day posts I come across some concerning things, for example the Tezos ICO which I was interested in and the fact that Status was only offering 41% of all tokens during the ICO.
Yeah, there's alot of detail you pick up on going through the white papers. A complete must do if investing. After reading dozens of them you can quickly scan most for a quick no or maybe, saving loads of time. Digging deeper into the interesting ones and discarding the rest.
Yes exactly. After reading a few of them you will also notice the difference between them and I tend to stay away from the ICO's which Whitepaper looks like a medium sized post on Steemit. Writing a post about Prospectors now. Don't even have a proper whitepaper.
Thanks for sharing. I haven't invested in any ICO's because there are so many out there and it is hard to find one that has real potential. I'll start to delve into the world of ICO's using your strategy hopefully I can find some good investments!
Haha, good stuff.
Good luck
thank you very much for your awesome tips ;)
thank you for sharing