I'm pretty interested in making a sizable investment, and I strongly agree with everything Elevated has said.
The stuff about how its difficult to make a sizable investment without knowing how much of a stake you will have is all valid and true, but the really important point for me is that an uncapped ICO makes me think the developers dont know how much money they need : they just want "everything they can get" and figure it out later. I would much rather invest in a project with a determined budget, where they have a good idea what they can do with X amount of money, rather than raise it all and figure it out later.
It betrays a lack of business acumen and savvy and makes you look a bit more like you jus want to raise as much as you can get, rather than what you NEED.
The stuff about wanting as many people to take part has some validity, but its equally open to everybody even with a cap, and the token swill be trad-able immediately so people can get involved whenever they want, so I dont think thats a good argument
The arguments of
a) it does not look good to potential investors : makes you look simply like money grabbers without a specific plan for doing X with Y raised, and doing Z if W is raised, etc
b) It makes it much more difficult to make a large investment in the early rounds because you dont know how much is going to be raised so therefore cant evaluate it properly (as an investor)
are much stronger imo, and should be adhered to. The fact ETH was uncapped 2+ years ago really isnt relevant anymore.
Great post by Elevated and also the post above.
Crypto is maturing with the day. Projects evolve and need to act more like real businesses. The investors are taking a risk to put money into your project. As an possible investor for me its important to know that you have thought about the financial aspect.
Just like a real business who seeks for investment, they would need a solid business plan and also a plan with the costs and return of investment for the possible investors.
In crypto it would be enough to know how much funds you would need for your project. I am sure you guys have calculated these kind of things, cause you seem like a really professional team. Any decent professional team would know these things before starting an ICO.
So the way I am looking at it. I want the project to have enough funding for development, marketing etc. But I also want the investors to have a fair chance of a ROI. They are putting the risk into it at the end of the day.
The best way to achieve this, is to put a cap onto it. For example your budget shows you, you need around $ 5 million, you would take some % for unexpected costs and that will be your cap.
Taking as much money as you can get is greedy and is a bad sign to your investors who helped made the project possible and successful. Most investors become valuable members of the community as well, and help with promoting, testing etc.
You have mentioned before that you value your early investors and community. A cap would fit with those words.
So in my eyes a cap would be to show your good faith to your early investors and community members and also would show us your professionalism by knowing the amount you need to fund your project. As every legit project / business should know.
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In the blog for the ICO I saw the first 1.000 investors with 12 ETH or more will get a special threat. Does this only count for investments in ETH or also for BTC. It still isn't clear how the BTC investing works to me.
Also is there an instruction regarding how one can participate in ETH. I read somewhere you need to have an Aeternity wallet? It would help if there are instructions before the ICO is launched.
Thanks for your consideration and good luck with the project.
I concur with the other two gentlemen. Also the main net won't be ready till 2018.. So two things I don't care for. It is uncapped and can raise whatever amount. The main net won't be up until 2018.
I would not be at all concerned with any kind of underhandedness. I come from Louisiana, down here, I know corruption when I see it; it's everywhere, and I'm not saying there isn't a little here. It is the human condition. But, I'm relaxed, since Vitalik's picture is all over their website, openly displayed as someone who would recommend this type of technology. Vitalik has really gone out on a limb, for all real respects that I would be concerned. He would look extremely stupid if this project failed, and I'm assuming Ethereum will tie into it somehow. *Already is, at least the ICO
* I don't see him (VB) a guy as making a move like this without a
positive financialreason behind it, just my opinion. I don't think he'd be on board with something if it was bullsh!t. Sorry if that sounded elementary. gut, instinctual feelings usually are. if i were to have censored or altered that, it wouldn't have been the same. The legal muscle, Lior, is also involved with Matchpool's crowdfund, which means, if the legal arm of both of these teams is linked to VB, it makes me more comfortable somehow. Like i said, gut feeling.
Out of pure useability, Aeternity is the no brainer of those two projects, everyone uses smartphones, even children. Only people around 18+ care to be on an adult website, so if I had to make a choice, I'd pick Aeternity.
Again, concerning your risk concerns, I'd be more worried about having money on large exchanges, especially if Metropolis is properly rolled out. Cold storage, friend. My plan? Dont be flashy. People will want to take it if they see it. I don't mind driving a 10 year old truck, or wearing beat up tennis shoes.
Lie detection, this should be good, just don't use it on me! ~~
Best,
Norman
Strong LLC Mining Co