Well, this only works when the ICO price goes up on trading (which I admit does a lot). However, if the price is flat or down, then you're either selling for a loss or selling to break even. The point is, the strategy should be followed for all ups, not just at the ICO. Some coins don't go up immediately after the ICO (Factom comes to mind) but will go up later. In that case, it is better to hold for that first pump. Of course, the risk is that pump never comes.
I never said it was foolproof. All ICOs are a gamble and yes most ICOs do go up but there is no guarantee. Also even if it does go up you may forgo even larger profits that you could have had if you waited - e.g. ETHER all time high (so far) was nearly a year after release, so if you held on to your ETHER and sold at that point you would make much more than if you had sold some of your coins in the first pump.
On the other hand NEUCOIN went down almost immediately after launch and doesn't seem likely to ever even reach the ICO price again. It's all a question of risk and how much risk you want to take. None of us have a crystal ball (at least one that works) and can predict the future with 100% accuracy.
When BTC was about to hit $1 many people were saying that it was the right time to sell because it would never sustain such a high value and would soon crash down to a few cents. You just never know for sure and that is cryptocurrency in general.
In the case of WAVES the POS/lending model gives an alternative way to increase your holdings though. Also given the high community interest and buzz surrounding WAVES I think if anything the risk will be more about lost profits from selling early so people should think carefully about what would bother them more - losing their initial investment or doing the equivalent of selling their WAVES early like those who sold BTC for a $1.
I don't think they'd wait for the first pumped, they'd all be dumping even when its just $0.50 maybe even less.
Cash out and enjoy $500 gain. is it an option not to release the coin to any exchanges sites until its price good enough?
