ICO event Amsterdam: tips in cryptocurrency crowd sales

On November 29, the capital of the Netherlands hosted ICO event Amsterdam; a conference dedicated to cryptocurrency crowd sales.

Initial Coin Offering

The conference ICO event Amsterdam was all about the advanced tool of investing in startups - Initial Coin Offering.

The event brought together investors and blockchain startup developers, gathering about 300 participants: investors, lawyers and developers of blockchain projects, who have managed to attract investments of millions due to their public placement of tokens.

At the conference, participants discussed opportunities and risks related to ICOs, investment and marketing strategies as well as legal regulation. The conference was attended by investors, startup entrepreneurs, lawyers, business coaches and fintech experts.

Conference key topics

Key topics discussed at the conference by keynote speakers include:

Legal aspect - Lars Van De Ven

Lars Van De Ven, a representative of the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), expressed the official position of his organisation: "Today, risks from investments in ICOs are definitely outweighing their benefits."

Lars Van De Ven revealed, in detail, the concept of the AFM. The main values protected by the Authority include stability, honesty, protection of personal data and combating fraud and money laundering.

He explained that the department had established a working group in 2016, focusing on innovations and financial technologies. However, unfortunately, a lot of ICOs are beyond the AFM's competence now. According to Van De Ven, the main thing which the industry should strive for is self-regulation.

Tips on investments - David Siegel

Blockchain expert and consultant David Siegel is the co-founder and CEO at Twenty Thirty AG. His presentation primarily focused on investing strategies.

The expert believes that over 95% of investments in ICOs won’t result in a profit. It is this concept that Siegel’s recommended key rules to follow are based on:

• Be ready for sea changes
• Diversify your cryptocurrency portfolio
• Thoroughly analyse every company you are going to invest in

Siegel also presented the rules for those launching an ICO:

• Set ambitious goals (at least $10 m as the result of the crowd sale)
• Do not reduce token prices
• Carefully behave to investors
• Try to establish a community

In his presentation, Siegel cleared up the idea of a token and its difference from cryptocurrency, as well as naming three token classifications:

• Active and Passive
• Fixed Supply
• Continuous; Transferable and Nontransferable)

Best practices of successful ICOs - Julian Hosp

Co-founder and president of TenX, Julian Hosp, provided tips for companies launching ICOs.

His project, a cryptocurrency payment system allowing people to pay in bitcoins using a plastic card, raised around $80 million during its ICO.

Hosp explained that a successful project should include five components:

• Idea
• Execution
• Team
• ICO structure
• Marketing

Hosp told the audience what each of these components should comprise in order to implement a project successfully. He paid special attention to crowd sale promotion on social media, as an important part of customer service.

Step-by-step ICO guide - Aleks Bozhinov

Entrepreneur and business coach Aleks Bozhinov dedicated his presentation to ICO startups, introducing a step-by-step ICO guide.

Other highlights

A total of 12 experts from eight countries spoke at the conference. Keynote speakers also included experts like:

• Edan Yago (CEO at Epiphyte Corporation)
• Nicolai Oster (Head Of ICO & Partner At Bitcoin Suisse AG)
• Emanuele Francioni (Founder at WEB3 Ventures)
• Juergen Hoebarth (CEO at Haexagon Concepts)
• Arnab Naskar (CEO at Sicos S.C.S.)

Other than the keynote speakers discussing various important topics, highlights of ICO event Amsterdam included the exhibition area, where 20 companies took the floor and presented their developments: blockchain-based programs and applications, created for various business areas.

The event featured a pitch-session, where representatives of startups could pitch their presentations to investors. The conference also included a panel discussion, allowing participants to share their experience on the successful launching of various tokens.

Organised by Smile-expo

ICO event Amsterdam was organised by Smile-Expo, an international event company that has been holding blockchain and cryptocurrency events since 2014. In 2017, Smile-Expo organised 15 events in the Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference series, and three ICO events. Besides Amsterdam, the conferences devoted to ICOs took place in London and Moscow.

This conference took place at Postillion Convention Centre Amsterdam, a modern conference centre equipped with advanced facilities. Spaces were organised conveniently for speakers and the audience, encouraging business communication.