The IEO crypto space is an ever-evolving field, especially in the areas of regulation, marketing, and community engagement. It is part of a natural evolution of raising capital through cryptocurrencies that started with Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) to the rapidly growing Initial Dex Offering (IDO). 

But first things first. 

What is IEO in crypto?

In the crypto world, IEO stands for Initial Exchange Offering and is a modified version of ICO, where a crypto exchange provides a platform for blockchain startups to issue tokens and raise funds from investors. IEOs basically allow companies to raise capital by selling utility tokens on an exchange.

Since the cryptocurrency exchange performs due diligence on the offering to protect its customers and its reputation, IEOs are therefore less risky investments compared to ICOs. The exchange also conducts “know your customer” screening, marketing, and selling tokens to investors on the behalf of token issuers. 

Token issuers, however, have to pay a fee when they are conducting token sales on a crypto exchange platform. Not only the listing fee, but the issuers also have to pay a percentage of sales during the IEO crypto fundraising. After the sale, IEOs also list the coins on the exchange platform for marketing and trading purposes.

As for investors that want to participate in the IEO, all they have to do is just go to the exchange’s website and use the cryptocurrencies they added in their exchange wallets to purchase the tokens of the fundraising company. 

How much have IEOs Raised Since 2019?

IEO crypto projects have raised millions of dollars quickly, sometimes within seconds, just it was during the peak of ICOs in 2017. In 2019, IEO projects around the world collectively raised a whopping $1.67 billion. 

• BitTorrent was the first startup to fundraise on Binance Launchpad through the IEO crypto approach. The software company specializing in P2P file sharing raised 7.2 million in just a few minutes through this Initial Exchange Offering. 

• The second IEO, Fetch.AI established a record of only 22 seconds, hitting a hard cap of $6 million

• Veriblock, a blockchain project leveraging bitcoin’s network, raised $7 million in April through an IEO on the Bittrex exchange in 10 seconds.

• Ocean Protocol, which is focused on creating an ecosystem for AI data management, raised $6m through IEO on the Bittrex platform.

Other notable IEO projects include Gatechain Token, BlockCloud, Armors Labs, Perlin, and WINk. 

Which are the Best IEO Launchpad Platforms to Use?

IEO crypto launchpads or IEO issuance platforms enable investors to identify early-stage crypto projects and participate in their token sales. IEO launchpads are also useful to crypto projects because they not only provide a platform for issuing tokens, they also analyze companies to ensure only credible projects make it to the exchange.  Plus, exchanges provide marketing 

The best IEO crypto platforms have the following characteristics:

• Use-friendly – an easy-to-use platform appeal more to investors and generate demand.

• Stable and secure – investors trust IEO platforms that are secure and less prone to attacks.

• High liquidity – the platform should have a large network of investors creating an abundance of liquidity for the token sale to go through

• Multi-coin support –a multi-coin support platform definitely makes it easier for investors who may want to use different tokens to subscribe to the IEO.

• Solid technology – you need a strong platform with superior technology to ensure that the IEO crypto fundraising can be smoothly carried out.

The following are the most popular IEO crypto launchpads:

Binance Launchpad – Known as the first launchpad to hold a successful IEO, Binance Launchpad, has raised millions of dollars for promising projects. Its matching engine is capable of processing 1,400,000 orders per second, allowing projects to raise the funds quickly and seamlessly. 

OKEx Jumpstart – OKEx’s platform helps quality blockchain projects go public and get listed in a liquid and world-class market by holding an initial exchange offering.

Bittrex International IEO – This platform is developed for international users with the Bittrex advanced technology. The Bittrex IEO for Veriblock sold out in 10.4 seconds on April 2 despite the first project –RAID-getting canceled.

Huobi Prime – Huobi Prime platform provides crypto projects a chance to raise capital from qualified and genuine investors. The exchange does a rigorous screening to ensure only premium projects that have yet to be listed on any major exchange are included.

KuCoin Spotlight – KuCoin Spotlight aims to assist blockchain projects in raising the needed funds, attracting market attention, and improving industrial influence. The first IEO on the KuCoin -Mutivac was sold out within a few seconds.

Probit Launchpad – Probit has shown some amazing results like the Linux IEO that sold out in just five seconds and went on to raise $300,000 in 30 minutes and the latest massive success in Boltt Coin, which raised $795,000 over the course of 4 consecutively sold-out rounds.

Best IEO Crypto Marketing Tips 

Considering the ROI of IEO crowdfunding and the increasing demand from investors, it is projected that the IEO market will grow steadily in 2021 and beyond – both in the total amount of projects launched and the volume of funds raised. The market has shown high interest in the IEO fundraising model, and you can take advantage of this growth to push your crypto project to the next level.

Here’s how to promote your IEO crypto project in 2021:

Community building – Grow a highly engaged and healthy community of retail investors, not just bounty hunters and airdrop participants. Build awareness around your project through promo campaigns and AMAs. Referral programs are the most effective ways to organically and constantly recruit new community members and advocates at a very large scale. 

SEO optimization – Create tremendous amounts of backlinks directing to your site and to your IEO profile on the exchange to increase traffic. Focus on building your brand by creating high-quality content that incorporates relevant keywords on your blog. Also, have your crypto project listed on all the major IEO aggregators as this will bring extra visibility and reassurance for your project.

Community engagement – Boost the engagement on social media by distributing consistent content that is aligned to your target audience and personas.  Cross-marketing with the exchange is critical because the exchange will reach out and educate their users about why your project is awesome, give insights about your IEO promo campaigns, and build the right impulse and FOMO. Similarly, it is vital to select a popular exchange that is highly popular with the community. Binance is a perfect example, but there are other reputable exchanges as well. This could also help you to fundraise faster. Fetch.AI and BitTorrent sold out faster not only because their technology was good, but also because they partnered with a popular and more reputable exchange.

Content marketing – Rally content and product advocates around your project, who will engage, share and create content for you. Use blog content to educate investors about your business and technology while social media is ideal for sharing quick updates and providing additional information to investors. Also, sending out PR articles can help you earn a positive media reputation and traffic. 

IEO crypto advertising – Leverages various mediums (such as social media, email, search engines, mobile apps, and websites) to promote your IEO through ads. You can also use digital or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to create an immediate online presence in search results. Use Google for display advertising to benefit from both Search and YouTube audiences. Other places where you can effectively promote your IEO include Crypto events (e.g. Consensus, Token Summit, Defi Conference, etc), display advertising direct (CoinMarketCap, Etherscan, ICOholder, ICObench, Bitcointalk, etc), and Paid PR (e.g. Cointelegraph, Coindesk, Cryptonews, etc. CoinMarketCap with over 200M monthly impressions, for instance, provides advertisers with significant reach to cryptocurrency enthusiasts directly.

Crypto Promotion Channels for IEO

• Website – You need a professional website to educate investors about your business and technology.

• LinkedIn – LinkedIn offers the most effective way to establish relationships with potential investors as well as for networking opportunities. 

• Reddit – Reddit is more of a PR platform than to gain followers—your account will look cool in front of a large audience of crypto fans.

• Twitter – Use Twitter to increase organically the number of your followers and level of engagement around the project. Twitter is also ideal for executing airdrops and bounty campaigns for maximum engagement.

• BitcoinTalk – This channel is more effective for communication. It allows you to receive the first questions and feedback about your project. 

• Telegram – Create a public project group on Telegram to engage supporters of your project. Be sure to provide round-the-clock monitoring of comments and timely answer community questions.

• Influencers – With influencer marketing, most people are willing to listen because there’s an incentive, and that makes it an extremely powerful tool to reach your target audience. 

• Podcasts/ Interviews – For an IEO crypto project, this is an opportunity to broadcast to a wider audience and educate listeners about the project.

Launch your IEO: Get Funding Quickly from Crypto Community

Initial exchange offering can help you save on costs and also reduce the tasks on hand by assigning them to the exchange. TokenMinds has partnerships with the top five crypto exchanges, and as part of our collaborative efforts, we submit vetted crypto projects for IEO to these exchanges. This means that we can help you get your project listed on popular exchanges and start fundraising almost immediately. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re ready to launch an IEO.