Anyone that has done or wants to do an ICO should read this and adhere by it to make the crypto world a better place. It seems as if every day more and more coins launch, and the focus is no longer on what matters, but rather money is being spent on ads and PR with little to no substantial product to show. Realize that if you are a scammer trying to milk the crypto-cow, you and your 'coin' will be outed on reddit faster than you can spell ‘cryptocurrency’, and hopefully your shady identity and behavior will forever be recorded on some blockchain, so you will never be forgotten. For those with genuine interest in the Crypto-world, here are some big factors investors look for to assure a coin's trustworthiness. Doing well with these should be more effective than worrying about ad-campaigns as quality ICO's generally spread through word of mouth and not through banner ads: ![AAEAAQAAAAAAAApdAAAAJGU0NzBlMTBiLTU3NDQtNGY5OS1iMjRlLTY3ZGQxODI2NDFhMw.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRKe7nmb3gbuJ9cNK1bnGYY11J27fvTUj5BqpU8T2nEyd/AAEAAQAAAAAAAApdAAAAJGU0NzBlMTBiLTU3NDQtNGY5OS1iMjRlLTY3ZGQxODI2NDFhMw.jpg) A unique new concept: Are you adding something new to the crypto space that could disrupt an industry, or are you just creating a carbon copy of something that is already out there to raise a ton of money for your next lambo? An experienced team: It needs to be public who is running the show, and also who the developers are. Are they senior devs with a trackrecord of their work (either in form of clients, products, or github)? If the team is just two dudes with business degrees and an idea, no one is going to take you seriously. Respectable Advisers: If a truly respected and experienced person puts their name behind a coin, that creates a lot of trust. Why would this billionaire, or academic with a clean track record put their reputation on the line for a scam. They probably wouldn’t. I cannot say the same for celebrities who may promote a coin as part of a sponsored deal, not understanding the misleading risk it creates since it is an investment. Visible tech & frequent releases: Are you selling just a whitepaper or do you have something to show that makes investors believe you are capable. If you are post ICO, are you regularly releasing updates? Your job is not done after the ICO, but rather it begins, and it is your job to honor those that gave you their money and turn your idea that they believed in, into something great. Funding usage and coin distribution: How much of the money you raise during an ICO are you keeping? It’s fine and totally regular practice that the founders allocate some coins for themselves, but its not okay that you deposit half the money you raise into your bank account. So to gain trust, clarify the following: A. Of the total supply of coins, who is getting what cut of the pie (make sure to allocate coins for mining), B. What is the ICO money being used for? (make sure to allocate funds for dev and operations. Spend frugally. Pretend you are not going to get this sort of money ever again, and you need to make it to a point where the network is self sufficient… don’t whine, no regular company would ever be able to raise 10–250 million dollars in cash for 0 equity with an idea alone… You got all the resources you need. C. Where are you keeping the money. This isn’t a must, but the more transparancy the more trust. If you say upfront how spending will be decided by community vote, and how an unrelated third party is needed to access the money, to ensure you don’t spend money on things outside what you outlines in the whitepaper/community agreed to, then little to no-one should have any doubts that you are doing this for the right reasons. Be a good person and do an ICO for the right reasons: We all know how attractive the idea of an ICO is right now. Future me might be kicking myself for not jumping on the train sooner with a half backed idea to get some quick cash, but at the end of the day, an ICO comes with responsibility, and you should not pursue it until you are ready and until you have a unique concept that can make the world more efficient/a better place (whatever outcome you prefer). You can fake a lot of things, but people are generally good at spotting false intentions. This one is a non negotiable. You can have all the rest but people probably tell you are fake. But if you have this one and some technical skills, the right advisers will be happy to support you, and you should have no issues about being transparent since you have nothing to hide. So good luck, and go make the world a better place (or more efficient ;) ) If you are a scammer, don’t worry, we will look for you, we will find you, and we will… ah I’m getting carried away.