ICO stands for Initial Coin Offerings. This marks the first crowdfunding to enter the blockchain ecosystem.

This method of fundraising allows any person, company or project to finance its development. ICOs have also given birth to a cryptocurrency version of the "Initial Public Offering" (IPO). The investor receives a set of advantageous tokens in return for their investment.

Anyone can start an ICO. As mentioned above, there are not many regulations regarding ICOs, which means that if you can install the technology, you can launch it. Therefore, of all the ways of financing, ICOs are the easiest to set up as a scam.

Given that ICOs are not regulated, it is nearly impossible to recover funds you invest in a fraudulent crowdsale. So, due to this uncertainty, outright fraud and speculation, it is necessary to research well and invest accordingly if investing in ICOs.