{"id":180713,"date":"2022-04-12T20:16:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T00:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/glossary-terms\/initial-coin-offering-ico\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T09:56:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T14:56:46","slug":"initial-coin-offering-ico","status":"publish","type":"glossary-terms","link":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/glossary-terms\/initial-coin-offering-ico\/","title":{"rendered":"Initial Coin Offering (ICO)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a capital-raising mechanism in which a blockchain-based project issues and sells newly created digital tokens to investors, typically in exchange for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether (and sometimes fiat currency). The funds raised are generally used to develop a platform, protocol, or decentralized application.<\/p>\n<p>An ICO resembles a tokenized form of crowdfunding, or an early-stage equity raise, because participants provide capital at an early phase in exchange for tokens that may:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Grant access to a future product or network (utility tokens),<\/li>\n<li>Represent governance rights within a protocol, or<\/li>\n<li>Potentially carry profit-sharing or investment-like characteristics (security tokens).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The regulatory treatment of ICOs varies significantly by jurisdiction and depends largely on the economic substance of the token, not just its label.<\/p>\n<p>In many countries, regulators analyze whether a token functions like a security (i.e., an investment contract). If it does, it may be subject to securities laws\u2014meaning registration requirements, disclosure obligations, investor protections, and potential restrictions on who can invest.<\/p>\n<p>Because regulatory classification can affect disclosure requirements, marketing practices, resale restrictions, and liability exposure, projects must carefully assess compliance before launching an ICO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An ICO is one way a company may seek to raise funds to create a new coin or related cryptocurrency service or app \u2013 similar to an initial public offering (IPO). Investors during the launch of an ICO have an opportunity to purchase a new, company-issued cryptocurrency token, which may represent an ownership stake in the project or company, or have a utility-linked relationship with the company&#8217;s product(s) or service(s).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"traders-glossary":[13274,13251],"class_list":{"0":"post-180713","1":"glossary-terms","2":"type-glossary-terms","3":"status-publish","5":"traders-glossary-trading-terms-i","6":"traders-glossary-trading-alphabet"},"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Archives Term | IBKR Glossary | IBKR Campus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An ICO is one way a company may seek to raise funds to create a new coin or related cryptocurrency service or app.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary-terms\/180713\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Initial Coin Offering (ICO) definition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An ICO is one way a company may seek to raise funds to create a new coin or related cryptocurrency service or app.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/glossary-terms\/initial-coin-offering-ico\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IBKR Campus US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-02T14:56:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Initial Coin Offering (ICO) definition\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/glossary-terms\\\/initial-coin-offering-ico\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/glossary-terms\\\/initial-coin-offering-ico\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Initial Coin Offering (ICO) definition\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2022-04-13T00:16:00+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-03-02T14:56:46+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"An ICO is one way a company may seek to raise funds to create a new coin or related cryptocurrency service or app.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/glossary-terms\\\/initial-coin-offering-ico\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/glossary-terms\\\/initial-coin-offering-ico\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/glossary-terms\\\/initial-coin-offering-ico\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Glossary\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/glossary-terms\\\/\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Initial Coin Offering (ICO)\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"IBKR Campus US\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Financial Education from Interactive Brokers\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Interactive Brokers\",\n\t            \"alternateName\": \"IBKR\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.interactivebrokers.com\\\/campus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/ibkr-campus-logo.jpg\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.interactivebrokers.com\\\/campus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/ibkr-campus-logo.jpg\",\n\t                \"width\": 669,\n\t                \"height\": 669,\n\t                \"caption\": \"Interactive Brokers\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/ibkrcampus.com\\\/campus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"publishingPrinciples\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.interactivebrokers.com\\\/campus\\\/about-ibkr-campus\\\/\",\n\t            \"ethicsPolicy\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.interactivebrokers.com\\\/campus\\\/cyber-security-notice\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Archives Term | IBKR Glossary | IBKR Campus","description":"An ICO is one way a company may seek to raise funds to create a new coin or related cryptocurrency service or app.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary-terms\/180713\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Initial Coin Offering (ICO) definition","og_description":"An ICO is one way a company may seek to raise funds to create a new coin or related cryptocurrency service or app.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/glossary-terms\/initial-coin-offering-ico\/","og_site_name":"IBKR Campus US","article_modified_time":"2026-03-02T14:56:46+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Initial Coin Offering (ICO) definition","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/glossary-terms\/initial-coin-offering-ico\/","url":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/glossary-terms\/initial-coin-offering-ico\/","name":"Initial Coin Offering (ICO) definition","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-04-13T00:16:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-02T14:56:46+00:00","description":"An ICO is one way a company may seek to raise funds to create a new coin or related cryptocurrency service or app.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/glossary-terms\/initial-coin-offering-ico\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/glossary-terms\/initial-coin-offering-ico\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/glossary-terms\/initial-coin-offering-ico\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Glossary","item":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/glossary-terms\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Initial Coin Offering (ICO)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/","name":"IBKR Campus US","description":"Financial Education from Interactive Brokers","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#organization","name":"Interactive Brokers","alternateName":"IBKR","url":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/05\/ibkr-campus-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/05\/ibkr-campus-logo.jpg","width":669,"height":669,"caption":"Interactive Brokers"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/about-ibkr-campus\/","ethicsPolicy":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/cyber-security-notice\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary-terms\/180713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary-terms"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary-terms"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary-terms\/180713\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"traders-glossary","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/traders-glossary?post=180713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}