How to Buy ICO Tokens for Beginners in 2025

Initial coin offerings (ICO) provide access to brand-new crypto projects, usually at a discounted price for early investors. In this beginner’s guide, we explain how to buy ICO tokens. Read on to discover where to buy ICO tokens and which crypto startups are worth watching.

How to Buy ICO Tokens — Step-by-Step Tutorial

Now, let’s dive into a more comprehensive tutorial on how to buy ICO tokens. In this guide, we used the Snorter Bot ICO as an example.

Step 1: Download and Install a Crypto Wallet

To begin, you will need a crypto wallet. There are hundreds of crypto wallets, but Best Wallet is the top option for ICO investors. Best Wallet comes with a built-in ICO aggregator, giving you early access to trending token launches and a streamlined way to participate.

Download the Best Wallet mobile app and set up a new wallet. Choose a password and take note of the 12-word backup passphrase, writing both down on paper and securing it somewhere safe.

Step 2: Buy Cryptocurrency Supported by the ICO

ICOs enable you to buy new tokens with fiat or cryptocurrency. In the case of Snorter, the ICO accepts card or BNB, ETH, USDT, or USDC.

Use Best Wallet to buy BNB, ETH, USDT, USDC, so you can purchase $SNORT tokens.

Step 3: Connect Wallet and Confirm ICO Order

Visit the Snorter Bot website, click ‘Buy with Crypto’, and choose Best Wallet.

Once you connect your wallet, you can choose your preferred payment currency, type the amount you want to invest or the number of $SNORT tokens to purchase, and confirm the transaction.

Step 4: Claim Tokens

Claim your tokens when the presale is over and transfer them into your wallet. Generally, near the end of an ICO the project will announce a claiming date and time. To claim, return to the website at the correct time, select “Claim,” and transfer them to your wallet.

What Are ICO Tokens?

Before cryptocurrencies are listed on exchanges, they usually go through an initial coin offering (ICO). In simple terms, this enables investors to buy new cryptocurrency tokens before they are sold to the general public.

Crypto ICOs are a win-win situation for both investors and blockchain startups:

• For crypto startups, this enables the project to raise capital from investors to help fund their operations.
• For crypto investors, this enables them to buy the ICO tokens at a discounted price – as an incentive to invest early.

Upcoming ICOs are very similar to initial public offerings (IPOs). For instance, those that invested in the Tesla IPO in 2010 received shares at a preferential price. The Tesla shares were listed on the NASDAQ exchange after the IPO and have since gone on to generate significant gains.

This is much the same as how ICO works. For example, those investing in the Ethereum ICO in 2014 would have paid just $0.31 per token. Since then, Ethereum has hit highs of nearly $5,000. This translates into gains of over 1.5 million per cent.

As we unravel in more detail later on, Ethereum isn’t the only ICO token that has generated huge returns for early investors — there are several success stories.

Are ICO Tokens the Same as Other Cryptocurrencies?

There are many terms used in the cryptocurrency investment space, and some are used interchangeably. For example, ICO tokens refer to newly launched cryptocurrencies that are in their fundraising stage. As such, ICO tokens are also referred to as cryptocurrencies.

• Both ICO tokens and cryptocurrencies are powered by blockchain technology.
• For example, XRP is backed by the Ripple blockchain.
• Some cryptocurrencies have their own native blockchain.
• In this instance, the cryptocurrency is defined as a ‘coin.’
• Bitcoin, Cardano, Litecoin, and many others have their own blockchain.

In other cases, cryptocurrencies build their ecosystem on a legacy network. For example, thousands of cryptocurrencies operate on the Ethereum blockchain — these are known as ERC-20 tokens.

If a cryptocurrency is built on a legacy blockchain, they are referred to as ‘tokens’ rather than ‘coins.’ This is the case with the vast majority of ICO cryptocurrencies. Ethereum ICOs and BSC ICOs are some of the most popular.

Why Invest in ICO Tokens?

Below, we discuss some of the reasons why seasoned investors are constantly searching for the best crypto ICOs.

Discounted Entry Price

Crypto ICOs typically incentive investors with an attractive entry price. This means that the investor will buy the ICO token before it is listed on a crypto exchange. Once again this is similar to IPOs, as the shares will be sold at a discount before they hit a stock exchange.

Small Market Capitalization

Crypto ICOs generally seek to raise a modest amount of capital. At least when compared to IPOs. After all, the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization currently range from $652 million to $1.27 trillion.

This means that ICO tokens can offer early investors a huge upside potential. While it can take time to see sizable gains, long-term investors often see the best investment results.

That said, Shiba Inu, which was launched in mid-2020, took just one year to become a billion-dollar cryptocurrency. This is also the case with other ICO tokens that were able to create hype and FOMO.

Invest in New Ideas and Concepts

The Ethereum ICO was hugely popular with investors, largely because of its ‘smart contract’ concept. This took blockchain and cryptocurrencies to the next level, with previous networks focusing exclusively on payments.

This is the case with many ICOs, which offer solutions to real-world problems. Crucially, the best ICO tokens are those that bring a new idea or concept to the market. This gives the token the best chance possible of going mainstream and generating attractive returns for early investors.

Easy to Diversify

Crypto ICOs are becoming increasingly popular with new blockchain startups. This means there are plenty of opportunities for investors seeking above-average returns.

However, ICOs are also risky, considering they are backed by new and unproven concepts. Investors should consider diversifying into lots of different ICO tokens to help reduce the risk.

This means that instead of investing $1,000 into one ICO, the funds could be split across 10 different projects at $100 each. In doing so, only one of the ICO tokens purchased needs to go mainstream for the investor to witness sizable growth.

How to Find the Best ICO Tokens to Buy

Not all ICO tokens go on to become successful, so investors will need to conduct plenty of independent research. The most important factors to consider include the project’s concept, the utility of its token, and how realistic its roadmap objectives are.

Let’s explore some of the most effective ways to find the best ICO tokens to buy:

Concept of the Project

A good starting point when exploring how to buy ICO tokens is to read the project’s whitepaper. This will reveal the concept of the project and what real-world problems it aims to solve. Ultimately, the most successful ICO tokens offer something innovative and new.

Utility of the Token

While there are thousands of tokens in the market, many don’t have use cases. ICO tokens that fall into this category rarely witness long-term growth. Instead, it’s better to focus on utility tokens that have an actual use within the project’s ecosystem.

If an ICO token has utility, this increases the likelihood that people will buy it. In turn, increased buying pressure can lead to price appreciation of the token, benefiting early investors.

Roadmap Targets

The best ICO projects offer a detailed and trackable roadmap. This is usually found in the project’s whitepaper. Investors should evaluate how realistic the roadmap targets are.

Moreover, each target will have an anticipated completion date. This enables investors to assess whether or not the project is on course.

When ICO projects meet their stated targets, trust in the broader markets increases. But when targets are missed, this has the opposite effect.

How to Buy ICO Tokens Safely & Avoid Scams

The unregulated nature of cryptocurrencies means that investors need to be cautious when learning how to buy ICO tokens. Put simply, just because an ICO claims to have developed an innovative solution to a real-world problem, this doesn’t mean that this will come to fruition.

Many crypto startups fail to meet their targets, with investors never seeing the final product or service. This is why research is so important.

Another risk associated with ICOs is a rugpull. This happens when the team behind the ICO suddenly disappears, taking investor funds with them. This leaves ICO investors with worthless tokens.

So, what steps can ICO investors take to remain safe? First and foremost, it is important that ICO investors only risk what they can afford to lose. There is no guarantee that the ICO will be successful, so investors can lose some or even all of their investment.

Second, it is crucial to avoid putting all investment funds into one ICO. Instead, consider diversifying across many different ICOs from multiple niches. It is also important to use a suitable crypto wallet when investing in ICOs. This will ensure that the ICO tokens purchased can be stored safely. Ultimately, ICOs are never risk-free, so investors should tread with caution.

Conclusion

While ICOs can be risky, the investment returns can be significant. This is because ICOs enable investors to buy newly launched tokens at the lowest price possible. If the project is successful, it can yield sizable returns for early investors.

ICOs can typically be purchased directly from the project’s website or using launchpad platforms, which offer the advantage of being generally safer to use.

FAQs

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