Unfortunately, probably 90% or more of new ICO's are no more than scams as there is potentially so much money to be made that charlatans are attracted like bees to a honey pot. Here's some tips to protect yourself in such an environment:-
Always check the website as thoroughly as possible. If it is slow to load or has other faults including missing pages or links then this is obviously a very bad sign.
If they don't show their team then avoid at all costs as bit- CON- nect clearly springs to mind. Also, even if they do you want to see a fairly large team covering all aspects from marketing, programming, software development etc...
Ask yourself, does their proposition or idea really need to be on the blockchain as many things clearly don't. I've seen all kinds of basically silly ideas from selling groceries or just about anything that you can possibly think of, being proposed.
If you think the idea is valid then check out what is going to be the proposed total supply and of course, cost. An unknown company charging over a dollar in pre or public sale is not a good sign especially if connected to billions in total supply. Also, be very wary of companies who choose to hold back, rather like Ripple, a large part of the proposed circulating supply for later use as this is clearly extremely dodgy.
Ask yourself have they actually done any programming or development as yet or are you just betting on simply an idea? Decent ico's should have made some progress in this regard otherwise you have to factor in time, which is extremely important, in bringing the project to market. In such a fast paced and evolving marketplace you really need to see some definite signs of progress in the roadmap within the first year and software being released otherwise the risk increases no end.
Remember most new ico's will inevitably end in failure for various reasons from the idea being no good to the so-called developers running off with all the money. At the end of the day if a small team of people has made millions off an ico, where is the incentive to actually carry on when they could retire, especially if the project is only at an idea level and it hasn't actually been started.
If you can think of more, please add them to the list in your comments- cheers!
