Initial game offering (IGO), initial dex offering (IDO), initial exchange offering (IEO), and a dozen other terms are frequently seen in the industry. They can easily confuse crypto beginners. Let’s find out what each of them means and for what purposes they are used.

What is IGO in crypto

Initial game offering (IGO) is a type of crowdfunding that allows investors to purchase NFTs or in-game tokens of a blockchain-based game at an early development stage. Such gaming projects often have the potential to offer huge returns after their launch. With the spread of blockchain-based games, IGOs ​​have increased in popularity in recent months. IGOs mostly take place on launchpads.

Initial coin offering (ICO)

It’s a well-known term even for beginners. ICO is a type of crowdfunding, or crowdsale, where an early-stage company uses cryptocurrencies as a means of raising capital.

IDO meaning in crypto

Initial dex offering is an alternative to ICO. An IDO is when a project launches a token through a decentralized exchange (DEX). A token can represent any product — from cryptocurrency to a music album. Projects issuing IDOs receive financing from individual investors, but they never own any equity in the project.

IDO and ICO

In contrast to infamous ICOs, where tokens are sold prior to exchange listing, tokens in IDOs are immediately listed on the DEX via which they are launched. This might help a lot to avoid scam and ‘bubble’ projects.

What is INO

Initial node offering (INO) is an alternative way to develop a decentralized system and its applications. An INO enables the public to be actively involved in the project development and its evolution by selling NFTs which are the key to run the nodes of the system’s own peer to peer network.

IEO meaning in crypto
Initial exchange offering (IEO) is a fundraising event where a crypto start-up raises money through a trading platform. The token is issued for the first time on centralized exchanges such as Coinbase, Okex, or Binance. That is in contrast to an ICO, where the business itself holds the sale on its own website, and can’t give any guarantees to investors.

What is SHO

A strong holder offering (SHO) is a fundraising mechanism where eligible investors are chosen based on their on-chain activities and other proprietary data sets. That means, a SHO enables a project to attract funding from individuals who are holders of a given cryptocurrency.

What is ETO

An equity toke offering (ETO) is an event by which companies offer equity in their stock for sale to investors in the form of equity tokens. Equity tokens are a form of security token and store contractual information on the blockchain.

Final notes

As you can see, all these token offerings serve for different purposes and have their unique functions. A properly selected offering type may define the project’s success among investors, its lifetime and the amount of the capital raised. In addition, the community’s trust in this or that offering can change with time or fashion: several years ago ICOs were at their peak, but now users have less trust to these fundraising events because of multiple scams. On the contrary, IGOs are gaining popularity because of the growing number of blockchain games.