Launching a Cryptocurrency Token Startup- For Dummies
This article was written for educational purposes only. No financial advice is given nor will be given throughout the article. Always DYOR before starting a business/ creating a cryptocurrency of your own.
Cryptocurrency has blown up in 2021. The overall cryptocurrency market has exploded to a record $2 Trillion [dollar] market cap, and many celebrities have gotten on board (i.e. Snoop Dog, Paris Hilton, Bill Gates, Mike Tyson, and many more). The uses for cryptocurrencies go way beyond tradable (digital) assets; they are able to be used for day to day tasks, such as: GUT Protocol, Ripple’s- Interledger Protocol, and even digital art.
I am not a marketing expert nor should you only follow anything that is stated within this article. Always receive second opinions. This is my advice based on previous projects that I have been apart-of. Some of the things mentioned throughout the following article may not work for you and your project, so always DYOR and stay aware of the increasing volatility in the market :)
If you are not yet familiar with the crypto culture, products, or its history, brace yourself to it- dive into the trenches and join another crypto project. Make yourself aware of the difficulties and issues that are happening today in this new industry. The best way to learn is to do it. The following information is only the basics and will help you do that.
Read voraciously, go to meetups, read newsletters, play around with the tech, and immerse yourself in the community.
And before you go any further into the community… You will only go as far as you are willing to take yourself. If you truly plan on creating your own token, you need to plan on upping your leadership, critical thinking, and communication skills. The crypto industry is the most fast paced and volatile market on the planet and if you aren’t able to adapt to change, then crypto isn’t for you.
Without further a’do…
Planning
There are three major things to keep in mind when thinking about starting your own token project- Marketability, Marketing Costs, and a USP (for investors). You need to plan that your token will fail unless it is tied to a technology, brand, or is apart of a unique charitable mission. In 2021, thousands of crypto projects were created for the same goal- to make money. Various crypto projects are pumping thousands of dollars into marketing- only for their token to never take off due to other similar tokens bottlenecking their access to investors. With these in mind, setting yourself apart (either through marketing or technology) is essential in creating a successful token. So before you go out and deploy your project onto the chain, ask yourself if you are marketable (ready to be marketed), or if you are going to be another listed asset on poocoin. Before we start, decide whether a stealth launch or a presale is right for you; your choice can be influenced depending on marketing, startup costs/budget, etc…
Road Map
Planning the roadmap of your project is the most important and crucial step to success (other than actually following it). This is where you can layout the future of your token and even convince investors to buy. The roadmap and potential of your token is what sets you aside from the thousands of other projects on the chain. When creating a roadmap, make sure you set yourself up for success, never set goals in which you don’t believe you and your team can achieve. This most likely will put you and your project in dubious situations among your investors. Finally, before you finalize your roadmap and make it look pretty, take a look at it and ask your self three final questions: Do I have the resources? Do I have the time? and Do I have the knowledge?
Pre-Launch / Pre-Sale Marketing
Some marketeers say startup token projects are “impossible” to market. In the scheme of things, this does seem true. There is so much competition and saturation in the market now a-days, some project owners struggle where to even start marketing. Finding a viable marketing strategy for your project will take a vast amount of research + trial and error. Two marketing strategies you should stay away from are: Telegram Pins and Reddit Posts. Although there are some reddit/telegram communities with very high turn over rates, they are next to impossible to find, and if you do find them, good luck convincing a moderator to promote your token for a reasonable price. Before the launch of your token, (if you’re not paying someone to do your marketing) make sure you have enough shilling and promotional text/images to use for whatever marketing you need. Always make sure that your marketing resources are consistent with each other so you can build brand recognition and stand out. This is also the step in which you and your team decide to build a website. Your website should include a white paper, your token address, a place to buy your token (or a redirect link), and most importantly, a mission statement.
Pre-Sale / Launch
Now that you have completed your pre-launch marketing essentials, it is time to put them to use. You should have chosen a stealth launch or a pre-sale when creating a pre-launch marketing strategy, and if you still haven’t decided, the following points may help…
Presale
- Raise marketing funds which you are then able to secure a KYC, audit, build a legal entity, or whatever your heart desires.
- Creates a buying opportunity for you and your investors.
- Opportunity to build a pre-launch liquidity pool
Stealth Launch/ Fair launch
- Reduces early selloffs
- Enables a stable chart
- Guaranteed launch (No specific SC [soft cap] or HC [hard cap])
In my opinion, there is no “best way” to launch your project. If your marketing sucks, you will fail regardless. The launch technique that you and your team chooses is based on your project’s needs and should never be based off of another projects success. All launch techniques have their own strengths and weaknesses, so it’s your job to choose which will fit best into your roadmap and create the most leverage as possible.
Smart Contracts
Ahh… The foundation of your entire project, based around 700 lines of code and some security warnings that you may shrug off because you’re too tired to learn how to fix them. There’s an endless amount of functionalities that you may choose from when creating your smart contract. You may focus on security; transaction speed; transaction cost; taxation/ advanced tokenomics; or even NFT’s. Which ever project you decide to create, always make sure that your smart contract can keep up. Never take shortcuts with your smart contract. This is what your ENTIRE project is based around! Always ensure that your technology is safe, reliable, and most importantly- actually works. Once you deploy your contract onto the chain and people start buying, it’s final (unless your project is planning to perform an airdrop- which can be very uneconomical). After deploying your contract, go to BSC scan or Ether scan and verify your contract (If desired. Is recommended and sometimes required legally). After your contract is verified, you are then able to perform as many contract audit or KYCs as you’d like. This creates buyer security and reassures investors that your token is NOT a rug pull.
Finally, I wish you best of luck with all of your future crypto or blockchain endeavors. If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email and I will respond asap. If you plan on starting a crypto project of your own, I am actively helping projects and may be of value to you and your team. I wish you best of luck.
~ Max Heltzel | maxheltzel6@gmail.com | maxheltzel.medium.com
This article is under constant editing, come back anytime for future updates.
