We have already seen some very successful ICOs this year with the likes of Filecoin, Tezos, EOS and many others. Yet there hasn’t been as much talk about the UnikoinGold ICO, even though it has also been very successful, as some of the previous ones. This is also despite the fact that Unikrn is also one of the best eSports betting websites worldwide. To understand this whole thing, we need to go back to the beginning.
When was the UnikoinGold ICO launched?
The UnikoinGold ICO was announced by Unikrn back in June on their website. The official date of the launch was on the 24th of September, but there was a pre-sale starting on the 22nd of September. Prior to this, there was an invite-only token sale to major investors. Some of these investors included Pantera Capital, Blockchain Capital, CoinCircle and individuals like Mark Cuban who is actually an investor in Unikrn and Anthony Diiorio, Ethereum co-founder.
Together, these investors managed to raise $15 million and a further $6 million was raised in the pre-sale. Therefore, about $21 million was raised even before the public crowdsale. By the 25th of September, a day into the public crowdsale, the CEO of Unikrn, Rahul Sood, told GeekWire that the UnikoinGold ICO had already raised $25 million.
As of now, the ICO has already been closed, meaning that the $100 million goal has already been reached and perhaps even surpassed. From the Unikrn website, the company boasts of having raised more than 110,000 ether tokens from 112 countries.
In total, 1 billion tokens were available for sale during the entire UnikoinGold ICO. Of these 1 billion, only a portion would be available for the public, with the token distribution being as follows:
- 5% Unikrn Betting Reserve
- 10% Team Pool Token Distribution
- 25% Marketing & Partnerships
- 20% Token Sale
- 10% Development & Contractors
- 20% Company Cold Storage
At the current ether value of $285, it would appear the ICO did indeed raise a lot more than they expected. Altogether, this was a very successful ICO. The UnikoinGold tokens will become available on the 5th of November.
Why was this ICO so successful, and why hasn’t there been any noise?
The success of the UnikoinGold ICO can be attributed to 3 things:
- a great company
- an experienced team
- the potential for growth
Unikrn itself is a standout company in the eSports betting industry. Since it was founded in 2014, it has grown to have a worldwide presence and is, in fact, the only eSports betting company that is licensed and regulated. Most of the previous ICOs were by startups without an actual product – only a concept. This ICO was thereby able to be more reliable than the rest.
Adding to the success was an experienced team behind the idea. The company’s CEO himself, Sood, is very experienced and has helped launched other successful ventures. The addition of investment from major VC funds also proved the viability of the idea. Then there were the other individuals like Diiorio who is not only Ethereum’s co-founder but a recognized blockchain investor. As for Mark Cuban, you might want to note that he was initially against bitcoin.
Finally, the eSports betting industry is on a rapid rise that provides an excellent opportunity for investment. This sector is surpassing traditional land casinos and even online casinos. This year, the expected revenue from eSports betting is estimated to be $696 million, which might reach $1 billion next year. With Unikrn’s position in the industry, a lot of that revenue will be directed at the company.
On the other hand, the use of UnikoinGold tokens is only limited to eSports. Once they are available for trade through cryptocurrency exchanges, they might be used on other platforms too. Nevertheless, they will only be applicable in the eSports industry and nothing else. That might be a good thing, but in the long run, other similar virtual currencies may come up to compete with UnikoinGold.
