Though ICO’s (Initial Coin Offerings) have acquired name and fame for being a cost-effective fundraising tool for startups, there are significant expenses involved in operating it.
Experts need to be hired for smart contract development, marketing experts and financial advisors. The intricacies of the token would have to be finalized by preparing a solid distribution plan to increase its reach. A strategy would need to be formed to decide on reserving tokens for the founders and team members. Creating an ERC 20 compatible token would involve expenses of $10000-$20,000 including placing the token on the leading exchanges.
Audit of the smart contract would have to be undertaken periodically. It can cost around $10,000 to $50,000 depending on the complexity of the code.
A set of professionals would be required to prepare the whitepaper. It will include the benefits offered to investors, legal implications and should attract the attention of all the stakeholders. The Whitepaper would cost at least $10,000 to $20,000
A user-friendly website should be designed with detailed content, layout along with security. Translate the content to several languages for capturing the global market. A professional website would cost around $5000 to $20,000
Then the marketing team will undertake the promotional activities across various channels using free and paid tools. Further expenses would have to be incurred for hiring influencers, posting articles on popular crypto websites and community management. The entire marketing campaign can be executed at a range of $20,000 -$100,000.
Additional expenses would have to be spent on hiring lawyers to ensure that the exchange follows all the relevant regulations. Project managers would supervise the different stages of the project and their fees can range from $5000 - $10,000.
Hence the overall cost of the ICO will depend upon the experience of the team members hired for implementing different tasks and the value of the project. Ultimately, it must create trust in the minds of interested cryptocurrency investors.
The cost will vary from one ICO development Service firm to another depending on the funds to be raised actually and the budget allocated for Pre-ICO. Hence the total expenses can be anywhere between $100,000 to $500,000