An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is like a crowdfunding campaign for #cryptocurrency projects. Startups issue new digital tokens and sell them to early investors in exchange for established cryptocurrencies like [[Bitcoin]] or [[Ethereum]]. These tokens might grant holders access to a future product or service, represent a stake in the company, or have other utilities. ICOs became popular as a way for blockchain projects to raise capital, but they have also been associated with scams and regulatory scrutiny due to their often unregulated nature.