The Filecoin ICO ran between Aug. 10 and Sept. 7 and raised $257 million, making it the largest initial coin offering (ICO) ever. Despite the eye-popping numbers, Filecoin is still an unproven, speculative play. In fact, you can't even buy Filecoin yet...
Even still, cryptocurrency enthusiasts are hoping to catch the next Bitcoin early. If you bought Bitcoin for $6.18 in 2012, you would be up 61,884.14% by now, as Bitcoin is selling for $3,830.62 today.
And Filecoin's record debut shows buyers are hoping Filecoin can bring its owners similarly gargantuan gains...
Why the Filecoin ICO Shattered Records
Filecoin caught fire with a historic ICO by coupling an innovative data storage idea to the blockchain technology.
The digital currency is trying to establish itself as a competitor to cloud storage companies like Dropbox or Google Drive. Filecoin hopes to take advantage of unused digital storage by selling Filecoin tokens in exchange for access to the unused storage space. Storage owners can earn Filecoin tokens by making their unused storage available.
Special Report: Cannabis Is the Gold Rush of the 21st Century - 30 Stocks to Invest in Now. Details here...
In other words, Filecoin is creating a decentralized network of online storage they hope will be cheaper than other cloud storage services like its competitors. For example, Dropbox charges individuals $119.88 a year for 1TB of cloud storage and charges businesses more on a negotiable contract.
Filecoin doesn't have a set price for its storage; it says "the price of storage will be driven by supply and demand, not corporate pricing departments."
Users will be able to buy storage cheaply if there's an abundance of supply, but prices will rise as demand grows. And that supply and demand is what will determine the price of Filecoin. The more data storage is in demand, the higher the price of Filecoin will go.
Those who participated in the Filecoin ICO either hope to take advantage of cheaper storage costs or are speculating that the demand for storage will push Filecoin prices up.
But because Filecoin held its ICO on CoinList, a host for SEC-compliant ICOs, only accredited investors were able to take part in the ICO. That means the ICO was limited to hedge funds and individuals with over $1,000,000 in net worth that have applied for accreditation.
On top of that, Filecoin ICO investors haven't even gotten any Filecoin tokens yet.
It could be six months before the ICO investors actually receive their tokens, and only then will they be able to sell them on exchanges. Instead, they received a token promising them access to Filecoin later.
That means we don't even know how much Filecoins will cost even though the ICO is over, let alone whether the project will work successfully.
And that makes Filecoin a purely speculative investment, one that's extremely risky. For that reason, we recommend avoiding Filecoin when retail investors have the opportunity to buy.
But it's still possible to profitably play cryptocurrencies for triple- or even quadruple-digit profits, and you won't need to speculate on the next crypto ICO either...
The Best Way to Profit from Cyrptocurrencies Today
If you're interested in getting into the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin is your best play. And don't worry, just because its price skyrocketed since its inception doesn't mean there aren't huge profits ahead.
Bitcoin is the most well-known cryptocurrency, and its returns for early owners have been astounding. As noted above, the currency's price skyrocketed over 16,000% between 2012 and 2017. But that doesn't mean it can't go even higher...
Some analysts are giving Bitcoin price targets as high as $55,000 by 2022 and $500,000 by 2030. Those price targets could bring you 1,000% and 40,000% gains, respectively, from Bitcoin's current price.
But those might even be conservative...
Bitcoin could reach a price of $1,000,000, according to Money Morning Cryptocurrency Expert Dave Zeiler.
That price might sound incredible, but there's a straightforward scenario that could easily make it happen.
Just think, back in 2010, Bitcoin was valued at a mere $0.06. The thought that it could reach its current price of $3,830.62 would have seemed insane.
In fact, in 2010, an early Bitcoin miner traded 20,000 bitcoins for two pizzas. He was trying to see if he could exchange bitcoins for goods. His experiment worked, but those same Bitcoins would be worth over $85 million today.
While crypto traders are hoping this sort of explosive growth will happen with another coin, Bitcoin could actually do it again if this scenario plays out.
"This actually has a realistic chance of happening," according to Dave.
Dave explains this $1,000,000 Bitcoin price target for our readers right here...
Pot Stocks Creating Historic Cash Windfalls: The $6.7 billion legal marijuana market is estimated to top $35 billion by 2020. And a few dozen tiny stocks are set to deliver potentially once-in-a-lifetime windfalls. As a service to Money Morning readers, we're now making available our 89-page cannabis investing guide, The Roadmap to Marijuana Millions. This "bible of weed investing" features the absolute top 30 pot stocks in edibles, dispensaries, biotech, and more - all of which could make you a fortune. Click here to reserve your copy now!
Follow Money Morning on Twitter @moneymorning, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
[mmpazkzone name="end-story-hostage" network="9794" site="307044" id="138536" type="4"]