By SwapSpace on The CapitalOver the past few years, ICO, or Initial Coin Offering, has become an extremely popular and profitable way of developing business projects using cryptocurrency and even more. We’re going to make a quick review of the 5 most successful ICOs by the amount raised.EOSStart date: 2017/06/25End date: 2018/06/04Amount raised: $4,197,956,135EOS blockchain platform managed to raise about 200 million dollars shortly after it was launched. The company itself claims to be “a next-generation, open-source blockchain protocol with industry-leading transaction speed and flexible utility”. Its founders developed multifunctional software which allows its clients to use decentralized applications and carry out cheaper and faster transactions. However, not everyone can use EOS — the citizens of the USA and China can’t buy its tokens.Since the very beginning, the platform raised heated discussions in the crypto community. EOS is basically a rethinking of the concept of Ethereum, which led to a rivalry between these two giants. Besides, the launching of the platform didn’t go smoothly — there was no graphic interface for voting and the system was also hacked. Nevertheless, it’s hard to argue with the fact that EOS was a success after all — the total value of tokens sold in this ICO is estimated at more than 4 billion dollars.FilecoinStart date: 2017/08/10End date: 2017/09/10Amount raised: $257,000,000This platform’s main goal is to provide a decentralized system for data storage, challenging Google and Dropbox in this sphere. The concept of Filecoin is dividing the data and storing it on different computers. This means that every user can rent out space on their hard drives and get Filecoin tokens. The platform provides the opportunity to choose better offers due to the competitive storage market. Moreover, all the data will be encrypted and only the owner will have a key to get access to it.The project sounds very promising as there’s a growing demand for safe and cheap storage space. Many huge American companies invested money in this project, for example, Digital Currency Group, and in the first 30 minutes, Filecoin raised more than 200 million dollars.The Bancor ProtocolStart date: 2017/06/10End date: 2017/06/10Amount raised: $153,000,000It is an open-source project for converting tokens without matching buyers and sellers. The Bancor Protocol is based on a mechanism with a special formula that can make calculations directly from the smart contracts. The key elements of this network are automatic price determination and continuous recalculation to maintain balance and stability.The innovation of the Bancor Protocol consists in the possibility to convert, buy and exchange tokens without mediators. The project raised an impressive amount of 140 million dollars in less than three hours.PolkadotStart date: 2017/10/15End date: 2017/10/27Amount raised: $145,000,000This platform is built to unite different blockchains and databases in one space. This way networks can work together exchanging information and conduct transactions under the protection of Polkadot. The system has a complex hierarchy of users that will enable the successful functioning of the project. The Polkadot token serves 4 purposes: “governance over the network, operation, bonding, and interoperability”.The goal of the project is not only to design a shared working platform but also to create a fully decentralized Internet. Polkadot manages to raise about 145 million dollars.StatusStart date: 2017/06/19End date: 2017/06/19Amount raised: $107,664,904Status is a new social network that also functions as a crypto wallet and a browser. According to its white paper, it’s the first mobile Ethereum client built on peer-to-peer technologies. The project is based on the interaction of three types of people: owners, advertisers, and users. The creators of Status believe that stimulating all those people in the network by giving them real stakes will be profitable for everyone. Besides, all transactions and messages on this platform are safely secured by encryption.This project raised more than 100 million dollars and offers a free open space where every user can offer their incentives. It is believed that combining all these different functions Status will become a better, more optimized social network.Looking at the amounts of money raised by these ICOs and at their ambitious white papers, we can say that the concept of cryptocurrency sounds alluring. Nevertheless, before deciding to buy tokens of any ICO it’s necessary to assess all the risks, as the future of this type of business is still vague. Remember, you can’t be too careful.The Capitalhttps://medium.com/media/3b6b127891c5c8711ad105e61d6cc81f/href5 Successful ICOs You Need to Know About was originally published in The Capital on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.