Joining an ICO or IEO on Binance’s Launchpad can be confusing as a newcomer. I have encountered the same issue, but in the end, I managed to understand how the system works. This article is intended for the ones that may have trouble understanding how the Launchpad works.
The Launchpad is a feature on Binance which offers selected coin and exchange offerings to investors.
There is a lot of FOMO around the Launchpad at the moment since gains of 2x to 13x have been registered during the past few weeks; something you should consider
How can one participate in an offering? Well, the way one participates is quite simple, and the whole idea behind the Launchpad is interesting.
While the ICOs don’t require a lottery ticket, meaning you can buy in when the count is over, IEOs on the other hand, do require one, in order to claim the allocated token amount per each winning ticket (there is no sale after that, more details below).
What’s a lottery ticket and how the whole system works?
In order to get a ticket, one will have to HODL min. 50 BNB before a snapshot is taken, every day, at 23:59:59(UTC). There will be a total of 8 snapshots at the end of the week (snapshots that are taken during the 7 days + 1 snapshot that was taken the moment you got BNB in your wallet for the first time since the IEO has been in the preparation mode, or if the BNB was already there), meaning you will get 1 lottery ticket after 7 days; basically one does not need to HODL BNB the entire week, it’s only important to have it present in the wallet when a snapshot is taken. One should consider HODLing the BNB through the rest of the week, in case it will increase in value.
But that’s 1 lottery ticket in one week, how can I get more? There is a total of 5 lottery tickets that one can collect during an IEO; by HODLing 200 BNB when a snapshot is taken, during 7 days, one can get 2 tickets, holding 300 will bring 3 tickets, and so on until 500 BNB which can get you up to 5 tickets.
What if I missed one or a few days?
Everything gets divided by 8, meaning one can even join in the last day before the snapshot is taken. In the following day, when the tickets can be claimed, you should get one or more as long as the average of your BNB equals to 50 and beyond.
Examples of how the average is calculated:
1. 50 BNB snapshot(1st purchase during the preparation day or already having BNB in the wallet) + 50(daily) x 7 = 400 : 8 = 50 Weekly Average (you will qualify for 1 lottery ticket).
2. 100 BNB snapshot(1st purchase during the preparation day, or already having BNB in the wallet) + 50 + 200 + 400 + 30 + 100 + 20 = 900 : 8 = 112.5 Weekly Average(you will qualify for two lottery tickets in this case).
3. 1500 BNB snapshot(1st purchase during the preparation day, or already having BNB in the wallet) + 1500 = 3000 : 8 = 375 Weekly Average. This example is given as if one would join in the last day (in this case, one would qualify for 3 lottery tickets).
This shows you how many tickets one will get depending on the weekly average result:
Great, now I understand, and I can finally get in the current IEO.
Well, not exactly, the lottery ticket is not allowing you to “purchase” into the IEO. Remember? It’s a lottery ticket, meaning ticket owners will participate in a lottery draw; only the winners will be able to participate in the IEO, and the more tickets one has, the greater the chances are to win one or more draws.
Based on the IEO, there will be a certain amount of token allocated per winning ticket. Harmony, the current Launchpad IEO, has a maximum number of 16,666 winning tickets, and an allocated prize of $300 worth of tokens per winning ticket for example. This means that the investor gets only $300 worth of tokens per winning ticket and there is no sale after the draw. The investor needs to have $300 worth of BNB per winning ticket available in the balance, up to 24H after the lottery is over.
If you win 3 draws, you would need to own x3 times 8.9 BNB = 26.7 BNB (not refundable).
In time I believe BNB will become more valuable giving what I said above and taking into consideration the Binance dex. Buying into future IEOs may become a luxury if it isn’t already.
Note: Keep in mind that investing in cryptocurrencies has its risks and you should do your own due diligence. Everything said above is for educational purposes only, and definitely not financial advice.