TY - JOUR T1 - Token Sales and Initial Coin Offerings: <em>Introduction</em> JF - The Journal of Alternative Investments SP - 7 LP - 12 DO - 10.3905/jai.2019.21.4.007 VL - 21 IS - 4 AU - Paul P. Momtaz Y1 - 2019/03/31 UR - https://pm-research.com/content/21/4/7.abstract N2 - Token sales or initial coin offerings (ICOs) are smart contracts on a blockchain designed to raise external finance by issuing tokens or coins. This introduction provides an overview of this novel financing method. Differences between tokens and coins, types of tokens, and various ICO mechanisms are discussed. The author also describes the evolution of the ICO market and surveys some advantages of ICOs.TOPICS: Currency, volatility measures ER -