If you look at small “itsy bitsy” blogs like this one (hey, we are doing alright…NOT) then many times it’s just a bunch of people living in their mother’s basement, basing their entire financial futures on the purchase of 0.00001 Bitcoin.

Yes…biased media is the word here. Pretty much anyone has something to gain from writing an article like this (and so do I.) But let’s get to the point: should you invest in ICOs?

Here’s the advantage: you get a head start. You don’t have to wait for the coins to hit the exchanges to start buying (or investing.) You can get to the crypto coin way before it hits $1,000 and speculate if it goes to $1 million. Also, investing in ICOs often times means great bonuses. It isn’t uncommon for ICOs to offer investors up to 80% discounts on the price of the token. That pretty much means, that once the token hits the exchange, you are already up by 40, 50, 60%.

Here’s the disadvantage: the coin hasn’t proved itself. It can hit the exchanges, and plummet to zero. You don’t know if this company will take their money and run or what.

In any event, here is a company we do recommend and definitely don’t think will plummet to zero: https://rentberry.cryptonomos.com/

Your good o’l pal Daniel would only recommend to you top notch companies. So do your research of course, however this is a company that will fly in 2018.

As hard as it may seem, that is the beginning and the end of a proper ICO evaluation. I see a ton of coins that are just a means of transactions, in a similar way that people transact using Bitcoin or Litecoin. There are hundreds of these coins, and all have their little extra special feature: but does the world really need ALL of these? I do not think so…

Basically, it all comes down to usability: the more people use a coin, the more it will need to be traded and thus, the supply and demand equation changes based on that factor (the demand factor.) The more people use the coin, technically, the higher it will go up. But what happens if people start abandoning some coins because they all just prefer using say Bitcoin cash? Amazon won’t start accepting any type of cryptocurrency, and it will settle (most likely) for just a couple, if it doesn’t even make its own coin. So how will the coins have any application if retail giants block them?

Basically, what’s the solution to this maze? Above and beyond the speculation (which is insane) realistically speaking, how can you best position yourself? Personally, I think by getting into cryptocurrencies that are the leaders in their niche. For pure financial transactions of any sort, there are gazillions of coins. But start going into niche related coins: grocery shopping, gaming, real estate, even solar. I mean just hedge your bets, and don’t go all in on something that looks like Bitcoin.

I’m still looking into some different niches (some of which I mentioned) but I have pretty much decided my winner for the real estate (home rentals) niche. Rentberry (currently an ICO and not traded on exchanges) is the only startup with an existing client base and a proven product, to help tenants and landlords manage their payments, communicate, sign contracts etc. Rentberry, seems to be the one that will be leading the pack when it homes to rental transactions.

Some questions that have come up in e-mails are, how much can you assess an ICO based on what they promise in the road map. In other words: can you trust the road map or is it just talk?

Guys…that is the million dollar question. If you can answer that, don’t you have the rest figured out?

Anyway, I will try and give you my 2 cents on this matter, and whether you can trust company’s road maps. First things first: do a total evaluation of the company. Look into eye opening reviews only AFTER you have formed your on opinion. Don’t take the lazy route of seeing YouTube videos that are evaluating companies. A lot of those videos are backed by the ICOs themselves, so please do your own research.

After you’ve spent a decent amount of time though getting your facts in order, then do look at a few reviews. It’s kind of like getting a second opinion for a health issue. You have that one core opinion, but you are always looking to see if you’ve missed something. Treat the evaluation of your ICOs as a medical issue: do a great assessment on your own, and then ask for a second opinion either from piers or even infuencers in the industry that talk about them.

Back to the road map conversation: any company that sketches out a plan, is most likely not going to follow it to every single point. Not because they are necessarily incompetent (well, that too) but simply because when there is no product, you have no absolute idea how people are going to react to it. So that means a bunch of modifications along the way. That messes up the road map in a great way!

So what can you do? Well, if there is some kind of itchy bitchy product that is in existence, that is super important. Because if anything, at least there is a timeline based on reality. The more a company has figured out their components (product, marketing methods, clientele) the more accurate their plans will be. But the more a company is in its vision stage, the less accurate the plan will actually be. It’s that simple. Now, the management team is important and will determine a lot of the company’s success no matter what. But having something in existence is a huge gain for both the company and its token investors.

As always, I will speak about Rentberry being a top choice you should consider. They have an ambitious road map, but also huge progress in only 2-3 years. So the more they fulfill their vision, the more I can trust that they will meet each and every point of their own road map. You can find the road map in their white paper and website: https://rentberry.cryptonomos.com/

On the one hand, you can have the greatest management in the world, but if the product is mediocre, it won’t really increase value for investors. And then you can have the most innovative and important product or service in the 21st century, but if management sucks, then you are done.

So after getting that statement in my mind, I started playing this stupid debate in my head, trying to figure out if a good product is better than good management and vice versa. Now, of course, we are not talking about a horrible product or horrible management. Just considering that both factors are mediocre. (By the way, it makes sense that you only want ICOs that have both factors checked, but we are just having a fun/stupid debate now.)

If you have good management and a mediocre product, then you are stuck with just bad people. However, in the case of “bad people” you can always replace them (assuming they are replaceable.) If you have a mediocre product and good management, you can get the best out of that product with a talented group of people. Also, the good management will sense very soon that things aren’t going well, so they should be able to make adjustments to their business model, add another service etc.

So if the debate was already completed with 2 opposite arguments, what else is there to talk about?  Consultant teams behind the curtains!

You will have a CEO, a CFO, CTO and a bunch of other titles you can probably find off a Google search. However consultants are super important. Sometimes, more important than the management team. The CFO just counts money…but a consultant can be the one that leads you down a rabbit hole, or through a genius route that will gross the company a fortune. Many times, when you have prominent ICOs that have already gone through private investments (Angel List investors etc) they get to have some consultants from those investment firms.

I want everyone one of you, right now, to go look up their favorite ICO: check and see who is consulting them. Don’t just trust the MBA from Wharton Business school who is running the company. Look at the great number of consultations that do a lot of the heavy lifting: evaluate them and understand that a bad consultant can be a disaster for a company: not only can an ICO not succeed, but it can fail horribly and lose everyone money.

So, back to the debate: ICO vision/product VS Management? Check your consultants…they play a huge role in the formation of the future of a company.

Rentberry, the ICO set to disrupt the long term home rental industry, has had investors and consultants from over 10 countries worldwide. Not only are the investors consulting, but they also have a separate team focused just on consultations (for the global markets.) That for me, is an incredibly significant factor in assessing this company.

Invest wisely!

What if you had E-bay but for apartments? What if you needed to bid for your apartment and compete for it?

Well…that is precisely the dream Rentberry has to offer. Before all skeptics start climbing in shouting how that will pump up rental prices, please hear me out.

Rentberry is an ICO that wants to change the way people rent apartments/homes, but for the better. If you have ever lived in a crowded city before (San Francisco, New York etc) you know how tough it is to get an apartment at a rate you can afford. So why is Rentberry a good thing?

Well, because as you may remember from your rental experience, there are a ton of under the table bidding wars taking place. If you think people aren’t currently bidding for their apartments, then you either don’t live in a populated city (like Chicago) or are misinformed. The truth is, Rentberry is only bringing transparency to an already existing situation. Bidding already takes place, and one one knows exactly how much people are overpaying for an apartment. So what if all that information was out in the open? What if your competing tenants knew precisely how much you were willing to pay for the apartment? Then you wouldn’t have to hike your proposed rate an extra $400 but maybe save $200.

In any way, with Rentberry will be clarity. But wait…there’s more! Tenants will be able to fill in applications and sign contracts online and also make payments online. We are talking about all bureaucracy in one decentralized platform. And what’s the currency to be used? The BERRY coin. In the future, they are looking to allow landlords to have maintenance on the property by hiring companies from the platform, allow tenants to pay their utility bills through the platform and so much more.

Well, a lot of people for some reason enjoy locking up their money in accounts that collect almost zero in interest and lose value every single year. But what if you could invest your money in something 100X safer than cryptocurrencies?

What if you could get a 5% return on the money you invest, annually? I have spoken a lot about Rentberry as a great ICO people can participate in and expect a good outcome. What I have’t elaborated on much, is the ability to earn approximately 5% on your money (annually) by utilizing your BERRY tokens. Pretty much, anyone will be able to fund the security deposits of tenants.

The tenant pays 10% of the security deposit, and investors can pay the remaining 90% and expect a reward of 5%. Everything will be done through the platform, and the whole goal of the Rentberry team is to be able to:

• Unlock $500 billion in rental security deposits
• Get money that is sitting in bank accounts, out of there and into making some decent returns.

Now, anyone that wants to participate in the ICO, that is also an option. But for anyone looking for a safer way to invest their money, you can at anytime fund security deposits for a return. Crowdsourcing rental security deposits is something that is essential and makes the core of the Rentberry financial goals for the platform. And with this, you would be hitting 2 birds with one stone:

1. Help out people secure their deposits and get their apartments
2. Get 50X the amount you are currently making from your savings account

For anyone looking to buy the BERRY token during this token sale stage, you can also get a bonus percentage (between 7-20% depending on when you buy.)

Around Christmas, there was a beautiful discount in cryptocurrency prices that looked scary for so many people. Basically, a simple holiday pullback that allowed for people to buy in the dip. But again the question is: will Cryptocurrencies ever reach a ceiling as a whole?

If you read the tweet of ambitious and futuristic people like John McAfee, then you are talking about waiting until Bitcoin hits 6 or 7 figures, before starting to meet a ceiling of some sort. But if you read the editorials of crypto geeks, then they are looking at maybe high five figures in the bitcoin price (with the other cryptos following behind.)

I think the question “are cryptocurrencies making out” is the same kind of question when someone asks of the stock market, and whether it is overpriced. It’s a very subjective question: are we talking about maxing out based on the idea that the number of people climbing in is slowing down, or are we talking about the future of cryptocurrencies not looking bright? Each reason will get you a different answer. Cryptocurrencies will still be “cheap” when there are phenomenally higher returns to be expected. Think of Bitcoin when it was trading at a few cents: once it hit $10 there were a lot of people that were wondering if that was it for Bitcoin, and yet we see it currently trading at 5 figures.

I think there will be some ceiling for some coins, but as long as people are getting out of traditional forms of investment (gold for example) and entering those funds into cryptocurrencies, then we are just talking about re-distribution of existing funds. And we haven’t discussed yet the possibility of investments crawling in, creating even more wealth.

In any event, you can always bet on successful ICOs to allow for a home run swing. My favorite one is Rentberry: a company that wants to create a decentralized platform for tenants and landlords, so they can manage their payments online but also allow for crowdsourcing of rental security deposits. You can learn more here: https://rentberry.cryptonomos.com/

Well, anyone is also looking to make money off cryptocurrencies and wherever there is money to be made, you can bet on Wall Street. Bitcoin futures was just the beginning of Wall Street people wanting to get their hands on some of the high returns. Some investment banks have been flying under the radar about their crypto investments. Compared to the billions they are making annually, sponsoring a team of crypto traders with a few million is not a big deal to them. However it is a fact, that more and more firms are getting excited about cryptocurrencies.

And not so much because they themselves are thrilled about answering the calls of angry customers, but rather because the customers themselves have asked from firms like Goldman Sachs to offer them cryptocurrency related products. Now, Goldman needs to compete with the other firms on Wall Street, so of course they would be interested in offering packages to their clients connected to cryptocurrencies.

What does that mean though about the goal of avoiding Wall Street? Well, I think they getting involved can actually have a positive effect: yes, there will be greater ownership by banks (again) but at the same time, there will be more money poured into the markets. Private individual investors is one thing, but when you start getting institutions pouring their client’s money into cryptos, then you are talking about scaling the crypto industry massively!

I would not hold my breath with Wall Street however. If you think you should buy into some cryptocurrency just because large firms may start to adopt them, then you are getting in the crypto world for the wrong reasons. First of all, you don’t know which of all 1,500 coins they will get into. And then, you don’t know what the volatility is going to look like.

Personally, I always like ICOs a little bit better than I do cryptocurrencies that are trading live. Usually, with an ICO you can get discounts on the tokens you buy, giving you an edge on your competition. Here is an ICO I would definitely recommend, especially if you are into real estate related investments and real estate tech: https://rentberry.cryptonomos.com/

The last thing we talked about, was crowdsourcing the security deposits, by getting investors to collect 5% on the amount they cover.

Reading through that article again, I think I did not explain exactly how the rewards system would work, what would be the means of payment etc.

(By the way, you can read about that all here: https://rentberry.cryptonomos.com/)

So, the name of the token is BERRY. That is the coin tenants and landlords will be using for transactions. But that is also the cryptocurrency used for investors to fund the 90% of the security deposit. That is why we are talking about decentralization. Fiat currency is no longer a thing, and BERRY tokens take over the financial part of the story. In fact, here is how sophisticated this company really is: you know how the price of bitcoin jumps up 40% to crash to -20% and then goes back up 100% in a few months? Yea…that is called volatility and volatility is cryptocurrency’s first (and favorite) cousin. People are literally struggling to make transactions (using bitcoin for example) because in a matter of seconds, the price may fluctuate by $200. Rentberry has a reserve of tokens (after the end of the ICO) that will be used to stabilize the market. In other words,  they will be “manipulating” in a good sense the price of the BERRY token, during high (higher than 15%) volatility.

This will allow for the tenants to trust the platform and landlords to be sure that accepting 500 BERRY (for example) means they won’t get a penny less than $2,000. So Rentberry management will be well aware of the volatility and ensure stability on the platform for all.

So in my latest article I talked about how there are a bunch of cryptocurrencies out there, seeking to raise money just so they can take off for a vacation in an island in the Caribbeans while smoking Cuban cigars. I also said though, that there are a handful of companies/startups that are serious about changing the way we live our everyday lives and the ways we do business, such as Rentberry.

Let’s break down the benefits and features of the Rentberry project:

It’s really a company that connects Airbnb and Craigslist, only for long term rentals (and utilizing blockchain.) As far as I know, it is the ONLY company out there that is seeking to create a decentralized platform for tenants and landlords. Contracts will be signed online, payments will be made online, and actually the Rentberry platform will also work as an investment platform.

Let me elaborate a bit on that last part: there are trillions and trillions of dollars, worldwide, stuck in bank accounts collecting almost zero interest. At the same time, there is half a trillion dollars locked up in rental security deposits. So on the one hand you have people that aren’t making money on their savings, and other people that can not use their $2,000 or $3,000 security deposits for other purposes (a down payment on a car or investments in the stock market.) So essentially, it’s a lose – lose situation for all. Rentberry will allow for tenants to pay just 10% of their rental security deposit, while allowing investors to fund the remaining 90% for an average 5% annual return.

Sounds like a good deal, right? Well it kind of is. I recommend you all checking the White Paper of the Rentberry company. This is not investment advice, nor am I telling you to buy into their token sale. But you should check out the way home rentals will change in the future, even for educational purposes. Here’s their link: https://rentberry.cryptonomos.com/