✨How to participate in a crowdsale of IPTs?

Crowdsales of IPTs enable researchers to raise funds for development of an IP-NFT.

Participating in a crowdsale on testnet.

Introduction

The StakedLockingCrowdsale is an innovative way to support scientific research and projects you believe in. This guide aims to explain how you can participate in this process and what it means for your donation.

What is a crowdsale?

A crowdsale is similar to a crowdfunding campaign, but instead of giving a donation, you purchase tokens associated with the project. These tokens could have various uses, depending on the project. For instance, they could allow you to vote on future directions or provide access to services.

How to Participate

Step 1 · Make a bid

You'll need to stake and lock Staked Tokens to submit a bid in the auction for IPTs, which are governance tokens of an IP-NFT. Importantly, your bid amount cannot exceed the value of Staked Tokens you're willing to stake.

The more you bid, the larger your final allocation of IPTs will be, should the sale be successful (meeting its fundraising goal). If the auction is unsuccessful (doesn’t meet its fundraising goal), then all of your tokens can be claimed as a refund.

Step 2 · Claim Tokens and Refunds

If the sale is successful then your bid will be settled pro rata. This means your final allocation of IPTs will depend on your bid's proportion to the total amount bid.

After the sale period, visit the page where the sale took place (or access the corresponding smart contract directly). Here, you'll be able to claim your allocation of IPTs and any overflowed bid tokens.

The IPTs you purchase will be vesting along with the Staked Tokens you staked when you made your bid. You'll receive a vesting token, which is non-transferable and allows you to participate in governance, until you claim the vested IPTs and Staked Tokens.

Step 3 · Unlock Tokens

Once the vesting period is over, return to the sale page to claim your tokens.

Here, you'll be able to swap your vesting Staked Tokens (vVITA) for Staked Tokens (VITA) and your vesting IPTs for vested IPTs.

Participating in an auction for IPTs is an opportunity to support projects you believe in, but please make sure you understand the process and the risks involved by reading the documentation of the original project, and don't hesitate to ask for help on Discord if you have any questions.

Definitions

What does "Locking" mean?

When you participate in a traditional crowdsale, you can usually do whatever you want with the tokens you've purchased, including selling them. In a LockingCrowdsale, your purchased tokens are "locked" for a specified period of time. This means you can't sell or transfer them until the lock-up period ends.

Locking is designed to ensure a stable environment for the project's growth and discourage "pump-and-dump" tactics, where people buy tokens only to sell them once their price increases.

What does "Staked" mean?

In a StakedLockingCrowdsale, participants are required to "stake" an additional type of token to be eligible to participate in the Crowdsale. Staking is like placing tokens in a digital safe. You still own them, but they are locked away for a specified time.

The requirement to stake tokens adds another layer of commitment. It shows you believe in the project's long-term success since you're willing to temporarily lock away additional tokens.