ICMs have the potential to significantly benefit investors and projects alike by making it easier for projects to get the funding they need and eliminating the gatekeeping that prevents many people from investing in early-stage companies. However, investing in ICMs also has its risks that would-be investors should weigh against the potential rewards.

One of the major selling points of ICMs is that they eliminate many of the intermediaries and restrictions of traditional investing. In many cases, the ability to invest in early-stage projects is limited, and projects need to complete certain paperwork and processes to be listed on common markets.

ICMs allow anyone direct access to projects seeking funding on-chain, removing many of these common roadblocks. However, the lack of regulation also means that ICM investors don’t enjoy the same protections as traditional investors, increasing the risk of scams, fraud, and mismanagement.

ICMs are designed to have a very low barrier for entry for projects, with some platforms allowing tokens to be automatically generated via a post on social media. As a result, early-stage projects with unproven ideas can create tokens and start collecting value.

This means that ICM tokens are highly speculative and subject to sudden price surges and drops based on memes and social media trends. If a project fails, its associated token has no intrinsic value, creating the potential for significant losses by investors.

The low barrier to entry also means that ICM platform users can create tokens with no intent of carrying through on the promised project. Token value can be hyped up by a creator and made to look authentic and valuable via empty promises and fake project roadmaps.

Since project creators get some of the value that token sales bring in, they have an incentive to drive up their tokens’ value. However, there is little to influence them to carry through on their promises to create a particular project.

In the event that a project hosted on an ICM platform is successful, token holders have the potential to reap significant rewards. Since these rewards are governed by blockchain wallets, these accounts may contain significant value.

High-value blockchain wallets are a common target for cybercriminals. Token holders run the risk of phishing, malware, and other attacks designed to steal private keys or trick them into transferring valuable tokens to an attacker’s account.

Unfortunately, scams are a major risk in the ICM space. Some of the most common scams to watch out for include the following:

One of the most significant threats that investors face in ICMs is the potential for fake projects. Tokens are automatically generated with no due diligence performed on the project. As a result, a creator could launch a token with no plan to follow through or an unrealistic one that is unlikely to succeed.

Often, these types of scams are indicated by promises of high rewards or future utility without a clear plan of how to achieve it. Before investing in a token, users should do their research to see if an investment is likely to pay off or if promises seem too good to be true.

Pump and dump scams are a common threat in the crypto space. In this type of scam, the party behind a project will use social media hype and empty promises to increase the value of their token. Then, when its value reaches its height, the developer sells off their token holdings to make a profit at the expense of their users.

Pump and dump schemes are similar to fake projects, differing largely in how the developer makes their money. With an ICM, a developer could profit both from token sales and from holding some of their own tokens and dumping them at the height of a hype wave.

In a pyramid scheme, the developer will use investments from later investors to pay rewards and incentives to earlier investors. This doesn’t require an underlying, profitable business since it runs on the same hype as other scams.

With this type of scam, the rewards that other investors are receiving make the project seem legitimate and profitable. Red flags for this type of scheme include guaranteed payoffs or incentives for referring additional people (whose investments would pay off these rewards).

Some scammers will charge advance fees to their users to access special opportunities or privileged offers. For example, the project may have a “VIP” program that requires an additional fee on top of the token investment.

With a real ICM token, the project earns its money through selling tokens to potential investors. Any additional payments, such as VIP access or pre-sale offers, are potential scams.

In an impersonation scam, an attacker pretends to be someone else to carry out their scam. For example, it might appear that a major celebrity or trusted brand is launching a token, while the reality is a fake token.

With the rise of Gen AI, these types of scams are easier to perform than ever. AI can be used to create fake websites and send messages to users, providing a personal touch at scale.

Internet Capital Markets have significant potential, providing broader access to early-stage projects and giving these projects the funding that they need to get off the ground. However, investing in these projects carries significant risk, ranging from scams to cyberattackers targeting successful investors.

Before investing in any project, do your research to determine whether it seems to be legitimate and likely to live up to its claims. It’s also important to implement private key security best practices to protect your tokens and any profits that they unlock.