My First ICO (Braintrust) via Coinlist & Guide to participate in ICO

I have been trying several ICO (initial coin offering) since the 2nd quarter 2021 via Coinlist. Each ICO (e.g. Immutable X, Efinity, Swarm, HUMAN, Vega, Centrifuge) that I participated in, my queue number was so far back that I just logged off.

To illustrate, in most ICOs, only the first 20,000 persons in the queue gets to buy the coin. Most of the queue number that I have had was in the range of 200,000 to even 400,000. If we use the queue number of 200,000, it means that the ICO is at least 1000% oversubscribed. 

For Braintrust, I managed to get a queue number of 3,822 allowing me to buy the coin. I subscribed to the maximum allocation of 500 USDT. My Braintrust (BTRST) are going to be locked up for 3 months from 20 Oct 21. So, I will be deciding whether to keep or sell them in early 2022.

Appended below is a guide on how you can participate in an ICO via Coinlist. 

Step 1: Sign up for a Coinlist account. If you are interested, you can use this referral link. KYC verification is required.

Step 2: Register for that ICO (also known as "Token Sales") by selecting the option you want to participate in before registration date closes.

Step 3: You will need to answer the 8 to 10 questions quiz to proof that you are not a bot and that you have read up briefly about what the ICO is about. Make sure you registration is marked as "Completed". 

Step 4: Take note of when the ICO token sales starts. Typically, it is either at 1am or 7am (SG timing). You will receive an email link to enter into a waiting room. You need to enter into this waiting room before the token sales starts. 

Arriving at the waiting room early does not give you a better place in the queue. You do not need to enter 1 hour before, just 5 minutes before will suffice. When the sale starts, users in the main queue waiting room are assigned a random place in line, ahead of those who arrive after the sale starts.

Step 5:  When the sales starts, you will be able to see your queue number (image below), if your queue number is too big, you can log off and go to sleep (e.g. queue number of 100,000 when only 20,000 can buy. Even if the first 20,000 persons do not buy up to the maximum purchase amount, the 20,001 to 30,000th persons, would probably purchase the balance). 

Step 6: If you are lucky and get a low queue number, wait for your turn. You will have 10 minutes to enter when it is your turn. You will be directed to a page to input the amount you want to purchase.

Step 7: Take note of the (i) payment mode you selected (e.g. USDT, USDC, ETH, BTC) and (ii) payment deposit deadline. If you do not deposit before the period stated, your purchased may be cancelled and you maybe banned from future ICOs. 

Step 8: You need to ensure that your ICO purchase is indicated as "Purchase Complete" with payment received. 

Step 9: Wait for your ICO to be released and you can decide whether to withdraw them to other wallets or sell them. Depending on the ICO mechanism, the coins could be released immediately or locked up for a period of 3 months to a year, or even 2 years. 

Happy ICOing. 

ps: i shifted my coins out of Binance. I setup FTX to replace Binance. My cryptocurrencies are currently in 3 different platforms (Celsius, FTX and Gemini)

Binance Guide: Depositing USD Funds via Bank Transfer into Binance.com

Shifted my coins out of Binance. I setup FTX to replace Binance. My cryptocurrencies are currently in 3 different platforms (Celsius, FTX and Gemini)

This post is meant as a beginner step-by-step guide on how you can deposit USD funds using SGD in Binance. Depositing USD allows you to buy, sell and store cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Matic (Polygon) and even dogecoin. Binance is one of the world biggest bitcoin exchange and altcoin crypto exchange in the world by volume. 

There are 3 methods to fund your Binance account:

      1) Deposit USD via bank transfer (zero fees, same day transfer), using SGD 
      2) Deposit USDT from SGD via P2P
      3) using of credit card

In this guide, I shall touch on the first method. I used my POSB/DBS bank account which does not charge any fees for same day overseas transfer.

If you do not have a Binance.com account you can use my referral link and get 10% commission kickback on your Binance.com trading fees. After you have signed up, you can follow the steps below. To view a clearer image, you can click on the images. 

1. Click on your Wallet and select "Fiat and Spot".

2. Click on Deposit. 

3. Select USD for Currency and Select Silvergate Bank (Swift). Click Continue. 

4. Input amount of USD you want to transfer. It will be deposited as BUSD. Your BUSD can be withdrawn as USD. Click Continue.  

If you do not know about BUSD, read the bottom of this post after step 8.

5. Take note of your unique reference code. This code has to be inputted when making the overseas remit via your local bank. Click Confirm. 

6. Binance payment details including bank account information is shown.

7. To deposit USD funds into Binance, login to your ibanking . Select "Transfer" and click  on "DBS Remit and overseas transfer". 

7. Scroll down to this image. Select "United States" and indicate the amount of USD you want to deposit into Binance. This amount should be the same as the amount you entered in Step 4. Click "Get Quote". 

The next screen will show that exchange rate, and that you will enjoy zero admin/processing fees and same day transfer. Click "Start a new transfer".

8. Indicate the details as per what you have received in Step 6.

You can fill in as per what is in the images above. But do note this is accurate as of 7 Jun 2021. You still need to check the instructions given in step 6 as the details may change. 

Remember to indicate the unique reference code give to you under "Payment Details for Recipient" (I redacted mine out in black). If this is not indicated correctly, the funds will not be transferred.

Click "Next" and submit the transactions. If you submit the transactions before 5pm on weekdays, the funds will be deposited in your Binance account by 10pm on the same day (if it is not a Public Holiday for SG or USA). If the transaction is submitted after this timing and DBS does not process the transaction, you will need to wait for the next business day. If you do this after 5pm on Fri or weekends, the funds will be deposited on Monday night, provided Monday is not a public holiday in United States.

Sometimes, the funds take longer to be deposited due to an influx of deposits. If you waited more than 4 business days, log a ticket with Binance support. So far, I have not encountered any such issues. 

Once the funds are in Binance, you can make your crypto purchase. 

What is BUSD?
BUSD (Binance USD) is a stablecoin which avoids the extreme volatility of other cryptocurrencies while keeping value within the crypto market. Basically, BUSD can be used to purchase cryptos. 

Need a Binance referral link? You can use this link. For other crypto referral links such as Gemini, Coinlist, Celsius or Blockfi, you can refer to this link.

If you are interested in Cyrpto, you can also read on 

- Depositing USD Funds into Gemini.com via Bank Transfer

My Investment Portfolio - SG (End Aug 2021)

Lack of timely updates as I have been busy at work. 

From stockcafe

No transactions were made in the month of August.

I received $2,182.52 in August as many companies were paying out dividends. I am watching companies such as Nanofilm and Wilmar and may initiate a position into it over the next few days. 

STI seems to be stuck trading sideways as the Covid continues to throw unexpected twists resulting in changing Safe Management Measures. Although the government is preparing for it to be an endemic, the end is nowhere in sight. Portfolio value has been hovering between these few weeks 295k to 310k.

For me, I will stay invested in the market and purchase every now and then, rebalancing when required.

Stay Safe!

Dividends received* during the month: $2,182.52 (DBS, OCBC, ST Engineering, Wilmar, Old Chang Kee, Ascott, Suntec, Ireit, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust, Keppel Corp, Singtel)

Total dividends received in 2021: $6,767.34

Average dividends per month: $563.95

Total Portfolio Market Value: $300,508.31

*Dividends are recognised after payment date. Average dividends per month is calculated by dividing the dividends received by 12 months regardless of the month. 

Portfolio excludes Singapore Savings Bonds, Foreign Stocks, Crypto and Stashaway