Initial NFT Offering (INO)

An initial NFT offering (INO) is the first sale of a new collection of non-fungible tokens, in which a project offers its NFTs to the public at a fixed or auction price before they trade on secondary marketplaces. The term borrows from the initial coin offering, but buyers receive unique digital items, such as artwork, game characters or membership passes, rather than interchangeable tokens. INOs are often run through launchpads that vet projects, limit allocations per wallet and sometimes require participants to stake the platform's token. In some INOs, buyers receive a "mystery box" whose contents are revealed later. The model raised funds for many NFT and gaming projects in 2021 and 2022, but prices for many collections later fell well below their sale price, and some projects never delivered what they promised. INOs are closely related to the initial game offering. Also see minting.