ICO / IDO / IEO
ICOs, IDOs and IEOs are ways new tokens are first sold to the public — directly by the project, on a DEX, or through an exchange, respectively.
In depth
Initial Coin Offerings (2017 era) sold tokens straight from a project website with little oversight and many failures. Initial DEX Offerings launch liquidity pools on a decentralised exchange; Initial Exchange Offerings are hosted and vetted by a centralized exchange. Each carries high risk, and many are regulated as securities offerings.
Why it matters
Early-stage token sales are where the largest gains and the largest scams both live.