How to launch IDO (for projects)
Guideline for Token Projects. A Walkthrough for Launching your very own self-made Initial DEX Offering (IDO).
Last updated
Guideline for Token Projects. A Walkthrough for Launching your very own self-made Initial DEX Offering (IDO).
Last updated
SpacePort is the democratized open IDO launchpad, for the first time, allowing any blockchain project to quickly set up and launch their own Initial DEX Offering (IDO) on top of the PlasmaSwap DEX.
With SpacePort, powered by Plasma.Finance, we take a step closer to our goal of “DeFi for the masses”, giving all projects of any size and stature the same opportunity to access an open, transparent, fairer means of crowdfunding on DeFi.
No more gatekeepers to tell you how your token setup should be
No restrictions on project size or type
No limits to market settings and IDO management
Fully customizable settings of your choice with our “Contract Factory” tool
Setting up your own IDO is actually really simple, but because this is a new offering and done entirely on-chain, we’ve prepared a handy Walkthrough document here that takes you through the entire process, step by step.
Our Plasma team created a unique platform to organize the most comprehensive IDO using the best practices from decentralized crowdfunding and tokenomic modeling. As a result, all tools and your project IDO are under your complete control and on-chain.
Fully decentralized way of web 3.0 crowdfunding – all IDO contracts are on-chain, transparent and built on trustless infrastructure.
The most customizable smart contracts for IDO – you can customize raised currency, soft and hard cap of IDO, dates, limits for investors, whitelist, DEX liquidity lock and rates for IDO and DEX.
Integrated lockup and vesting contracts for IDO investors – improve your tokenomic model with zero sell pressure on token launch. Give your investors a convenient UI to track unlocked tokens and claim them.
Liquidity mining and staking contracts – launch your incentive program to improve liquidity depth on DEX and provide your investors a comprehensive UI to track ROI on their liquidity.
Protection from the Rug Pull for IDO investors – lock your DEX liquidity to give your investors more assurance for their project investments.
On-chain control of whitelisted wallet addresses – manage your investor whitelist at any moment directly on-chain.
Investor analytics – get full access to the list of investors of your IDO.
Automatic DEX liquidity pool creation – protect your project from unexpected liquidity pool opening and let smart contracts manage that task for you. A liquidity pool will be automatically opened for the sold token after its IDO is successfully finished.
Build-in KYC integration – the project's team is fully responsible for their investors and any KYC process. Provide a link to your KYC operator to allow for automatic verification of investors before the IDO.
The full project tokenomic analytics and integrated tools – upload all your project information (pitch deck, YouYube videos, etc.) and tokenomic information (distribution schedule, allocation model, etc.) to GitHub and make it visible for your investors on SpacePort. Investors will appreciate your full project transparency.
Multiple use cases of fundraising on Spaceport – you can use SpacePort launchpad for public IDO or private sales, which makes the fundraising process as solid as possible for you and your investors.
Full-informational Token Page – completely customizable token page with a project and token information.
Token Portfolio Analytics – provide your investors full access to the analytics of their token portfolio on one platform.
Cross-chain PlasmaSwap DEX with limit orders – our DEX supports on-chain market and limit orders for any pair of tokens.
Advanced Analytics for DEX and Token – comprehensive analytics of token ROI, liquidity pools APY and trading activities on DEXs.
The most user-friendly interfaces in DeFi – easy to use and understand DeFi interfaces for advanced and beginner users.
Cross-DEX integration – Plasma.Finance is directly integrated with the most popular DEXes, like PlasmaSwap, Uniswap, Sushiswap. Users can trade, manage their liquidity and use the analytics across all the DExes.
Integrated fiat on-ramp – we support different ways of purchasing DeFi tokens and cryptocurrency with credit cards, bank wires and e-wallets. Available in more than 165 countries.
Multilanguage DeFi Platform – platform supports a community-driven localization for 34 languages.
Live Chat support – 24/7 live support for users and projects on the platform
Setting up an IDO on SpacePort is a completely transparent process following the principles of open and decentralized development that has made blockchain and crypto so successful.
You don’t need anything special to start using SpacePort to launch your IDO! However, we will assume that if you are a blockchain or DeFi project, then you will already have some minimum resources ready. These are anyway what you would need to launch an IDO on any other platform or launchpad:
Your completed on-chain ERC-20 token contract on Ethereum Mainnet. If you don't have a token yet, you can create it with a no-code Ethereum tool: https://cointool.app/eth/createToken
Basic knowledge of using and making Github repository commits.
Please prepare the checklist before you create an IDO:
Once you’re ready with a checklist, proceed to the first step.
The first section of this walkthrough deals with your project’s Token Page information. This covers all of the information and details about your token. Entering the right details is important because this will be the first and main source of publicly available information about your project.
You will need to fork and provide us an update (send Pull Request) for feather GitHub repositories:
https://github.com/plasmadlt/plasma-finance-market-tokenlist (Token Page and IDO information)
https://github.com/plasmadlt/plasma-finance-token-list (Token Basic information for DEX TokenList)
Once entered and approved, this becomes part of the Plasma.Finance source code, of which SpacePort is a part. Every single detail you enter will be publicly available in real-time, making your Token Page an on-chain transparent record of your project for the world to see.
Log in to your Github account and visit our public repository at https://github.com/plasmadlt.
Enter the repository for “plasma-finance-market-tokenlist”. This is where all the decentralized market data for Plasma.Finance and IDO page is stored.
From there, select the JSON file to edit at https://github.com/plasmadlt/plasma-finance-market-tokenlist/blob/main/plasma-finance-market-list.json
4. FORK it by clicking on the Fork button at the top right corner, as shown above. When you do this, you’ll be creating a copy of this in your own GitHub account.
5. EDIT Enter your project’s token details following the same format as the others already in there. You can use this as a reference.
Prepare and upload your JSON file for Spaceport IDO page in the folder: https://github.com/plasmadlt/plasma-finance-market-tokenlist/tree/main/spaceport
Your folder name: token-contract-address Your JSON name in the folder: token-contract-address.json (all low cap)
Tokenomic startTimestamp = UNIX date of the token distribution start. UNIX date converter: https://awebanalysis.com/en/unix-timestamp-converter
Period (one option only) : d - day; w - weeks; m - month
Line: number of unlocked tokens based on the chosen period schedule for each allocation. Better prepare these numbers in excel first, and then copy data to JSON, using the comma between numbers.
projectVerifiedByAdmins - always set to 0
You also can upload to your Spaceport folder Whitepaper.pdf and Pitch-deck.pdf
6. When entering your logoURL details, first upload your logo to the “assets” folder, as shown above. The token logo should be uploaded to https://github.com/plasmadlt/plasma-finance-token-list/tree/master/assets using format token-contract-address.png (all low cap)
7. After completing asset uploads and code edits, PUSH the commits back to us (make a Pull Request). Our developers will then examine your commit for coding compliance and approve it as an Update in the next 24 hours.
8. Repeat Steps 1 to 7 for this JSON file: https://github.com/plasmadlt/plasma-finance-token-list to ensure all your Token details are also updated on our PlasmaSwap DEX TokenList itself.
TokenList Scheme Format:
Make sure that you are using a CheckSum address of your token address in all JSON files. You can check your address Checksum format using this link: https://web3-tools.netlify.app/ (toChecksumAddress)
The second section of this walkthrough deals with your project’s IDO Page information. It covers all of the information and details about your current IDO. Entering the right details is important because this will be transparently displayed to anyone viewing IDOs on SpacePort or PlasmaFinance.
Unlike centralized IDO lists, or even market databases, you have to rely on centralized sources to manually enter information and this can take days. With SpacePort, as soon as your commits are approved, all data is updated in real-time from on-chain sources. In fact, any other investor can use Github in the same way to update details like Circulating supply, etc. and as soon as the commits are approved, the data is updated in real-time.
In this way, investors can view your project details, tokenomics, allocations and all kinds of IDO analytics, to help them choose the best projects suitable for their investment needs. They can even trade the token on PlasmaSwap DEX directly, once the IDO completes successfully, all from the same page.
NOTE: Before you proceed with Step 2, we should mention that you should first prepare before-hand much of the information and details. For example, the common ways to specify pricing, and best practices for tokenomic models, and so on. You can find some of this information in our blog post: How to Prepare for an IDO.
You will also be asked to enter in JSON three particularly important details here:
Whether or not your IDO will have a social allocation for influencers or so, provide a link to your form/page in JSON file ("socialAllocationUrl").
Whether or not your IDO will implement KYC. Here, you can choose your own KYC provider and provide a link to the Github token JSON file ("kycUrl").
Security Audit of your contract. Provide in JSON ("contractAudit") a link to the public audit report.
In total, you should have entered commits for 3 items:
Market Token List (for decentralized Market data)
Token List (for PlasmaSwap DEX data)
IDO Page (for IDO data)
To ensure we are notified and aware of new commits, please send our developers an email informing them of your commits (PR) at spaceport@plasma.finance. Note: The entire approval and Update process can take up to few days.
Once you’ve entered all the necessary setup information (Steps 1 through to 3) and we’ve approved all your commits as Updates, you’re ready to launch your IDO!
Other than the on-chain ERC-20 token contract, we also recommend that you have, as an option, a security audit for that contract. This would go a long way to convince potential investors that your contract has been audited for security and is free from common exploits and rug pull backdoors.
Before we continue, there are a few important things to note about the way SpacePort IDOs function, since they are designed to promote safer, more transparent democratic crowdfunding. As a result of these functions, there are important considerations for your project:
Do NOT launch an IDO raising funds in the same asset pair as an existing Liquidity Pool on PlasmaSwap. Do NOT open a Liquidity Pool for the IDO pair on your own.
A successfully completed IDO (defined as funding that has at least reached a soft cap target) will automatically open a Liquidity Pool on PlasmaSwap with both the token sold and the type of asset raised. For instance, if raising in ETH, then the Liquidity Pool opened will be in the TOKEN/ETH pair.
This means you should NOT have an existing Liquidity Pool of the same pair before launching an IDO. Should you launch an IDO raising funds in the same asset as an existing Liquidity Pool on PlasmaSwap, SpacePort will automatically mark the IDO as unsuccessful or scam.
This is to prevent projects from deliberately defrauding investors for tokens with existing liquidity on PlasmaSwap and to prevent potential frontrunning by opening secret pools to buy tokens and later dump on investors. To avoid this, simply set up your IDO to raise funds in an asset pair not already opened on PlasmaSwap.
Enter the details required on the forms you see, as shown by the images above. Please ensure you triple-check all of this information as you will not be able to change them once you launch the contract. Every field will have an explanatory text next to it to help guide you through them.
For DEX Listing Rate, what you specify is the starting rate on PlasmaSwap. Here, you will also specify the amount of raised assets from the IDO that will be used to form the Liquidity Pool on PlasmaSwap if the IDO is successfully closed.
Note, an amount of your token equal to the value you specify will also be locked into the Liquidity Pool of PlasmaSwap DEX. So if you raise in DAI and set the 100% of raised funds to go to DEX liquidity, for example, and $10,000 worth of DAI is locked, then $10,000 worth of your token is also locked into the Liquidity Pool.
For Lock Up and Vesting, you can specify various periods to ensure liquidity is locked, how long investor tokens are locked, set limits per user and even an IDO Whitelist (we’ll get to that later).
When you are done, you can check all the details as you have entered. When you are satisfied, scroll down, and select APPROVE to authorize the contract. When this is done, it should have an APPROVED message and tick, as shown in the image above. All you need to do now is click the “Create IDO” button and you will execute the contract launching your IDO! Congrats 🚀
Once launched, anyone visiting the IDO page should be able to view your active IDO, which will display in real-time all the necessary information, as shown in the image above. This includes the start and finish date, sale details, allocation, and even the milestone details like Soft and Hard Caps, and progress towards that.
After you create your IDO (deploy contract), you can still change the dates of IDO start and second round, a whitelist of investors in your IDO Lab. All other numbers will be set in stone.
Although you won’t be able to change most specifications or settings of your IDO once launched, you are still able to perform some actions. To do this, simply visit the Manage IDO settings page.
From here, you can:
Update JSON on Github - (Steps 1 through to 3)
Manage your Investors Whitelist
Change the Dates of IDO (start and second round)
Manage the Max investment per person
Manage the investor list after IDO
Claim raised funds
Launch a DEX Liquidity pool
From the Manage Your IDO settings, you can specify participants for your IDO. Simply enter the addresses you wish to whitelist or upload a CSV file containing the list, and click SUBMIT. Each list submission or update will request an interaction with IDO smart contract and will cost you Gas Fees.
You can also download this whitelist from this screen as a CSV file.
After successfully finished IDO you will be able to claim funds and launch a DEX liquidity pool for your token on PlasmaSwap.
Note: Due to the decentralized model of SpacePort, ANY IDO investor will be able to launch a liquidity pool with your token on the DEX once your IDO is successfully completed.
If the IDO is unsuccessful (Soft Cap is not met during the IDO timeline or Someone opens a token liquidity pool on DEX before IDO is finished), you will be able to claim your tokens back. All investors will be able to claim their invested funds.
If the Hard Cap is not met, all unsold IDO tokens will be transferred to the xPPAY Governance contract. xPPAY Governance will need to decide on what happens with these unsold tokens -- they will either be burned or held on the governance address.
Thanks to the decentralized model of SpacePort IDO launchpad, each project can set a custom KYC provider for their IDO or opt to run an IDO without KYC.
Please add to your Spaceport project JSON ("kycUrl") a URL link to set your KYC provider for the public investor.
After you collect all data and wallets from your potential investors, you will need to upload all whitelist's addresses to your IDO Whitelist, using IDO Management Page. Please validate all the wallet addresses before you upload them to IDO contract. For bulk ETH wallet address validation, paste your list of addresses in the check field of this services: https://bulksender.app/ or https://multisender.app/
For KYC provider, we recommend:
SpacePort is managed by xPPAY Governance. Governance can set different fees for the platform using a community voting mechanism.
The current SpacePort fees set by xPPAY Governance is as follows:
Fee from raised funds - 5% [goes to xPPAY staking contract to incentivize IDO investors]
Fee in IDO project tokens - 5% [goes to SpacePort Launchpad Index fund managed by xPPAY governance]
IDO contract creation fee - 5 ETH [goes to SpacePort operating team to support future development and platform maintenance]
PlasmaSwap Liquidity Pool creation fee - 1% from locked liquidity [goes to xPPAY Governance]
Note: The SpacePort fee structure may be modified by xPPAY Governance in the future. You can always find the current fee structure in the Spaceport Settings Contract.
Each project can launch its own liquidity mining contract for DEX liquidity pair on PlasmaSwap or Staking contract, which will be listed under Plasma.Finance Saving Page and available for all users with UI and analytics. To create an incentivization program on Plasma.Finance platform, please customize and deploy the relevant contracts from our GitHub Plasma Staking Factory and contact our support (apy@plasma.finance) to list them on the platform.
IDO Templates - you can copy existing templates simply by forking the existing repositories on Github to retain their settings and then adjust them to suit your needs. This is a quick way to set things up from the basics.
SpacePort IDOs are exclusive on PlasmaSwap - you can, of course, open pools on other protocols like Uniswap or SushiSwap before or after your IDO.
Support and questions - we will be building an FAQ once we collect the most common questions and answers. You can, of course, contact us on our normal Telegram groups for SpacePort at https://t.me/spaceport_chat
The latest SpacePort and PlasmaSwap smart contracts that have been deployed, audited and verified
If you'd like to test all the processes of IDO creation and even record a walk-through video for your potential investors, you can connect your wallet to plasma.finance platform and switch network in Metamask to Kovan Testnet. You will be able to create your test IDO with your token on the Kovan network (you need to deploy your token smart contract in Kovan Testnet before the tests).
SpacePort allows any project, big or small, to access a fair and democratic means of blockchain-based crowdfunding. For the investor, it also presents the most transparent way for you to view potential IDOs and participate in them. Unlike most IDO platforms, you can see every single detail about the IDO transparently displayed with real-time accuracy thanks to on-chain data sources.
Because of the unique, customizable characteristics of SpacePort, projects can also make use of them in at least two types of token sale use cases:
No need to host complicate private sales any longer, holding manual escrows and individual token distributions prone to mistakes. Instead, use SpacePort to build your own customized private sale rounds:
Vesting and lockup periods are built into smart contracts and automatically enforced. No more private sale investors are going rogue and selling against their side contracts.
Claiming UI that lets you close your private sale any time you want, claiming your funds raised and releasing tokens to investors as per contract.
Manage your whitelist directly from the IDO management panel, specifying who can take part in your private or seed stages.
Open multiple stages simultaneously, each with a different asset raised. Whitelist one for a private list of clients, make public another for general participants, have different conditions for each, as you wish.
Finalize stages at will. You can close any IDO when reaching at least Soft Cap, to immediately open a pool on PlasmaSwap and claim the raised funds.
We hope you enjoy the freedom and open access for IDOs on SpacePort, you won’t find anything that comes close to it in the current market in terms of features, customization and built-in transparency! With SpacePort, we hope to improve the way projects raise capital for a safer, fairer, more sustainable DeFi ecosystem.
We wish you and your project all the best. We are ready to come and support you at any moment. Please don't hesitate to contact us via telegram SpacePort Community Chat or email: spaceport@plasma.finance
To apply for our full-circle incubation program, please complete the form here.
Best regards, Your SpacePort Team 🚀