Surviving a crowd sale

David Irvine recounts the experience of MaidSafe’s cryptocurrency crowdsale in April 2014. After 8 years of development and nearly $5 million from friends and family, MaidSafe launched a crowdsale using the Master Protocol to issue MaidSafeCoins.

Key Points

• Background: MaidSafe’s goal was to replace internet services with a privacy-focused, secure network putting individuals in control of their digital lives
• Sale Setup: Set price at 17,000 MaidSafeCoins per Bitcoin; were advised MSC purchases would be under 25% of the sale
• Launch: April 22, 2014 at 09:38am - sale went “mental” almost immediately with hundreds of thousands of dollars in the first hour
• Crisis: MSC portion exploded unexpectedly, threatening to lock out all BTC purchasers including the team itself
• Resolution: Halted MSC inputs, used loan fund to process BTC purchasers, Master Protocol team helped create automation tools
• Result: Ended with approximately $3M in liquid cash (down from reported $7M), enough to fund operations for 3 years
• Aftermath: Faced criticism and false stories online, but core community supporters remained focused on the project

  “If you want to feel 1mm tall, do a crowd sale for something you care about!” Despite challenges, the crowdsale was considered a success as it transitioned Project SAFE to community ownership and created a movement of supporters.