How to Participate in an IFO
An IFO on PancakeSwap is an Initial Farm Offering. IFOs let you get early access to PancakeSwap’s new tokens as soon as they are added. By being one of the first to have a new token, you can benefit from higher rewards!
IFOs are available for a very limited time. Get ready ahead of the event to make sure you can participate!
Before the IFO
Before you can join an IFO there are a few things you will need to do to get ready. Follow the steps below to make sure you're ready to buy when the IFO event goes live.
Create your PancakeSwap profile
To take part in an IFO, you'll need a PancakeSwap profile. Having a profile protects the security of the IFO and makes it fair for everyone. The small cost of a profile also helps keep the total CAKE supply down by burning a little CAKE from each profile created. To create a profile, you can follow our How to Set Up an NFT Profile guide here.
Lock CAKE in the CAKE Syrup Pool to get iCAKE
iCAKE determines the maximum CAKE commit limit in the PancakeSwap IFO public sales. For example, if you have 200 iCAKE, you can commit 200 CAKE in any upcoming IFO public sales. Your iCAKE number is based on the veCAKE balance at the end of each IFO, multiplied by a predefined ratio.
To get iCAKE, go to the CAKE Staking page, and follow the instructions to set up a CAKE staking position.
To learn more about iCAKE and how iCAKE is calculated, check out the doc here.
Get CAKE Tokens
Once you have a profile and iCAKE, you must prepare some CAKE tokens in your wallet. These will be used to buy the tokens being offered in the IFO. If you are currently staking your CAKE in a pool, unstake them prior to the IFO and make sure the tokens are available in your wallet.
Check on your progress
Once you’ve followed the steps above, go back to the IFO page here. Scroll down to the ‘How to Take Part’ section.
You should see your progress is currently at step 3, Commit CAKE, like in the picture above. If for some reason you aren’t at step 3, go back through the guides linked up higher on this page.
And that’s it; you’re now ready to participate in an IFO when it goes live!
Knowing when an IFO will start
The IFO is a limited-time event; it usually only lasts one or two hours. You'll want to check the proposal in detail for the IFO timeframe to ensure you don’t miss out!
Check the IFO page
IFOs will have a countdown at the top of the IFO page.
Use social media
There isn’t a set time before an IFO goes live for the countdown to start, so check PancakeSwap’s official social media accounts for news about upcoming IFO times.
The countdown and announcements will give you plenty of time to prepare.
Once the IFO is live
While an IFO is live, you will have 1 or 2 hours to participate. (check the IFO page progress bar and timer for more details) If you have done the steps above and have CAKE tokens in your wallet, it doesn’t take long at all to buy the new token.
Checking if the IFO is live
On the IFO page, look where the event start countdown was. You will now see a countdown until the IFO sale ends instead. This will let you know how much time you have to buy the offered tokens.
Which type of sale should I choose?
There are three sales available: Basic Sale, Public Sale and Private Sale. It's possible to participate in all three sales if you want to, but each has conditions. You will need to choose which sale you would like to participate in.
Basic Sale
In the Basic Sale, each participant will be able to commit any amount of CAKE up to the maximum commit limit for the Basic Sale, which will be published along with the IFO voting proposal. There's no fee for the Basic Sale.
There is NO requirement for participating in the Basic Sale. However, to ensure the IFO is fair to everyone. There will potentially be a small fee. To learn more about the participation fees, please refer to the details in the IFO proposal (vote) for the specifics of the IFO you want to take part.
Additionally, the allocation for Basic Sales is usually small compared to Public or Private Sales. To purchase more tokens, check out the other sales.
The final amount of IFO tokens one will get will be determined using the “Overflow” sale method.
Public Sale
In the Public Sale, each participant will be able to commit as much CAKE as they would like up to the number of iCAKE as the limit.
If you buy tokens with the Public Sale you will have to pay a small fee. To learn more about the participation fees, please refer to the details in the IFO proposal (vote) for the specifics of the IFO you want to take part in.
The final amount of IFO tokens one will get will be determined using the “Overflow” sale method.
Private Sale
To participate in the new Private Sale, participants will need to meet at least one of the requirements presented on the IFO sale card UI.
Each participant will be able to commit any amount of CAKE up to the maximum commit limit for the Private Sale, which will be published along with the IFO voting proposal. There's no fee in the Private Sale.
The final amount of IFO tokens one will get will be determined using the “Overflow” sale method.
Overflow Sale Method
Basically, the more you put in, the more you will get, and you’ll get back anything that doesn’t get spent.
In the “Overflow” method, users can subscribe as much as they want to the IFO, and their final allocation will be based on the amount of funds they put in as a percentage of all funds put in by other users at the time the sale ends. Users will get back any leftover funds when they claim their tokens after the sale.
Committing CAKE to the Basic Sale
Let's commit some CAKE to the Basic Sale. Click the Commit button under Basic Sale. A window will appear.
In the new window, choose the amount of CAKE you want to commit in the field.
Remember, you can only commit up to the commit limit of the Basic Sale. And any CAKE you cannot spend on new tokens will be returned to you, so you don’t need to worry about losing any tokens.
Click the Confirm button and confirm the action with your wallet. Once your CAKE is committed, the Basic Sale section will show your committed amount.
You can add more CAKE at any time during the IFO event as long as you haven’t reached the maximum limit. If you have, you will see "Max Committed" on the faded button.
If there is a fee for the Basic Sale, it will be listed next to “Additional fee”.
If you don’t want to commit more CAKE to the IFO, you can skip ahead to the next section, Collecting your new tokens.
Committing CAKE to the Public Sale
Let's commit some CAKE to the Public Sale. Click the Commit button under Public Sale. A window will appear.
In the new window, choose the amount of CAKE you want to commit in the field.
Remember, you can only commit up to to the number of iCAKE you have. And any CAKE you cannot spend on new tokens will be returned to you, so you don’t need to worry about losing any tokens.
Click the Confirm button and confirm the action with your wallet. Once your CAKE are committed, the Public Sale section will show your committed amount.
You can add more CAKE at any time during the IFO event as long as you haven’t reached the maximum limit. If you have, you will see "Max Committed" on the faded button. Keep in mind there is a fee for the Public Sale, listed next to “Additional fee”.
If you don’t want to commit more CAKE to the IFO, you can skip ahead to the next section, Collecting your new tokens.
Committing CAKE to the Private Sale
The checkbox in the Private Sale card will light up if you are eligible to participate in the Private Sale. To use your CAKE in the Private Sale, click the Commit button under Private Sale. A window will appear.
In the new window, choose the amount of CAKE you want to commit in the field.
Remember, you can only commit the amount of CAKE equal to the maximum commit limit for the Private Sale. And any CAKE you cannot spend on new tokens will be returned to you, so you don’t need to worry about losing any tokens.
Click the Confirm button and confirm the action with your wallet. Once your CAKE are committed, the Private Sale section will show your committed amount.
You can add more CAKE at any time during the IFO event as long as you haven’t reached the maximum limit. If you have, you will see "Max Committed" on the faded button.
After the IFO has ended
When the IFO has ended, you will be able to collect your new tokens. How many you will get depends on how many people participated in the IFO. Any extra CAKE you have committed to the IFO that aren't used to buy new tokens will be returned to you.
Token Vesting
If an IFO has token vesting, the details and rules of the vesting will be elaborated in the vote proposal. Be sure to check and get familiar with the vesting schedule before committing to an IFO. You can also click this button in the detail section of an IFO sale to check the proposal directly.
Collecting your new tokens
IFO without token vesting
Collecting your new tokens is incredibly easy. Just go back to the IFO page once the IFO event is finished and click the Claim button under the sale window. Confirm the action with your wallet. You'll now have your new tokens. Congratulations!
IFO with token vesting
Once the IFO sale is finished. A vesting interface will be presented in the IFO sale section. You can find all the useful information about the entire vesting schedule. Including but not limited to:
The total amount of purchased token.
The number of tokens has already been released.
The number of tokens available to claim.
When the release schedule is finished.
You can click the Claim button to claim any tokens available at the moment.
Throughout the entire vesting schedule, you can come back to the IFO page at any time and claim any available tokens.
Using your new tokens in farms
Now that you've got your shiny new tokens, you can put them to work for you!
You can add liquidity for your token to receive LP Tokens. Your LP Tokens will let you collect trading fees for your pair. Read about adding liquidity here.
If you've added liquidity for your new token, you can also use your new LP Tokens to yield farm and earn more rewards! Read about farming here.
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