How to Participate in an IFO
Last updated
Last updated
Warning: this page is outdated. As we will be bringing several new updates to the IFO process over the coming weeks, we won't keep this page up to date for now: please refer to the details in the IFO proposal (vote) for the specifics of the IFO you want to take part in instead.
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 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.
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.
Once you have a profile, you will also need to provide liquidity to get some CAKE-BNB LP Tokens. These will be used to buy the tokens being offered in the IFO. To provide liquidity and get some CAKE-BNB LP Tokens, you can follow our How to Add/Remove Liquidity guide here.
And that’s it; you’re now ready to participate in an IFO when it goes live!
The IFO is a limited time event, only lasting one hour. You'll want to check the time to make sure you don’t miss out!
IFOs will have a countdown at the top of the IFO page.
The (blocks) link will open the BscScan explorer in a new window at the starting block.
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.
While an IFO is live, you will have 1 hour to participate. If you have prepared your CAKE-BNB LP Tokens it doesn’t take long at all to buy the new token.
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.
There are two sales available: Basic Sale and Unlimited Sale. It's possible to participate in both sales if you want to, but each has conditions. You will need to choose which sale you would like to participate in.
The Basic Sale has a limited buy amount per user (about $100 USD in CAKE-BNB LP Tokens). Anyone can participate in the Basic Sale, and there are no fees to buy tokens this way.
The Unlimited Sale has no limit on the amount of tokens a user can buy. If you buy tokens with the Unlimited Sale you will have to pay a small fee.
You can buy tokens from both sales, but the Basic Sale is limited. If you only want a small amount of tokens we recommend using the Basic Sale.
1. Let's commit some LP Tokens to the Basic Sale. Click Commit LP Tokens button under Basic Sale. A window will appear.
2. In the new window, type your amount of LP Tokens into the field.
Remember, the Basic Sale has a limit of about $100 USD. Any LP Tokens you cannot spend on new tokens will be returned to you, so you don’t need to worry about losing any tokens.
3. Click the Confirm button and confirm the action with your wallet. Once your LP Tokens are committed, the Basic Sale section will show your committed amount under “Your LP Tokens Committed”.
You can add more LP Tokens at any time during the IFO event as long as you haven’t reached the maximum. If you have, you will see "Max Committed" on the faded button.
If you don’t want to commit more LP Tokens to the IFO, you can skip ahead to the next section, Collecting your new tokens.
1. To use your LP Tokens in the Unlimited Sale, click the Commit LP Tokens button under Unlimited Sale. A window will appear.
2. In the new window, type your amount of LP Tokens into the field.
There is no limit to the LP Tokens you can commit to the Unlimited Sale. Even so, if you add more than you are able to spend on new tokens, your extra LP Tokens will be returned to you. You don’t need to worry about losing any tokens.
3. Click the Confirm button and confirm the action with your wallet. Once your LP Tokens are committed, the Unlimited Sale section will show your committed amount under “Your LP Tokens Committed”.
You can add more LP Tokens at any time during the IFO event as long as you have the funds. Keep in mind there is a fee for the Unlimited Sale, listed next to “Additional fee”.
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 LP Tokens you have committed to the IFO that aren't used to buy new tokens will be returned to you.
Collecting your new tokens is incredibly easy. Just go back to the IFO page once the IFO event is finished and click the Claim Tokens button under Basic Sale, and if you’ve used it, Unlimited Sale too.
Confirm the action with your wallet. You'll now have your new tokens. Congratulations!
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.\
Once you’ve followed the steps above, go back to the IFO page here. Scroll down to the colored ‘How to Take Part’ section. **** **** ****You should see your progress at step 3, Commit LP Tokens, like in the picture above. If for some reason you aren’t at step 3, go back through the guides linked up higher in this page.
