MasterCoin (The First ICO)

In 2012, JR Willett published a paper on a forum proposing how to raise funds to build a protocol layer on top of Bitcoin, an idea that would later evolve into the "Initial Coin Offering" (ICO). After 1.5 years with no action on the concept, JR Willett launched Mastercoin (now Omni) in 2013 to demonstrate its feasibility. Today, Omni hosts assets worth over half a billion dollars, including major tokens like MaidSafe and Tether, making it the first ICO and the first decentralized application to launch on Bitcoin