ICO project log 01: GTM planning
The GTM team meets in Salt Lake City to map out the next 60 Days
Tally is launching an ICO. We believe we’ve built the best on-chain mechanism for raising capital via tokens, and we’re going to prove it by using it ourselves.
Over the next 60 days, we’re documenting every step of what it looks like to launch a token the right way, in the United States, in 2026.
This is the project log: a written companion to each daily video. Short updates on what we’re working on, what’s blocking us, and what we’re learning along the way.
Day 2/60
The Plan
Dennison, Tyler, and Tommy are together in Salt Lake City this week to map out the next 60 days. The agenda:
Go-to-market strategy
Content production
Getting all the moving pieces organized for the next 60 days
Why TGE has to come first
The biggest focus right now is legal sequencing. The token needs to be minted 30 to 60 days before any sale happens. The reason: the token can’t have a price when it’s created.
If you mint a token the same day it goes to market, the IRS can assign a value based on what it trades at. That means:
Team members and early participants could owe taxes on paper value that doesn’t reflect reality
A high FDV on day one doesn’t mean anyone can actually realize that value
But the tax bill is real regardless
So the token generation event has to happen well in advance, when the token is provably worth close to nothing. Even then, you need a third-party firm to produce a formal valuation of the protocol. That valuation accounts for:
Engineering costs and total hours invested
Audit expenses and who conducted them
Total capital raised
Current company valuation
Tally already has a firm engaged on this, but they need a lot of documentation to complete it.
The tax problem nobody talks about
Once the token exists, a whole new tax nexus opens up. The IRS can look at a smart contract, see tokens sitting in it, and ask: who owns that, and who pays taxes on it? Even if the tokens are sitting in a contract that nobody technically controls and that generates no revenue, the answer isn’t as simple as “nobody.”
It gets worse depending on jurisdiction. Some countries, like the Netherlands, are now taxing unrealized capital gains. Think about what that means for a protocol treasury:
A token gets issued near zero
It goes through a sale and suddenly there’s a market cap in the hundreds of millions
You might owe taxes on value that only exists on paper
Where you legally locate the protocol matters enormously, and that’s its own entire workstream.
To-do list
Engage tax accountants who specialize in token issuance
Finalize the third-party protocol valuation
Notify existing investors per warrant agreements
Mint the token into qualified custody: Anchorage, BitGo, Fireblocks, or similar
Brainstorm GTM strategies for the next 60 days
This is Day 2 of 60. Each of these topics deserves a deeper dive, and they’ll get one.
We’re documenting everything: the legal sequencing, the tax strategy, the custody setup, the go-to-market, all of it. If you’re building in crypto and thinking about launching a token, this is the playbook we wish existed.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this series constitutes financial advice, investment advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any token or security.