By John Morris, updated February 18, 2026
The IDO market is showing renewed activity this week, with several new token sales attracting strong early attention from retail and mid-tier crypto funds. This Daily IDO market overview highlights how, despite the speculative excess of previous cycles appearing muted, investors are actively rotating into infrastructure-focused and AI-aligned projects.
Today’s Daily IDO Digest reviews three newly launched IDOs, highlighting their core metrics, market positioning, and short-term expectations.
AI Infrastructure Project AetherLayer Opens $1.8M Sale
AetherLayer has officially launched its public IDO with a $1.8M hard cap, positioning itself within the fast-growing decentralized AI infrastructure sector.
The project aims to create a decentralized GPU compute marketplace, allowing node operators to provide AI inference and training power in exchange for tokenized payments. According to the team, over 1,000 nodes have already participated in its testnet phase.
Token Details:
Market observers note that AI-related tokens have remained one of the strongest-performing segments since late 2025. However, the 20% initial unlock may create short-term selling pressure once the token lists.
Early sentiment suggests moderate oversubscription, driven largely by narrative momentum rather than confirmed revenue metrics.
NovaPlay Targets Gaming Traders With $900K Raise
In the gaming sector, NovaPlay has opened a smaller $900K token sale on BNB Chain, offering a PvP arena-style Web3 title already in beta testing.
The project’s FDV at launch sits at $6M, significantly lower than many gaming launches in the previous cycle.
Token Details:
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IDO Price: $0.02
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FDV: $6M
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TGE Unlock: 15%
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Vesting: 6 months
Gaming IDOs historically produce strong first-week volatility, particularly when playable demos are available. NovaPlay’s early community metrics show active engagement across Discord and social channels.
Analysts caution, however, that gaming tokens remain highly dependent on sustained user retention. Inflation from reward emissions continues to be a structural risk in the sector.
Cross-Chain Liquidity Platform LiquidBridge Raises $2.5M
LiquidBridge has launched one of the larger raises of the day, targeting $2.5M to fund its cross-chain liquidity routing infrastructure on Arbitrum.
The platform aims to optimize transaction routing between chains to reduce fees and settlement times, addressing ongoing inefficiencies in the multi-chain ecosystem, as highlighted in today’s Daily IDO market overview.
Token Details:
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IDO Price: $0.08
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FDV: $18M
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TGE Unlock: 10%
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Vesting: 9 months linear
Compared to the AI and gaming launches, LiquidBridge presents more conservative tokenomics. The lower initial unlock may reduce early volatility but also limits immediate speculative upside.
Cross-chain infrastructure continues to attract attention as new Layer 2 networks expand the fragmentation of liquidity across ecosystems.
Broader Market Context
Market data indicates steady but selective capital inflows into new token sales. Investors appear more cautious than during previous hype cycles, focusing heavily on:
Purely narrative-driven projects without working prototypes are facing weaker demand compared to 2021–2022 conditions.
Infrastructure, AI integration, and technical utility remain preferred themes. Meme-driven IDOs have seen declining participation and lower post-listing performance.
Short-Term Outlook
Based on current subscription levels and token allocation structures:
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AI-focused launches may see 1.5x–2x listing volatility if demand remains stable.
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Gaming tokens are likely to experience higher short-term price swings.
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Infrastructure projects may deliver more moderate but stable price action.
Overall, the IDO market appears healthier, though less explosive. Investors are demonstrating stronger due diligence, prioritizing fundamentals over hype.
The coming weeks will reveal whether this disciplined capital rotation continues — or if speculative behavior returns alongside broader crypto market momentum.
As new launches enter the pipeline daily, this Daily IDO market overview advises market participants to monitor tokenomics carefully and assess risk exposure before allocation.
