How Do “Pre-Sale” Discounts Affect the Expectation of Profit?

Offering tokens at a significant discount during a pre-sale, with the implied or explicit promise of a higher price in the public sale or on a secondary market, strongly supports the "expectation of profit" prong. The discount incentivizes investment based on the potential for capital appreciation, not solely on the token's utility.

Regulators view such pricing structures as evidence that the token is being marketed as an investment vehicle.