With the SEC issuing a recent press release regarding ICOs and the DAO, many are wondering if the days of ICOs are over.
Let’s take a look at the ICO market in 5 easy charts.
As you can see in chart 1 below, the number of ICOs has taken off in 2017. Keep in mind this is only through the first half of the year. We’ll likely end up with well over 100 by the end of the year.
The dollar volume of ICOs is soaring as well.
As you can see in the chart 2, raising capital for blockchain projects with token sales has overtaken venture capital in a big way. By now that number is over $1.6 billion and we have 5 months left in the year.
We’re also seeing a more diverse set of projects coming to market. Take a look at chart 3.
When it comes to funding, it’s way more than just crypto enthusiasts like you or I. There’s a lot of big players looking to get involved in the ICO market as you can see in chart 4 below.
Here’s the thing. Even with the explosion we’ve seen this year, ICOs are still a tiny slice in the market as you can see in chart 5 below.
The chart above is just the global crowdfunding market. Total venture capital worldwide is estimated to be $127 billion. So the ICO market can still grow a lot more and be a small slice of the pie.
I think ICOs are just getting started. They’re just better than traditional venture capital funding.
I mean, you have AngelList partnering with Protocol Labs to form CoinList, which is basically an AngelList for ICOs. The VCs are already moving into ICOs, so they aren’t going anywhere.
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