Initial coin offerings (ICOs) have raised a landmark $8.3 billion in the second quarter of 2018, despite a majority of campaigns failing to reach their fundraising targets, according to data released this week.
A report published by ICORating showed that the new highs for funding came against a backdrop of a 55% failure rate for ICOs during the same period. Up from $3.3 billion in the first quarter, the results for Q2 reflect a 60% surge in investment activity. ICO projects offering utility and service tokens were amongst the most common to fail, with ICORating noting that “emission conditions, token type, and metrics had [an] indirect effect on fundraising success.”
As a result, the report concluded that “the overall quality of projects has significantly worsened.” Around 57% of ICO projects sought to raise funds at an early, or idea stage, prior to the launch of a working model. According to their findings, the majority of these ICOs also ended in failure.
“The highest percentage of unsuccessful ICOs in terms of product readiness arose from projects at the idea stage. 58% of such projects failed to raise more than half a million dollars,” according to the report.
Amongst the most popular industries for ICOs were, perhaps unsurprisingly, blockchain and finance, with software, gaming and investment ICOs also proving popular.
There is no doubt some of the weakness in these results can be attributed to the decline of the BTC coin, down over 50% in 2018 alone. This resulted in an average yield for ICO tokens of -55% over the period, compared to a positive return of 49.3% in Q1.
The report makes for damning reading for those considering ICOs, as well as for investors backing ICO projects. Some analysts have long since projected the failure of most ICO projects, which exploded in popularity over the close of 2017.
While the ICO model no doubt continues to prove attractive to investors and companies alike, the Q2 results will give investors something extra to consider before rushing on to the next ICO bandwagon.
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