Initial Coin Offering (ICO)

Extracted Attributes

• Failure Rate

  Approximately 50% within four months of offering

• Alternative Names

  Initial currency offering, Token sale, Crowdsale, Initial Public Coin Offering (IPCO)

• Regulatory Status

  Unregulated in many jurisdictions; banned in China and South Korea

• Market Share (Ethereum)

  Over 80% of ICOs as of February 2018

• Accepted Exchange Assets

  Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and occasionally fiat currency

• Fundraising Total (H1 2018)

  $7 billion USD

• Primary Blockchain Platform

  Ethereum (ERC-20 standard)

Timeline

• End of year marking the baseline for ICO capital, which would grow 40-fold in the following year. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2016-12-31

• Binance launches its successful Initial Coin Offering, creating the BNB Token and raising capital for the exchange. (Source: Document c84b95ee-214b-4e24-b48a-09ad00fb592f)

  2017-07-01

• Reported milestone where nearly half of the ICOs launched in 2017 had already failed. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2018-02-01

• Conclusion of a six-month period in which a record $7 billion was raised via ICOs despite market volatility. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2018-06-30

• Publication of the PwC Crypto Assets Guide detailing ICO accounting and terms. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2025-08-15

Initial coin offering

An initial coin offering (ICO) or initial currency offering is a type of funding using cryptocurrencies. It is often a form of crowdfunding, although a private ICO which does not seek public investment is also possible. In an ICO, a quantity of cryptocurrency is sold in the form of "tokens" ("coins") to speculators or investors, in exchange for legal tender or other (generally established and more stable) cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ether. The tokens are promoted as future functional units of currency if or when the ICO's funding goal is met and the project successfully launches. An ICO can be a source of capital for startup companies. ICOs can allow startups to avoid regulations that prevent them from seeking investment directly from the public, and intermediaries such as venture capitalists, banks, and stock exchanges, which may demand greater scrutiny and some percentage of future profits or joint ownership. ICOs may fall outside existing regulations, depending on the nature of the project, or be banned altogether in some jurisdictions, such as China and South Korea. Due to the lack of regulation and enforcement of securities law, ICOs have been the vehicle for scams and fraud. Fewer than half of all ICOs survive four months after the offering, while almost half of ICOs sold in 2017 failed by February 2018. Despite their record of failure and the falling prices of cryptocurrencies, a record $7 billion was raised via ICO from January–June 2018.

Web Search Results

• Initial coin offering - Wikipedia

  Cryptocurrency-based funding process An initial coin offering (ICO) or initial currency offering is a type of funding using cryptocurrencies. It is often a form of crowdfunding, although a private ICO which does not seek public investment is also possible. In an ICO, a quantity of cryptocurrency is sold in the form of "tokens" ("coins") to speculators or investors, in exchange for legal tender or other (generally established and more stable) cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ether. The tokens are promoted as future functional units of currency if or when the ICO's funding goal is met and the project successfully launches. [...] An ICO can be a source of capital for startup companies. ICOs can allow startups to avoid regulations that prevent them from seeking investment directly from the public, and intermediaries such as venture capitalists, banks, and stock exchanges, which may demand greater scrutiny and some percentage of future profits or joint ownership.[citation needed] ICOs may fall outside existing regulations, depending on the nature of the project, or be banned altogether in some jurisdictions, such as China and South Korea. [...] By the end of 2017, ICOs had raised almost 40 times as much capital as they had raised in 2016, although still amounting to less than two percent of the capital raised by IPOs. ICOs are sometimes called "token sales". Amy Wan, a crowdfunding and syndication lawyer, described the coin in an ICO as "a symbol of ownership interest in an enterprise—a digital stock certificate" stating that they are likely subject to regulation as securities in the U.S. under the Howey test. Ethereum is (as of February 2018) the leading blockchain platform for ICOs with more than 80% market share. Tokens are generally based on the Ethereum ERC-20 standard.

• Initial coin offering (ICO) | Business and Management - EBSCO

  Research Starters Home EBSCO Knowledge Advantage TM # Initial coin offering (ICO) An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a fundraising method used by startups to generate capital for new cryptocurrency projects. Unlike traditional Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), ICOs allow investors to purchase cryptocurrency tokens without acquiring an equity stake in the company. These tokens are typically intended for use in a future product or service developed by the startup, offering potential for value appreciation. However, ICOs carry significant risks, as they are not heavily regulated like IPOs, making them susceptible to fraud. [...] An initial coin offering (ICO) is a fundraising tool that many start-up companies seeking to launch a new cryptocurrency use to generate capital. A public ICO affords retail investors the chance to purchase the company’s new cryptocurrency tokens. As opposed to a traditional initial public offering (IPO), however, this transaction does not give the investor an equity stake in the company. Instead, the reward for investors is the promise that they will be able to use their coins on a product that will be created later. This provides those who buy into an ICO the opportunity to potentially profit from their investment in the future. While ICOs have become an attractive crowdfunding option for start-up companies, such offerings can be especially risky for investors. In significant part, this [...] On the most basic level, ICOs are a way for start-ups to raise funds without selling stock or seeking capital from other traditional outlets. Instead, developers crowdfund their projects by making and selling their own cryptocurrencies that work much like Bitcoin and other established cryptocurrencies. In most cases, the cryptocurrency tokens that a start-up sells as part of an ICO are specifically designed to be used only in connection with some sort of computing service that the developers are creating. This represents the central tenet of most ICOs: investors purchase tokens on the premise that they will become valuable once the system in which they will be used is built. In most cases, the tokens sold in ICOs are based on and purchased with existing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The

• What are Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and how do they work?

  ## What is an Initial Coin Offering (ICO)? An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a fundraising mechanism in the cryptocurrency industry, akin to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the traditional financial sector. Companies aiming to gather resources for the creation of a new coin, application, or service can launch an ICO. Participants interested in the project can acquire tokens during the ICO and receive a new cryptocurrency token issued by the company. This token may have utility related to the product or service the company provides or represent a stake in the company or project. ## How does an ICO work? [...] Skip to contentSkip to site index Earn up to $2,000 when you buy $50 in crypto¹ Sign in Sign up 1. Learn 2. Tips And Tutorials # What are Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and how do they work? TL;DR: Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are a method of gathering resources for cryptocurrency-related projects. They involve the distribution of new cryptocurrency tokens to participants. The process of an ICO can be structured in various ways, and while they may provide benefits, they also carry risks due to lack of regulation. ## What is an Initial Coin Offering (ICO)?

• 3.5 Initial Coin Offerings - Viewpoint - PwC

  Table of contents 3.5 Initial Coin Offerings Add to favorites Preparing TOC Favorited Content # 3.5 Initial Coin Offerings Publication date: 15 Aug 2025 us Crypto assets guide An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a form of fundraising that harnesses the power of cryptographic assets and blockchain-based trading. An ICO allocates tokens instead of shares to investors. Each ICO will have unique terms and conditions. It is important for potential investors to review the whitepaper or underlying documents accompanying the ICO token offering, and to understand what exactly is being offered. In situations when rights and obligations arising from a whitepaper or their legal enforceability are unclear, legal advice might be needed to determine the impact of the terms.

• BREAKING DOWN 'Initial Coin Offering (ICO)' - FinTech Weekly

  # DEFINITION of ICO - Initial Coin Offering An unregulated means by which funds are raised for a new cryptocurrency venture. An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is used by startups to bypass the rigorous and regulated capital-raising process required by venture capitalists or banks. In an ICO campaign, a percentage of the cryptocurrency is sold to early backers of the project in exchange for legal tender or other cryptocurrencies, but usually for Bitcoin. Also called an Initial Public Coin Offering (IPCO). [...] When a cryptocurrency startup firm wants to raise money through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), it usually creates a plan on a whitepaper which states what the project is about, what need(s) the project will fulfill upon completion, how much money is needed to undertake the venture, how much of the virtual tokens the pioneers of the project will keep for themselves, what type of money is accepted, and how long the ICO campaign will run for. During the ICO campaign, enthusiasts and supporters of the firm’s initiative buy some of the distributed cryptocoins with fiat or virtual currency. These coins are referred to as tokens and are similar to shares of a company sold to investors in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) transaction. If the money raised does not meet the minimum funds required [...] ICOs are similar to IPOs and crowdfunding. Like IPOs, a stake of the startup or company is sold to raise money for the entity’s operations during an ICO operation. However, while IPOs deal with investors, ICOs deal with supporters that are keen to invest in a new project much like a crowdfunding event. But ICOs differ from crowdfunding in that the backers of the former are motivated by a prospective return in their investments, while the funds raised in the latter campaign are basically donations. For these reasons, ICOs are referred to as crowdsales.