A report by the Crypto Valley Association revealed that the ICO market was as active as ever in the first five months of 2018, despite the higher level of hype in the previous year.
“As predicted in our Q4 2017 report, the phenomenon of initial coin offerings has seen a small dip since Dec 2017, but is rapidly gaining traction again. In the first 5 months of 2018, a total of 537 ICOs with a volume of $13.7 billion have been closed successfully, which is more than all pre-2018 ICOs combined,” the report said.
When using November 2017 as a reference point, we can see that most of the top 15 ICOs raised their funding since then. The report also makes mention of “ICO unicorns” like Telegram and EOS, which together have raised almost $6 billion alone.
The Crypto Valley Association’s report also shows that the UK and Hong Kong have “gained significant ground,” challenging the current titans, which are the United States, Switzerland, and Singapore.
The UK’s separation from the European Union, if executed correctly, could continue to solidify the ICO ecosystem within the country, much like how Switzerland enjoys its status as a non-EU member, but still part of the European Economic Area. Should the nation be allowed to retain economic ties with the EU bloc, this would help it continue the momentum it’s currently experiencing.
Still, the largest ICOs took place in none of these countries, instead choosing to open up shop in tax havens like the Cayman Islands (EOS) and the British Virgin Islands (Telegram). The largest non-tax-haven coin offering was Huobi Token, which was headed in Singapore.
Though the ICO market is growing, so is the concern about scams. A recent study by the Wall Street Journal reveals that up to one in five coin offerings out there is a possible scam, with fake teams and copy-pasted whitepapers.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
