Brief: ICO funding sees record quarter

Photo credit: Pixabay.

The news (extracted from TechCrunch):

• Funding from digital token sales – or initial coin offerings (ICOs) – hit a record high in Q2 2017, according to research from CoinDesk. Between May and June, the total amount raised by companies via ICOs reached nearly US$800 million.
• The three largest token sales in history happened in June of this year: those of Bancor (US$153 million), Status (US$95 million), and Singapore-based TenX (US$83 million). These were central to the overall growth of ICOs.
• To date, there has been US$1.7 billion raised by token sales. 2017’s third quarter is expected to top the previous quarter.

Why it matters:

• The era of unregulated ICOs may have come to an end. China recently banned all ICOs pending an investigation, while regulators in Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Canada, Russia, and the US are among those wanting to put ICOs under closer scrutiny.
• According to CoinDesk director of research Nolan Bauerle, the uncertainty will contribute to higher quality ICOs, but of a lower quantity. However, Bauerle also believes that China’s ban might leave a door open to crypto-focused entrepreneurs in other parts of the world.