Cryptocurrencies have had a troubled upbringing. If crypto were a traditional family unit, Social Services would have been called repeatedly to sort out the issues of such dysfunctional environment.
The crypto ecosystem is laced with an ever present aroma of risk, it seems. A number of high profile scams and hacks have turned many against the concept of crypto.
Yet, cryptocurrencies -and their putative child, ICOs-, keep pushing forward, reaching ever wider audiences and raking in the money for those who invest wisely.
In this piece, we will look at trending ICOs, and what investors, traders, and crypto enthusiasts can expect from the second half of 2018 and beyond.
ICO market size: The beast that keeps on growing
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have become the de facto investment tool for those wishing to partake in a nascent crypto project.
ICOs have been around for some time, but for a long while they were restricted to a few inner groups of crypto knowledge. 2017 was the year when this form of crowdfunding really came into their own and entered wider public awareness.
The past 12 months (to August 2018) have seen a steady flow of investment into a wide range of ICOs. June of this year for instance, saw a total investment of just over $1.5bn across 99 ICOs.
2018′ apogee in terms of funds raised by ICOs was reached in March 2018, when just over $1.7bn was raised across 117 ICOs. The investment nadir came in July, when $664m was the total amount achieved by 85 ICOs.
The world at play: Top countries by ICO market size
Cryptocurrencies, and by extension, ICOs, are not a localised phenomenon.
From the United States to Singapore, the presence of the ICO is ubiquitous, and international.
Right now, there are a few focal points across Europe.
The UK for instance, features 315 ICOs. Russia, 260. And further afield, USA lists 505 ICOs, while Singapore fields 335.
Trending ICOs as of August 2018
A lot of ICOs have come and gone. Some with a bang, others with a whimper. In the early days, a few vanished with investors’ funds.
The world of crypto has evolved into a somewhat more stable and permanent feature of the global financial panorama, yet, caveat emptor applies to each and every one of them.
A number of ICOs are currently riding a wave of popularity.
WhenHub, an ICO dedicated to knowledge and advice sharing online through a smartphon app, is rating high on ICOBench.
EternalTrusts follows closely. This ICO has a very interesting goal indeed, the preservation of financial, intellectual, and biological heritage through the blockchain.
Spokkz, a film & TV ecosystem powered by blockchain technology, is also on the top 5, followed by INTRO (real estate), and TimeBox (a decentralized service for the custody of digital assets) close the top rank.
Conclusion
In broad terms, the ICO market continues to grow year-on-year. Imbued with an increasing degree of certainty on their ROI, investors continue to pour money into crypto projects.
Many current ICOs will not succeed, but then again, many traditional business do not survive beyond their initial two years.
As long as the caveat emptor attitude remains firmly in the the investor’s mind, their decisions will be wiser, and the fraudulent scent that currently floats around the crypto ecosystem will begin to dwindle.
