Nearly $6 billion has been collected via ICOs in 2017. Approximately 37% of that sum was made by only 20 ICOs. Such names as Bancor, Tezos or Filecoin caused a lot of hum but what happened to their tokens subsequently? Do investors can earn more incomes by buying tokens several months after primary proposals?
The 5 biggest ICOs of the top 20 by the sum raised indicate that incomes on investment may reach up to 870% in 3-4 months. Pay attention to the fact that the projects whose tokens are not sold for almost 2 months weren’t included in the review. The data was collected and processed within an ICORating agency research.
1. Tezos: $232 million raised; tokens in trade for 3 months
- ICO Token Price: 1 XTZ = $0.47
- XTZ token price max = $11.21
- XTZ token price min = $1.76
- XTZ token price to 07/01/2018 = $5.82
Returns since ICO (USD): +1,138%
Progress: Tezos may have been one of the most hopeful ICOs of 2017, as far as its technology was intended streamline launches for new projects and to contest with Ethereum. Despite the fact that the project’s pathway contains no strict deadlines, and its constitutor Arthur Brietman posted the last tech update on Dec. 22, it looks like the platform wouldn’t be launched in the near future.
2. Bancor: $153 million raised; tokens in trade for 6 months
- ICO Token Price: 1 BNT = $3.92
- BNT token price max = $8.17
- BNT token price min = $1.52
- BNT token price 07/01/2018 = $8.17
Returns since ICO (USD): +108%
Bancor’s purpose is to introduce a simple way to issue smart-tokens and transform them with no counterparty. The project has succeeded since Launch Festival 2017 when its app was only in test-mode. And now it is able to convert 14 crypto
currencies including Ethereum and BTN token, but the token-issuing function is not yet available. Bancor token shows the lowest returns for ICOs among the reviewed.
3. Status: $100 million raised; tokens in trade for 6 months
- ICO Token Price: 1 SNT = $0.037
- SNT token price max = $0.65
- SNT token price min = $0.02
- SNT token price to date = $0.6
Returns since ICO (USD): +1,521%
Progress: Status combines a mobile messenger and a browser to connect smartphone users with the Ethereum ecosystem. The founders stated that the beta-version was scheduled for Q2–Q3 2017 and that it would provide end-users with options such as encrypted messaging, a P2P exchange, an Ether wallet, etc.
The release seems to be delayed, though that doesn’t mean there is no progress. From weekly public reports posted by Status team leaders, it looks like sooner or later the project would be finished. Nevertheless, this couldn’t guarantee success with users.
Apart from, the SNT token price is not growing indicatively, as no product uses their utility token to date. At the same time, there is no reason for a serious recession as the project is following its roadmap. In general, the SNT token has increased its price by 16.2 since the ICO.
4. Kin: $98 million raised; tokens in trade for three months
- ICO Token Price: 1 KIN = $0.0001
- KIN token price max = $0.001434
- KIN token price min = $0.000037
- KIN token price to 07/01/2018 = $0.001123
Returns since ICO (USD): +1,023%
Progress: Kin IСO was estimated as low risky and its hype level seems high. The Kin ecosystem seems to be another hopeful approach to so-called “conversational
commerce,” which is still only a concept for almost every messenger except WeChat.
For the ICO market though Kin might be one of the most viable projects as it has a palpable product and 300 million users per month. The question is how the average Kik user will liquidate their Kin. Also, there is no news about Kin’s unification with Kik which was scheduled for last quarter of 2017.
Kin’s plan to move from Ethereum also doesn’t seem to be simple as it was faced with investor claims. Despite Kik’s advantages over the very similar Status platform, Kin tokens show one and a half the return, which is about +1,023% since the ICO.
5. TenX: $80 million raised; tokens in trade for six months
- ICO Token Price: 1 PAY = $0.64
- PAY token price max = $5.33
- PAY token price min = $0.56
- PAY token price to 07/01/2018 = $4.16
Returns since ICO (USD): +550%
Progress: TenX complained to simplify the use of cryptocurrencies in everyday life. The project has already neglected its app. Its Android version has been downloaded over 50,000 times since August despite being in beta mode. The app is still in development and its expansion is planned for the beginning of 2018. After exponential growth, the price of the PAY token felled from $5.33 to $1.5, but overall it has added 550% in value since the ICO.
PAY token was also included in William Mougayar High Growth Cryptoassets Index, that consists of a strategic selection of underestimated crypto-assets.
Way to success and reasons to failure
In 2017 the most successful projects by ICO were those, which promised to make Blockchain and cryptocurrencies more appropriate for common use: exchanges, deposits, payments, token issuing, rewards, etc. But that doesn’t mean the project’s focus guarantees ICO and post-ICO success.
All in all, it’s much more important for projects to have viable documentation and business aims, to follow the product roadmap and to inform investors about the progress on a regular basis.
Currently the 2 main problems of the post-ICO market might be overestimation and transparency. For investors and funds, it is decisive to have pertinent project estimation both before and after ICO. Unfortunately, it’s not always obvious for founders, — some of them go off media or rating radars after the successful initial proposal and make projects sensitive to informational attacks.
Another reason is that founders could overestimate their project and deadlines to create more hum before ICO. That’s why the realization is delayed, and investors are cramped to sell tokens.
The given reasons, as well as other circumstances, could make token price fall down. In any case, $6 billion was invested in tokens last year, so that the post-ICO rating will be of great importance in 2018.
