ICO News: Winner and Loser of 2017

The rise of bitcoin in 2017 has captured the attention of just about everyone, from budding Main Street investors looking to make their first fortune to the biggest instituitons that are too sophisticated to let the opportunity pass them by. Meanwhile, ICOs this year have attracted approximately USD 4 billion to their coffers in what has been a memorable year for startups and venture capitalists alike, the latter of whom has had to remain nimble in their model given demand for cryptocurrencies. In ICO-land, there were many memorable token sales, some of which will be remembered for their success and others of which for their demise. Here's a look at a couple of them.

Winner

Filecoin ICO – Decentralized storage network Filecoin raised USD 205 million in USD, BTC, ZEC and ETH across 2,100 investors and more than 50 countries in its summer ICO. The Filecoin ICO was structured using a Simple Agreement for Future Tokens in which investors can exchange these contracts for the FIL coin once the Filecoin platform goes live. It should be about a year, and it is a way to prevent deal participants from selling their tokens for a quick profit after the ICO as well as to incentivize the startup to remain on track with the development of their platform.

The blockchain-driven startup supports the next generation of the internet, a decentralized version of the web. They address the points of failure in the current internet infrastructure and use decentralization and peer-to-peer networks to strengthen the next internet version via the IPFS protocol, which is comprised of a community of developers. A decentralized internet appears to be part of the future. They are leading the way and have garnered the support of the blockchain community.    

Loser

Tezos ICO – If the fundraising amount was the only factor in whether an ICO was a success, Tezos would have been at the top of the list, evidenced by USD 232 million raised in its token sale. Unfortunately, the cons quickly outweigh the pros for participants in this deal that has gone south ever since an internal battle for control at the startup and corresponding Swiss foundation.

Investors have filed multiple class-action lawsuits against the company and the proceeds from the sale, which have reportedly risen to USD 1 billion alongside the rise in the bitcoin price and ETH price, remain in limbo. The project was stalled and the TEZ coins have yet to see the light of day.