PwC Report: 2018 ICO Volume Already Doubled 2017’s Numbers

According to a new joint report from the consulting firm PwC and the Swiss Crypto Valley Association, initial coin offerings (ICOs) are more than just booming – despite the price collapse of cryptocurrencies.

In a new report days ago, PwC found that the ICO volume reached record highs in the first half of 2018 – and it already doubled the amount of 2017. According to the report, the ICO volume from January to May 2018 alone has been twice as much as it was during the entire year.

As the press release states:

“In total, 537 ICOs with a total volume of more than $13.7 billion have been registered since the beginning of the year. In comparison, in 2017 there were a total of 552 ICOs with a volume of just over $7.0 billion. Also, the average size of an ICO has almost doubled from $12.8 million to over $25.5 million since last year. “

The report makes a special mention of the ICOs of Telegram and EOS, which reached billions. While Telegram raised $1.7 billion through its initial coin offering, EOS raised over twice as much – $4,1 billion.

The ICO report also shared the three countries being the most important ICO hubs worldwide: US, Singapore, and Switzerland (largely due to the progress in regulation). However, smaller countries and city-states like Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Malta, and Lichtenstein also saw some success and copied the models of Singapore and Switzerland.

When it comes to regulation, the authors of the report identified three different approaches that are being implemented worldwide:

“The US uses a centralized system in which all tokens offered by ICO are traded as securities. In Europe, on the other hand, a differentiated regulation prevails. FINMA, for example,classifies tokens into three sub-types: asset, payment and utility tokens, which do not constitute an actual investment but allow the buyer direct access to the product or service of the ICO. Finally, in Asia, regulation is very heterogeneous, ranging from strict prohibition to active promotion of ICO projects. “

Even though many regulators and traditional financial institutions still remain skeptical of ICOs – and have criticized their lack of oversight – the SEC chairman Jay Clayton recently reiterated the agency’s position that ICOs are securities and should be regulated as such.