it’s staggering to actually realize the magnitude of ICOs, especially when it comes to the actual amount of printed money that resulted from the creation of initial coin offerings.
According to a research by TokenAnalyst.io, around $13 billion have been made as a result of ICOs. This sum is for the period 2017 – 2018. BitMEX, which compiled the data regarding ICOs by TokenAnalyst.io, concluded that these money have been made with very little transparency and accountability.
While the amount if calculated as $13 billion, there can be some inaccuracies in the calculation itself as a result of the method of calculating the number, as well as the method of managing the data from TokenAnalyst.io.
The amount of $13 billion was calculated by BitMEX, which calculated the amount ICOs raised in the period 2017 – 2018, and the just adjusting for the decreases in the prices of ICOs since then.
But, even if prices have decreased from great highs to great lows, is it possible to have $13 billion “printed” in the span of one year? Apparently yes. The companies issuing ICOs, apart from selling their tokens to the public, have issued tokens for themselves. Once the tokens for the public are sold and keep selling, the price of all tokens goes up. These self-issued “assets” have contributed to the market value of the tokens.
The study also finds that nearly $5 billion can be in the hands of the ICO creators themselves, because of the mechanism used by companies. The data is preliminary, however, and the method used for calculating the numbers is very specific, as reported by Crypto Globe. However, they still give a rough estimate as to how much money has been poured into the ICO universe.