A Hard Fork in the ICO Market

In Q3, ICO markets finally developed a demand for traction.

The ICO market has experienced a sudden cultural shift that has left concept-stage blockchain founders grappling with the same increased demand for evidence of traction that has long stymied founders trying to raise capital in traditional VC markets. The median ICO dollar size and overall volume of deals have dropped by half since a peak in Q1 of 2018.

Trends between ICO size and deal volume show that ICOs have become much fewer in number and raise smaller amounts of capital. [research: Foundational, source: Coindesk, ICOData.IO, ICODrops]

Pressure for earlier validation has mounted from their blockchain peers as well. At cryptocurrency conferences, technologists from established initiatives have been exhibiting an ostensible lack of acceptance for concept-stage projects. Blockchain thought leaders openly share their consensus view that projects launching large public ICOs, without any proof-of-concept or market adoption, are drawing negative attention to the entire cryptocurrency movement.

Panelists and participants on the floor seemed to share the opinion that a certain era — the era of raising epic amounts of money with little more than a white paper has come to an end. — Brady Dale

Coupled with the rapid shifts in the ICO market, this dynamic poses a significant challenge…