Report: Number of ICOs in Q4 2018 Increased, But Raised 25% Less Than in Q3

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) in Q4 2018 raised 25 percent less than in Q3, while the total amount of completed ICOs increased, according to a report by ICO rating service ICObench shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 6.

The number of ICOs completed in Q4 increased to 594 from 554 in Q3, the report says. With that, the number of ICO projects that did not raise funds has also increased in Q4, while the number of successfully completed ICO projects remained equal.

According to the report, the total funds raised by ICOs in Q4 was $1.4 billion, down from $1.8 billion in Q3, while the average amount per project has also tumbled to $6.7 million from $8.9 million.

Following the outline of a falling trend on the ICO market in Q4, ICObench noted that 88 percent of listed projects accepted Ethereum (ETH) in order to raise funds. The ICO rating firm emphasized that Ethereum’s price has dropped by over 43 percent since November 2018, suggesting that it has become the actual reason for the decline in raised funds in Q4.

While the ICO market in Q4 has performed worse in terms of raised funds, the fourth quarter ICOs demonstrated a better record of hard caps than in Q3. Better performance in terms of hard caps means that ICO projects in Q4 have more often set the right maximum amount of money that they could secure from investors during an ICO.

According to ICObench, Singapore has become the top country by both the amount of funds raised and the number of completed ICOs in Q4, with 85 ICOs having raised $251 million. Ranked second, Switzerland’s ICOs have reportedly raised $238 million, while ICOs in the United States have secured $159 million in Q4 2018.

According to another recent report by ICObench, Canada has been leading during the first half of January in terms of funds raised, with a combined figure of $80 million. In regard to the sheer number of ICO projects, the United States was ranked first.