The Return of ICOs: Early-Stage Crypto is Hot Again
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are back, and are bigger than ever!
Last month, Ethereum scaling solution megaETH’s ICO blew past expectations, oversubscribed by 13x with $690 million willing to buy at $0.0999 per token.
And it’s not just megaETH.
Plasma, Umbra, Avici, YieldBasis – all rode the ICO wave.
The return of ICOs is a confirmation. The market is ready!
Why Now?
Firstly, regulations are clearer. Europe’s MiCA is now live and the current US regulators are much more crypto friendly.
That, combined with mature launchpad infrastructure means structured, compliant fundraising.
Additionally, DeFi yields have started to flatten. Investors are looking for exposure and greater upsides from early-stage exposure that ICOs can offer.
With and advent of permissioned ICOs, the possibility of getting rugged becomes much lower, making ICOs even more attractive to investors.
Let’s look at who is leading this movement.
On the permissioned side, Echo (with its Sonar launchpad) has become the benchmark for compliant token raises.
Those who participated in Plasma’s native token XPL’s ICO famously received a 33.7x ROI — an all-time high for the platform.
On the permissionless side, MetaDAO stands out in its quest to make ICO investment safer.
The problem:
Crypto has a long-standing risk of teams misusing funds raised through ICOs. Teams sometimes make bad governance decisions, swayed by whale voting power. Or in some cases, they intentionally rug the holders.
Jupiter has entered the arena as well. Solana’s largest DEX aggregator recently launched an ICO platform, offering exclusive access to $JUP stakers.
Andre Cronje’s Flying Tulip, which raised $200 million privately, is also reportedly planning an $800 million ICO.
While risks like overvaluation and liquidity concentration always remain, platforms are building guardrails this time with governance and transparency as backstops.
Overall, the return of ICOs is good for crypto. It rebuilds capital formation onchain.
It also rewards protocol-market fit and not just pitch decks. Teams prove demand in real time.
ICOs realigns crypto with first principles: open capital, transparent ownership, no gatekeepers.
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