ICO Investors

Ruediger Fahlenbrach and Marc Frattaroli
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Marc Frattaroli: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Swiss Finance Institute

No 19-37, Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series from Swiss Finance Institute

Abstract: We conduct a detailed analysis of investors in successful initial coin offerings (ICOs). The average ICO has 4,700 contributors. The median participant contributes small amounts and many investors sell their tokens before the underlying product is developed. Large presale investors obtain tokens at a discount and flip part of their allocation shortly after the ICO. ICO contributors lack the protections traditionally afforded to investors in early stage financing. Nevertheless, returns nine months after the ICO are positive on average, driven mostly by an increase in the value of the Ethereum cryptocurrency.

Keywords: Initial Coin Offering; FinTech; Individual Investors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G11 G14 G24 H31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 59 pages
Date: 2019-07
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Journal Article: ICO investors (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp1937

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