ABSTRACT

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), i.e. the initial offer of a crypto-token, represent an increasingly popular method to raise money. However, the determinants of ICOs’ returns for investors are still overlooked. Following this cue, the empirical outcomes of our study based on crypto-tokens issued between 2017 and 2018 evidence the main determinants of ICOs’ returns: first, crypto-tokens returns are positively associated to Ether’s returns; second, ICO price is negatively associated to later price increases; third, crypto-tokens returns are lower when they are offered in presale; finally, the more a crypto-token price increases between the ICO and the listing-date on the secondary-market and the more its price rises in the following month. In so doing, we contribute to a better understanding of the ICO phenomenon and highlight which aspects may benefit fund raising, which are relevant for the establishment of new startups and more broadly for the economic development of a country.

摘要

首次代币发行 (ICO)，即加密代币的首次发行，代表了一种越来越流行的筹集资金的方法。然而，ICO 对投资者回报的决定因素仍然被忽视。根据这一线索，我们基于 2017 年至 2018 年间发行的加密代币的研究的实证结果证明了 ICO 回报的主要决定因素：首先，加密代币回报与 Ether 的回报呈正相关；其次，ICO 价格与后期价格上涨呈负相关；第三，加密代币在预售时的回报较低；最后，ICO 和二级市场上市日期之间的加密代币价格上涨得越多，其下个月的价格上涨幅度也越大。这样做时，