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The pioneers of ICO market

17 January 2018 21:00, UTC
Margareth Nail
Despite the fact that many people have learned about ICO only in 2017, this method of attracting funding has been used by start-ups since 2013. Bitnewstoday.com has prepared a survey of the most "ancient" ICO, as well as to calculate how much income they brought to investors.

Below you can find a chart with pioneers of the ICO market, as well as the dynamics of the value of their tokens.

Project ICO period Funds raised
through ICO
Capitalization Starting
price
Price on
16.01.2018
Growth
Omni
(Mastercoin)
Summer
2013
4740 BTC
$500000
$41,2М $1,054 $52,10 52 times
Nxt Autumn
2013
21 BTC
$6000
$417,9М $0,000006 $0,29 48 times
CounterParty April
2014
2125,6 BTC
$1,720000
$151,8М $0,6622 $44,83 68 times
MaidSafe
Coin
Summer
2014
26 620 ВТС
$6400000
$464М $0,01420 $0,698 49 times
SWARM Summer
2014
1242 ВТС
$560000
$7,8М $0,0056 $0,07812 14 times
ViaCoin Summer
2014
610 BTC
$370000
$136,5М $0,037 $4,26 115 times
StorjCoin Summer
2014
$461,800 n/a $0,5 $1,75 3,5 times
Bitshares Summer
2014
5600 BTC
$3,600000
$1,4В $0,01 $0,35 35 times
Ethereum Summer
2014
31,500 ВТС
$18,500000
$74,6В $0,3095 $1053,69 3404 times
BitBay Summer
2014
3000 ВТС
$1,080000
$200М $0.0009198 $0,11 120 times

Chart 1 - Characteristics of pioneer projects in the ICO market
Source: Coinmarketcap.com, Cryptocompare.com

Omni

Omni (prevously Mastercoin) was the very first project to attract funds via ICO, it took place in the summer of 2013. Over one month the project managed to collect 4740 bitcoins, which at that time amounted to 500 thousand dollars. Omni is a platform that allows you to create, manage and share assets.

The issue of OMNI tokens is limited to 616,658 coins, as of the end of December 2017 there are already 560,342 tokens in circulation.

According to Coinmarketcap.com, tokens entered the exchanges on December 24, 2013 at a cost of 107.08 dollars per coin. However, at the time of writing, one token is traded at $52.10 or about 0.005 BTC, with capitalization of $41.2 million.

Immediately after this token was listed on exchange, it was followed by the collapse of its price up to $ 0.71 per coin (May 28, 2015). In 2017 OMNI price resembled a smile. In spring, its value went up sharply and reached a level of about $80 per coin, then fell to $20 per token and in December again got back to $80.

During ICO, price of one token was $1,054. Therefore, at the moment, OMNI holders have increased incomes from their investments by more than 83 times.

Pic. 1 Omni price dynamics
Source: Coinmarketcap.com

NXT

In the fall of 2013 Nxt launched ICO in order to create a second-generation cryptocurrency, resistant to fraudulent attacks. It managed to collect 21 BTC, which amounted to 6 thousand dollars. One of the interesting features of this cryptocurrency is that it can't be mined, coins can be obtained only as transaction fees.

The starting price of one token was $0.000006. Investments in Nxt allowed to increase the income of investors by more than 48 thousand times.

In 2014-2016 the Nxt price chart resembled a straight line lying practically at 0 level however since the end of November the coin's value began to grow actively and by mid-December reached the level of more than 1.8 dollars. At the time of writing 1 Nxt could be sold for $0.29. The capitalization of this token reached a level of $244М.

(Update: After aidrop that took place on 28 December, price of Nxt fell sharply to the level of $0,6)

Pic. 2 Nxt price dynamics
Source: Coinmarketcap.com

Counterparty

Counterparty, a platform that allows users to create tokens, trade them, and build "smart contracts." The project launched ICO in January 2014 and raised 2125.6 bitcoins, which amounted to 1.72 million dollars.

The initial cost of the XCP token was $0.066 million. The token was listed on exchanges according to coinmarketcap.com, in the middle of February 2014 at a price of 5.82 dollars per coin. Then the rate went down and for several months its price was no more than 3 dollars. In November 2014, there was an increase to $10, but then again it rebounded to 1-2 dollars. In 2015, one XCP was traded at less than $ 1.

This year, as for many other cryptocurrencies and tokens, was more interesting. In May 2017, the value of XCP hit the $10 mark, and in June - $20. However, it was followed by a drop to 8 dollars and again growth. At the time of writing, the token was worth more than $44.

Pic. 3 Counterparty price dynamics
Source: Coinmarketcap.com

MaidSafe Coin

The project MaidSafe Coin, which is a decentralized platform for creating applications, attracted 6.4 million dollars or 26,620 BTC in just a few hours.

The initial cost of the MAID token was 0.01420 dollars, but at the moment its price amounts to more than 0.59 dollars. As a result, investors increased their income by 42 times. The capitalization of the token is 464 million dollars.

Pic. 4 MaidSafe Coin price dynamics
Source: Coinmarketcap.com

SwarmCoin

The idea of SwarmCoin was based on creating a platform for transforming real assets into tokens. Over the month, it collected 1242 bitcoins or 560 thousand dollars through ICO. The starting value of the token was $0.0056 per coin. At the moment, the cost has grown 14 times to 0.07812 dollars. The capitalization of the token is more than 7.8 million dollars.

ViaCoin

Over a month the project ViaCoin managed to attract 610 bitcoins, which amounted to 370 thousand dollars. ViaCoin is a platform allowing user to issue assets and carry out p2p trading.

Initial cost of 1 VIA token was 0.037 dollars. The coin was listed on exchanges in July 2014 and, according to Coinmarketcap.com, at that time its price was 0.102205 dollars. By the beginning of 2018, the coin's value has risen to $4.26. As a result, this token made investors richer in 115 times.

Pic. 5 ViaCoin price dynamics
Source: Coinmarketcap.com

StorjCoin

StorjCoin project team came up with a decentralized system that allows to store various files in the cloud in an encrypted form, which solves the problem of anonymity and security. To make such ambitious goals happen, investors have put in the project 461.8 thousand dollars. If the initial cost of the SJCX token was $0.5, now it is traded on exchange for $1.75.

Pic. 6 StorjCoin price dynamics
Source: Coinmarketcap.com

Bitshares

Bitshares is another pioneer of the ICO market. The project team attracted 5.6 thousand bitcoins or 3.6 million dollars to create digital tokens that are not subject to volatility.

At the initial stage the BTS token was worth $0.01, by the beginning of 2018, it had grown to $0.35, with capitalization around $1.4 billion.

Pic. 7 Bitshares price dynamics
Source: Coinmarketcap.com

BitBay

The BitBay project with idea to create a crypto exchange, raised 3,000 bitcoins or 1.08 million dollars through ICO. The initial cost of the BAY token was estimated at 0.0009198 dollars, but by the beginning of 2018 the coin is worth more than 0.11 dollars. The capitalization of the token is almost $200 million.

Pic. 8 BitBay price dynamics
Source: Coinmarketcap.com

In addition, list of the ICO market pioneers includes the Ethereum project, which does not need a special presentation. It is only worth recalling that over the period from July 23 to September 3 in 2014, the project attracted through ICO 31,529 thousand bitcoins, which amounted to $ 18.5 million.