In a recent newsletter, BitMEX CEO revealed research done by BitMEX which listed 12 ICOs that raised more than $50 million in ICO but have yet go live on any secondary exchanges.
The tokens listed were:
He added:
These deals have massive valuations, and many of the most venerated token funds took down large chunks. It is unclear when, if ever, these deals will ever list on the secondary market.
Hayes humorous commentary provides a sobering outlook, in which he declares that he’s heard “anecdotal reports” that funds which had purchased large blocks of some of these tokens are already looking to sell them, prior to market listings, and that they’re looking to do so on a discount basis.
Hayes apparently believes that most or all of these tokens will have no actual value in the future. The recent reckoning brought on by federal government enforcement actions is playing hell with the innovative ICO space, that much is for sure. Hayes wonders aloud: “Given the large amount of token supply out there, who will buy this shit?”
The answer is that some of these tokens will be required by development teams, such as Rootstock, so some degree of demand can be expected. It’s hard to reconcile a viewpoint that paints a whole asset class as doomed to failure, but at the same time, it’d be naive to be over-positive on the near-future of ICOs and the tokens that resulted from them.
You can mark something to an absurd level in year 1. But the meter starts again on January 1st. If these things come to market, there will be no accounting tricks to hide the gargantuan losses that these funds will post.
A deeper token analysis of ICOs by BitMEX found that the majority of them had sold the Ether they raised, with only a total of about 25% actually held. It is possible to see the value of blockchain tokens and ICO funded projects without being overly confident in their ability to produce long-term returns, it seems.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
