En Efectivo. Desde Curazao a Suiza están
saliendo importantes envíos de oro. Se trata de oro fundido, no bancario o
monetario. Oro que nadie sabe de donde la isla produce y que el oficioso
gobierno de Estados Unidos, que asegura vigilar todo, pareciera pasar por alto.
Los suizos alegan que su operación es legal, porque compran
oro a un país que no es Venezuela, sobre el cual hay la advertencia de la
procedencia del oro del Arco Minero.
También alegan que el oro no es monetario, así que no hay
sanciones que violen. Se trata de oro que terminará en refinerías de los
suizos.
Aunque no hay datos precisos, se estima que el oro que está
enviando Curazao a Suiza, proceda de Venezuela, una isla en la que por cierto
se regula la entrada de venezolanos. La isla de Curazao no ha recibido
sanciones de EEUU por tal actividad.
En Efectivo. Ha sido un proceso muy largo,
pero sigue su rumbo. El colapso general del país ahoga al régimen de Nicolás
Maduro, quien se va quedando sin opciones para mantener el funcionamiento del
Estado.
La caída de la producción petrolera, que comenzó con la
debacle de Pdvsa, bajo el control del chavismo es la principal causa. El
altísimo endeudamiento que dejó Hugo Chávez, la peor corrupción jamás vista,
dejaron a Maduro sin ingresos petroleros.
A lo anterior hay que sumar la imposibilidad de reiniciar,
debido a las sanciones de EEUU contra Pdvsa, contra actores del régimen,
instituciones públicas, militares, bonos de deuda y demás medidas restrictivas.
Sin producción
El proceso de estatizaciones de Chávez, hunde también al
madurismo. Un país con apenas 20% de su capacidad instalada funcionando, no
genera ingresos suficientes.
Las pocas exportaciones que existen, no cubren los gastos
que requiere toda Venezuela.
Sin impuestos
La hiperinflación ha destruido la moneda nacional, el
ingreso por la vía de impuestos que cobra el SENIAT se diluye a cada alza del
dólar.
Sin remesas
De manera vergonzosa, el principal ingreso de Venezuela han
sido las remesas. Unos cinco millones de venezolanos tuvieron que huir del país
debido a la peor crisis económica nunca vivida. Estos ciudadanos han enviado a
sus familiares al menos unos 4,5 mil millones de dólares al año. Dinero que no
controla el régimen de manera directa.
Con la crisis del coronavirus en el mundo, muchos
venezolanos están ahora desempleados en esos países, lo que repercute en una
caída del envío de dólares a Venezuela, lo que disminuye la oferta de dólares
en el país, ayudando al alza del precio de la divisa.
Sin gasolina
En la gasolina,
Maduro pudo haber encontrado un ingreso importante, para ello debía llevar los
precios a tasas reales, cuando lo intentó, el entorno militar que controla el
contrabando de combustible, hizo estallar un drone en la avenida Bolívar en Caracas,
como una advertencia de no tocar el combustible.
Acabada la gasolina y su producción, con sanciones, sin
inversionistas y sin poder emitir deuda, no puede reactivar este sector para
evitar que la crisis avance.
Qué le queda
Dos recursos tiene todavía para resistir. El primero es la
emisión de dinero, que le permite mantener algunas operaciones estatales en
precario funcionamiento, aunque este recurso distorsiona y destruye la
economía. La emisión de dinero en este contexto, no puede usarla mucho, por los
efectos inflacionarios. Ya es un recurso limitado.
El segundo es el de privatizar empresas estatales, pero en
el contexto político que existe, es posible que no consiga mucho apoyo
financiero o actores importantes para las inversiones. Necesita de la Asamblea Nacional para que los inversores
sientan seguridad y confianza, lo que implica negociaciones.
Las empresas más estratégicas y más costosas están bajo
control de Miraflores, pero no funcionan en toda su capacidad. Maduro podría
entregarlas a capitales privados, con ello obtener algunos recursos y permitir
que estas empresas motoricen buena parte de una recuperación económica.
En este punto tendría obstáculos que el propio régimen
tendría muy difícil de superar. Las sanciones de EEUU evitarían que empresarios
extranjeros entren en inversiones de ese tipo. En el chavismo radical las
diferencias y enfrentamientos contra el madurismo recrudecerían, luego de la
liberación del dólar y de los precios en bolívares ocurridos en el año
anterior.
En Efectivo.- El nuevo control de precios en dólares aplicado
por el régimen de Nicolás Maduro, revela la incertidumbre que hay en su
gobierno. Maduro no se atreve a implementar un nuevo control de precios en
bolívares, porque en sólo días el país quedaría desabastecido totalmente.
Un desabastecimiento crónico, junto con los efectos de la cuarentena y
el racionamiento extremo de la gasolina, serían un incentivo para desatar una
rebelión popular de gran escala.
Presión radical y social
Maduro compra un poco de tiempo. Aunque en la medida inciden los
factores radicales del régimen, al implementar un control de precios en
dólares, dejará que los productos en bolívares sigan indexados al precio del
dólar del BCV, el cual seguirá subiendo inevitablemente.
Necesita mostrarse fuerte, ante la ola de eventos violentos en pueblos
del interior, con saqueos y escaramuzas entre civiles y militares de la GNB.
Maduro toma varias empresas y aplica la medida, para enviar el mensaje que aún
tiene todo bajo control. La presión social lo ha obligado.
No funcionará en el tiempo
El control de precios en dólares tendrá el mismo efecto en el tiempo. Funcionará
parcialmente mientras los precios de las materias primas y de productos
terminados en el extranjero no aumenten. Los asesores del régimen le han
vendido la idea de la recesión global y se apoyan en la caída del precio del petróleo
para tal argumento.
En EEUU, la Reserva Federal emite 6 billones de dólares, lo que
corresponde a casi 840 dólares a cada habitante en el planeta. Una mega emisión
de proporciones gigantescas. Este dinero creará inflación global y una muestra
de ello es lo que está ocurriendo ya en Ecuador, con el alza de precios en
dólares.
Al mismo tiempo, hay escasez de bienes y servicios por la cuarentena
mundial, al emitir dinero, los rubros pueden subir mucho, aunque los efectos de
la recesión, por ahora atenúan cualquier disparada de precios.
Medida de corto plazo
Cuando los importadores venezolanos, que han acordado con Maduro los
precios en dólares, no puedan pagar los aumentos de los bienes importados, es
cuando comenzará a verse el efecto de la escasez. El que importa rubros en 1
dólar y lo vende a precio controlado, ya no podrá mantener el mismo precio si
el rubro se lo suben a 2 dólares.
Pasos hacia la dolarización
Maduro da otro paso en el sentido de la dolarización, iniciada desde
finales de 2018, la cual le ha servido para que los anaqueles de los comercios
venezolanos se recuperaran y la hiperinflación se desacelerara de 825.000% a 6.500%
entre 2018 y 2019.
Tal medida de control, no podrá prolongarla más allá de que la crisis
del Covid-19 vaya atenuando o Venezuela volverá a la escasez crónica, si es que
todavía se mantiene en el poder. Apostar por la dolarización luego de la crisis
del Covid-19, por el caos económico, es otra medida que traerá otros problemas.
Since its inception in 2013, CoinMarketCap has become the world’s most used price-tracking source for retail users when comparing thousands of cryptoassets. Today we have also grown to become the preferred business partner for renowned, respected brands with a daily reach of millions of users and highly targeted advertising solutions. Read on to learn how we helped one of our clients Nexo achieve success!
What is Nexo?
When it began, Nexo had the ambition to transform the traditional financial sector by making decentralized financial technology services available to the public. It wanted to give users access to a seamless, cutting-edge experience which would ultimately increase the adoption of crypto and blockchain-backed tools.
Today, Nexo is recognized as a key provider of crypto-backed credit lines (Nexo’s Instant Crypto Credit Lines) and interest-earning services (their ‘Earn Interest’ product). The company has successfully introduced its brand to both retail and institutional clients in the industry, which has led to substantial growth in its user base and number of customers. Achieving this was a carefully calculated marketing journey that included, among many other approaches, Nexo’s very effective work with CoinMarketCap.
The Challenge: Amplify a Brand and Attract Users
With Nexo, users can borrow funds as well as earn interest on their crypto assets. Its Instant Crypto Credit Line allows clients to access cash in over 40 fiat currencies, at industry-leading interest rates starting from only 5.9% APR.
Nexo’s ‘Earn Interest’ product, gives clients the opportunity to earn 8% daily compounding interest on their fiat holdings and stablecoins, while safely storing them with an audited custodian.
Nexo approached CoinMarketCap for an advertising solution that would fulfill the following marketing objectives: to raise brand awareness, communicate its offerings in a highly engaging manner to a broader audience and gain more customers for its products.
Working With CoinMarketCap to Cast the Widest Net for High Impact
Teodora Atanasova and Yasen Damyanov of Nexo’s business development team were drawn to advertise on CoinMarketCap for the quality of its platform, citing it as “the go-to place to get prime information on the crypto market and blockchain space.”
They added that “CoinMarketCap’s broad and highly-engaged audience already has their hands deep into crypto,” making it an ideal location to reach the largest cryptocurrency population on the internet. In partnership with Nexo, CoinMarketCap put together an advertising campaign utilizing highly-visible mobile and desktop banners, designed to capture attention and rapidly grow Nexo’s audience.
In addition, a Crypto Credit Button was displayed on every cryptocurrency page on CoinMarketCap to generate leads for Nexo’s Instant Crypto Credit Lines.
Site banners on CoinMarket’s desktop and mobile app allows brands to target at specific geographies to reach their desired customers.
The Results: Exceptional Click-Through Rate That Beat Industry Standard
From March to December 2019, Nexo’s desktop header banner on CoinMarketCap received over 45 million impressions and achieved an overall 0.19% click-through-rate. This is six times higher than the industry standard!
CoinMarketCap’s header banner spans the top of every page of CoinMarketCap’s website. It reaches CoinMarketCap’s global audience and receives millions of impressions each week.
Nexo’s mobile banners on iOS and Android generated over 7 million impressions in November and December, with a click-through-rate as high as 1.70%, which exceeded CoinMarketCap’s already high-achieving average CTR of 1.50% for its app banners.
Last but not least, the Crypto Credit Button led to a skyrocketing interest of new leads for Nexo, right after the launch of the campaign. Through the Crypto Credit Button, Nexo grew its user base with a large proportion of sign-ups going on to convert or open crypto credit lines with Nexo.
CoinMarketCap’s Button program features relevant crypto resources such as Buy and Crypto Credit which appears on over 5,000 CoinMarketCap webpages.
By tapping into CoinMarketCap’s user base, Nexo managed to reach a highly-relevant audience who shared a keen interest in crypto and blockchain services. The users it acquired through the advertising solutions were highly-engaged with its messaging.
“CoinMarketCap’s trailblazing marketing approach has offered the perfect means for us to let the community know about our offerings. It allowed us to augment our user base, amplify Nexo’s brand awareness and scale our customer acquisition.”
– Teodora Atanasova, Business Development and Investor Relations at Nexo.io
To find out how CoinMarketCap’s advertising products can meet your marketing objectives and boost your business, send us a message at advertising@coinmarketcap.com!
Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin in 2009 as a financial safeguard against the threat of another global economic disaster, following the 2008 housing bubble collapse. Unfortunately, 11 years after Bitcoin’s creation, Nakamoto’s technology has already been put to the test during the current worldwide economic downturn created by the coronavirus pandemic.
Even though the crypto markets saw a dip in March that mimicked the stock market crash, most crypto and blockchain companies are continuing their operations as usual — if ever, this is the time for crypto and blockchain to flourish.
Check out the list of companies curated by CryptoJobsList and CMC that need people like you to join their team!
CoinMarketCap is the world’s most-referenced website for crypto pricing tracking, having grown since 2013 into a trusted resource for providing accurate cryptoasset and exchange rankings.
Their team is both distributed and entirely remote (see here how the CMC team works from home!), as the company believes in a decentralized world, with an aim of promoting the cryptocurrency revolution to the public with their unbiased, high quality and accurate data.
Argent has built a crypto wallet based on the Ethereum blockchain that aims to increase accessibility to DeFi projects, as well as send and exchange cryptoassets. Known for their social key recovery mechanism, the wallet is non-custodial, allowing users to have 100% control over their digital assets with all information remaining private for everyone but the user.
The team at Argent used smart contracts to build the wallets after seeking to solve the security issues associated with traditional crypto wallets, following feedback from the crypto community. They have introduced daily transfer limits, wallet locking, eliminated transfer fees and allowed assets to earn interest with Maker and Compound.
In March this year (2020), they announced their $12 million Series A funding round with Paradigm, Index Ventures and Creandum among their backers. The Argent team is largely based out of Europe and is a 100% remote team. They are currently looking to expand the non-engineering side of the team and are hiring a project manager based out in Europe to work alongside their technical team, helping users navigate the ever-changing face of tech and finance.
MetaMask is a popular in-browser crypto wallet and a gateway to blockchain apps. The team is a part of ConsenSys, yet they function independently. Since its launch, MetaMask has garnered over a million users and counting.
They are currently hiring a senior mobile developer to bring their proven experience to phones and reach a wider audience. The role is remote, yet you will need to be based in the Americas.
Counting Sequoia Capital, MetaStable Capital, Baidu Ventures and IMO Ventures among its backers, Conflux’s core team is made up of award winning scientists in the field of computer science who are working toward the goal of integrating technology and businesses with advanced blockchain technology.
The team at Conflux come from very diverse and elite backgrounds, and are working together to solve the key issues in Ethereum blockchain technology — scalability, decentralization and security, with an added advantage of speed.
Within the next few months, Conflux is aiming to launch its main network, and is currently hiring a remote research engineer to help with enhancing the network resilience whilst ensuring the network can continuously evolve to meet requirements as it changes.
Formerly known as Breadwallet, BRD aims to become the largest decentralized financial institution in the world. It was one of the first Bitcoin wallets that was allowed on the Apple app store in 2014, and has been downloaded more than 3 million times to date.
BRD currently operates out of four offices: three in America and one in Japan, and half the team operates remotely. Whether you have a technical or business background, the team stays close and has annual all-company retreats to bring everyone together.
BRD has a long-term vision and roadmap, and is currently hiring for their teams (both technical and business remote roles) in all four offices to join them on their journey! If you’re looking to join their team and change the face of finance, BRD is the right choice for you.
Lunie is the staking and governance platform for proof-of-stake blockchains. The six-member strong team has come a long way since their humble beginning a year ago — launching the beta version of Lunie Mobile for both iPhone and Android and announcing their first mainnet e-money network staking interface, as well as their first mainnet staking integration.
Staking is still a relatively new idea, and the team at Lunie is taking this as a technological and social experiment with the ultimate goal of gaining more traction and making an impact by permanently solving some of the more technical challenges facing blockchains today.
The team at Lunie works remotely and is split between Canada and Europe. They are constantly engaged with each other in a fun and fast-paced environment collaborating with other projects to take on what’s possible on new proof-of-stake blockchains, while ensuring users can safely store, manage and stack their crypto assets from PoS networks with Lunie’s own tools.
If you’re passionate about the blockchain space, have relevant experience and are interested in being at the forefront of this new economy, they’re currently hiring a JavaScript engineer to join their ambitious team.
Status is building the tools and infrastructure for the advancement of a secure, private and open web3. As a product, Status is an open source, Ethereum-based app that gives users the power to chat, transact and access a revolutionary world of DApps on the decentralized web. With the high level goals of preserving the right to privacy, mitigating the risk of censorship and promoting economic trade in a transparent, open manner, Status is building a community where anyone is welcome to join and contribute. As an organization, Status seeks to push the web3 ecosystem forward through research, creation of developer tools and support of the open source community.
Status’ culture is 100% remote: they don’t have offices and have no plans to lease any. Like most organizations, they employ people in different countries. Some choose to work from co-working spaces, and they provide a monthly allowance of about 250 euros to enable them to rent a workspace if desired. They also have people who travel the world – either visiting friends or renting Airbnbs in different countries.
Enjoying our tips about how crypto and blockchain can make living through a pandemic easier? Clickhereto see how crypto companies are using their tech to fight the virus, and check outherehow blockchain can make working from home more efficient.
En Efectivo.- Comenzando la crisis global del Covid19, el Líbano
anunciaba que debía reestructurar su deuda. Recientemente el presidente de
Ecuador, Lenín Moreno, también hacía anuncios económicos, entre ellos que
tendrá que renegociar deuda.
Argentina está en lo mismo, el presidente Alberto Fernández ha
propuesto una nueva ronda de reestructuración, pero los inversores no aceptan.
Venezuela no paga deuda de ningún tipo desde hace unos tres años.
La crisis de deuda de los países estaría por dispararse y esparcirse en
el resto de la economía como lo hace Covid19 entre los humanos.
Una ola de impagos en el mundo destruiría más al sector financiero
global. No habría banco central capaz de rescatar a ningún país, puesto que por
lo visto se terminaron los “cartuchos”.
Se ve en la crisis del precio del petróleo. El gobierno de EEUU emitió
2,2 billones de dólares para mantener la economía, pero la recesión es muchos
más robusta. La caída de demanda de energía es real, y se manifiesta en el
precio del hidrocarburo. El petróleo no ha reaccionado, al contrario, se ha
derrumbado a mínimos históricos.
Una mega emisión de dinero como la que aplica la Reserva Federal, no
funcionó para evitarlo. Los anuncios de recortes de la OPEP, tampoco han
funcionado.
El derrumbe de la deuda global, podría ser la siguiente fase de la
descomunal crisis que se vive en todo el mundo. Es probable que la herramienta
de emitir dinero, ya se haya agotado.
En Efectivo.- Los efectos del coronavirus que más lamentan las
personas son los económicos, en el caso de quienes no se han infectado o no han
padecido un familiar muerto. En el caso de los que sí han sufrido la
enfermedad, su punto de vista es el de la salud y la vida.
Ya sea porque se está afectado económicamente o sanitariamente, los
ciudadanos occidentales plantean como reclamo etiquetas en las redes sociales,
como la del “virus chino”. Se difunden contenidos con acusaciones sobre la
responsabilidad de China por la propagación del virus.
Tengan razón o no, ya que la queja en redes sociales tiene un efecto de
catarsis, los efectos de Covid-19 se van a sentir por mucho tiempo.
Mientras no aparezca una vacuna o un tratamiento efectivo, el
distanciamiento social será una norma en el desempeño de la sociedad.
La población se verá obligada a cambiar algunas formas de relación,
sobre todo en el aspecto económico. Habrá una tendencia a que muchos procesos
se digitalicen y se “tokenicen”.
La población mundial verá como se dependerá mucho de la plataforma 5G,
de la inteligencia artificial y de la “blockchain”. Estos tres aspectos
tecnológicos servirán para que un nuevo modo de vida se desarrolle evitando y reduciendo
los contagios y nuevos brotes en el futuro.
La empresa china Huawei es la líder en el mundo con la 5G. China
lidera las investigaciones de inteligencia artificial y ahora desarrollan la
tokenización de su moneda.
En Efectivo.- En Venezuela se han estado produciendo
escaramuzas en algunas poblaciones del interior del país, por escasez de
gasolina y los efectos de la cuarentena. La pobreza de los venezolanos es
extrema en 80%, como resultado del gobierno del chavismo/madurismo, desde el
año 2013.
Por motivo del Covid-19, se aplican cuarentenas extremas, con
controles que llegan a la represión, al apresamiento de médicos, periodistas y
dirigentes políticos.
En los años 2016 y 2017 hubo motines del hambre en toda Venezuela, una ola de saqueos que no se tradujo en un cambio del régimen.
El régimen de Nicolás Maduro tiene un gran aliado para que el virus no
se haya esparcido violentamente como en otros países y es la peor crisis
económica que se sufre en Venezuela.
Los venezolanos no hacen turismo interno ni internacional, no reciben
turistas extranjeros, no realizan eventos sociales, festivos, deportivos,
educativos y de otros órdenes que sean importantes. En Venezuela no hay
inversiones extranjeras, no hay vuelos suficientes desde antes de la pandemia. El
transporte público y el parque automotor están paralizados. Los sistemas
públicos están colapsados.
Ir al cine ya era complicado y muy costoso.
Todo lo anterior no permite a Covid-19 infectar a todos los
venezolanos masivamente.
Mal cálculo
Desde sectores de oposición extrema, apuestan a un estallido social
producto del hambre y la infección, en la creencia que ello derribaría al
régimen.
Venezuela está en un estallido social constante, paulatino, desde
2014. Desde las protestas de “La Salida”, hasta las de 2017, junto a la ola de
saqueos por hambre en 2015 y 2016, ya hay un estallido social, que ha sido
brutalmente reprimido, controlado y aplastado por las fuerzas militares.
Actualmente los ciudadanos, presas del miedo por Covid-19, tratan de
sostenerse. Los venezolanos ocupan sus fuerzas en conseguir el sustento diario
en las peores circunstancias, puesto que la crisis económica ahora es peor,
porque ahora los venezolanos tienen menos ingresos porque Covid-19 fortalece la
recesión.
Los motorizados sólo buscan algo de gasolina, para poder movilizarse.
No hay un movimiento organizado preparando una insurrección civil, hasta ahora
hay reacciones espontáneas en el interior del país, con lo que los militares
han lidiado estos años con fuego, heridos, muertos y detenidos, al final el
régimen de Maduro es una tiranía.
El régimen de Nicolás ha medido las acciones y reacciones, ha
resistido y ha evitado caerse a pesar de la convulsión social continua.
En Efectivo.- La crisis económica de Venezuela, desplomada en
más de 65% de PIB desde 2014, ha sido básica para que la sociedad venezolana
esté paralizada en su mayoría. Un país con 80% de su parque automotor
paralizado, por falta de repuestos y ahora por escasez de gasolina, no se
moviliza.
La falta de turismo internacional, turismo interno, inversiones y
dinero para eventos masivos importantes, evita que Covid-19 avance con fuerza
en el país. Ni siquiera este virus es capaz de superar al caos económico
generado por el chavismo/madurismo.
Políticamente, Maduro ha comprendido como Covid-19 no lo ha puesto en
apuros. Al contrario, la epidemia ha servido para cercar a la oposición
política. Los voceros oficiales del régimen, Nicolás Maduro, Jorge Rodríguez y
Delcy Rodríguez, centran la atención del país.
El temor de los ciudadanos de contagiarse, y saber que no hay un
sistema sanitario para responderles debidamente, los obliga a hacer cuarentena.
Maduro asegura que lo apoyan. La oposición alega que se miente con las cifras
del contagio.
Hasta a Diosdado Cabello lo han limitado.
La crisis del Covid-19 ha logrado que la oposición política esté confinada
también con la cuarentena, el protagonismo lo tienen quienes gestionan la
epidemia en el país. Los ciudadanos se enfocan en estos. Mientras el régimen
tiene a sus cuadros, en “casa por casa”, atendiendo a personas con síntomas,
entregando alimentos y medicamentos.
La oposición que insiste en que hay más casos de infectados, y que no
los presenta, sin saberlo contribuyen a que el régimen sobre la base de tales
argumentos, amplíe las cuarentenas, las cuales los está liquidando
mediáticamente.
2. Only four out of the top 15 IEOs had a positive return on investment (ROI) at the time of writing.
3. The average ROI of the top 15 IEOs was 18%.
4. Matic was the best performing token out of the top 15, with an ROI of +577% (Binance Launchpad).
5. MultiVac (-92%) and VeriBlock (-94%) were the worst performing IEOs out of the top 15 in terms of ROI (on KuCoin Spotlight and Bittrex respectively).
6. Binance was the most popular launchpad for the top 15 — eight out of the 15 top IEOs (53%) were conducted on this platform. In contrast, LaToken was the most popular launchpad for the entire IEO market, launching more than 140 IEOs in 2019.
7. Only two IEOs out of the top 15 (13%) raised more than $10 million — GateChain Token ($64 million) and LEO ($1 billion).
8. The best launchpad in terms of average ROI was Binance with +144%, and the worst was Bitforex, with an average ROI of -83%.
Disclaimer: All numbers used in this article were obtained on March 1, 2020. This is a co-brand report of SMC Capital and bigX.
Introduction
2019 saw the rise of the startup crowdfunding phenomenon called the initial exchange offering, or IEO, dubbed by industry insiders as the “reincarnation of the initial coin offering (ICO).” IEOs quickly became the hottest topic in the blockchain market, but began to see a significant decline in Q4 of 2019. Patterns from the ICO period, such as strong FOMO around several tokens, immense volatility, hefty profits and outsized losses contributed to the dubious nature of the IEO market.
Toward the end of 2019, IEOs raised less money, fewer projects conducted IEOs and numerous exchanges shut their launchpads down, leading many to believe that 2019 would be the last year for IEOs. Today, the top 15 IEO projects of 2019 continue to struggle to keep their floating token price above their IEO price. 74% out of the top 15 IEOs are in the red, delivering an average loss to their investors of -53%.
However, much to the industry’s surprise, the IEO market did show some positive developments in 2020. For example, India-based exchange WazirX conducted a successful IEO on Binance, raising $2 million and delivering a notable ROI to their investors (at the moment of writing, the ROI for WRX was +892%). Several exchanges remain quite active in the market, as there continues to be a supply of projects and demand from investors. Our research report aims to look at the trends driving this market and the prospects for IEOs in 2020 and beyond.
What Are Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs)?
IEOs are similar to ICOs, but the offering is instead conducted through a cryptocurrency exchange, which handles aspects like KYC checks on buyers, listing, reporting and other related functions. Although IEOs are currently the subject of considerable hype, many market participants, including senior executives of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, admit that IEOs are more of a PR and marketing tool rather than a fundraising option. Although many projects do raise money, most end up spending the majority of funds raised (up to 85%) on market-making to support the token price.
Most popular launchpads also subject IEOs to strict conditions. For example, only a limited number of investors chosen by random lottery can participate, and strict limitations regarding the number of tokens available per investor apply. IEOs help to popularize projects and grow the token holder community, but their usefulness in terms of raising capital is questionable. IEOs help exchanges attract new traders, increase trading volume and drive additional revenue, but we have strong doubts about the real value for startups.
Fundraising Results
IEOs Raised $1.7 Billion in 2019
IEOs performed quite well in 2019, with May being the most successful month in terms of funds raised. The huge spike in May fundraising is due to Bitfinex’s LEO IEO, which raised $1 billion USD.
IEO industry fundraising results in 2019
The majority of IEOs (67%) were conducted between June and December, but the majority of funds were raised from January to June. It is likely that LEO’s $1 billion offering in May led many projects to believe that IEOs might bring them additional funds and secure a free listing on an exchange. With increased demand from projects, executives at crypto exchanges also realized that IEO launchpads might be an excellent source of additional income. The combination of these factors led to a phenomenal year for IEOs.
IEOs month by month
Jurisdiction*
Most IEO projects in 2019 came from the US, Estonia, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and the UK. Altogether, these countries accounted for more than 50% of all IEOs and raised a total of $1.45 billion USD, about 85% of the total amount of funds raised.
*Jurisdiction is the place of factual registration for startups
Launchpads
The Most Popular Launchpads by Number of Projects
Latoken, ProBit and p2pb2b were the most popular exchanges for projects seeking to conduct an IEO in 2019. In total, at least 250 projects conducted IEOs on these exchanges.
The most popular launchpads
Top Launchpads by Funds Raised
Over half of IEO funding was raised on the Bitfinex Launchpad, due in large part to LEO’s outsized $1 billion IEO. Excluding the LEO IEO, most 2019 IEO funds were raised on the LaToken exchange launchpad.
Raised in %
* and other smaller launchpads (less than 0.1%).
The Best Performing Launchpads (ROI)
The Best Performing Market Sectors
The most successful market sector for IEOs was protocols, which performed quite strongly (+124%). In contrast, the Internet of Things (IoT) sector delivered the worst ROI. Notably, IEOs followed the same trend as ICOs, where protocols also dominated in terms of ROI.
What Happened to the Top 15 IEOs?
The secondary market performance of the top 15 IEOs reveals that most IEOs are still struggling to keep the token price higher than the token sale. Only four projects out of the top 15 (26%) are still providing their investors with a positive ROI. The average loss for projects in the red is -53%, while the average ROI for successful projects is +209%.
Projects with a negative ROI have collectively raised $1,050,430,000, which is 62% of all funds raised by IEOs and 93% of funds raised by top 15 IEOs.
The Top 15 IEO’s ROI since IEO
The vast majority of top 15 projects conducted offerings on Binance and successfully reached their hard caps. Bitfinex’s LEO raised the largest amount of funds, but its performance has been lackluster. LEO has only 1,754 token holders on both Ethereum and EOS, it has the lowest volume to market cap ratio and its daily volume is about 10 times lower than that of BitTorrent. Matic currently has the best ROI and a 103% volume to market cap ratio.
Conclusion
In many ways, IEOs were the last echo of the ICO era — when new startups were able to raise millions of dollars with no product or clear roadmap. Many tokens posted stellar performance in the first several days or even weeks after listing, but lost the vast majority of their token value within several months. IEOs and ICOs did show that almost anyone can launch a project and get millions of dollars in funding from retail investors simply by having a good idea, a solid team, a vibrant community and convincing arguments why the token price will grow after listing.
However, the performance of the top 15 IEOs is unmistakably similar to projects in the ICO era. Startups became public too fast and spent their attention and resources on boosting the token price instead of developing their product. As a result, the majority of IEO tokens lost the lion’s share of their value during the first quarter after listing. Considering all these things, it appears that the IEO era was more about speculation and trading than fundraising and startup development.
Future Trends
We recognize four key trends in the IEO market in 2020
1. Regional Focus
Reputable exchanges will seek out commercial partnerships with strong local players from crypto-friendly markets to open up additional demand. The WazirX IEO launched on Binance discussed earlier in this article is a case in point. This strategy makes sense for exchanges because IEOs are a free tool for onboarding new users, boosting trading volume and pulling in market-making fees.
2. IEO Slowdown
We expect to see significantly less IEOs being launched in 2020 year-over-year. Considering the ROI of IEOs examined in this article and decreasing demand from investors, we predict that the IEO market will decrease significantly, both in total amount of projects launched and volume of funds raised. However, we do not expect this market to disappear. The silver lining of an IEO slowdown is that new IEO projects must be of higher quality, preferably with a first round of venture capital backing.
3. Exchanges Will Change Rules
If exchanges hope to continue offering IEOs as a service, they will need to loosen their conditions to onboard new projects. Among the first IEO requirements set to be revisited are market making allocations and token price discounts. At up to 85% of all funds raised, required market making allocations for new projects are not reasonable. Demands for IEO projects to significantly decrease the token price below private sale prices, undercutting initial investors, will also be loosened. However, exchanges may increase initial capital requirements and perform more thorough due diligence on new projects.
4. Increased Real-World Interest
As digital and traditional markets recover from the financial crisis and rebound to health in the second half of 2020, continued liquidity troubles will force real-world businesses to seek out creative new fundraising sources. Some will inevitably turn to digital currency-supported crowdsales to survive. In some industries, like HoReCa or retail, IEOs may prove well-suited for fundraising as compared to unrealistic lending conditions from banks. Potential big winners from this forecast include major crypto lending companies, which could help underwrite real-world business deals.
This article is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. It is important to do your own research and analysis before making any material decisions related to any of the products or services described. This article is not intended as, and shall not be construed as, financial advice.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinMarketCap.
Entradas
