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What factors drive returns on initial coin offerings?

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  • Domingo, Ribeiro-Soriano
  • Piñeiro-Chousa, Juan
  • Ángeles López-Cabarcos, M.

Abstract

In recent years, initial coin offerings (ICOs) have received considerable attention as a new form of crowdfunding. Because of the rapid growth in their popularity, ICOs have become a prominent research topic. However, the lack of knowledge about the nature of this kind of financial operation inevitably raises several important unanswered questions. This study starts by providing a comprehensive description of the characteristics, benefits, and risks associated with ICOs. Then, using a panel data set comprising daily information for 125 ICOs (44,217 observations gathered from December 2017 to December 2018), this study explores the influence of the ICO presale period, ICO category, Bitcoin spot returns, Bitcoin futures returns, and sentiment extracted from social media on ICO returns. The results suggest that while Bitcoin spot and Bitcoin futures returns exert a positive influence on ICO returns, the existence of a presale period exerts a negative influence, and ICO category seems to be non-significant. Sentiment extracted from social networks positively influences ICO returns. Further conclusions of this study are presented in the last section.

Suggested Citation

  • Domingo, Ribeiro-Soriano & Piñeiro-Chousa, Juan & Ángeles López-Cabarcos, M., 2020. "What factors drive returns on initial coin offerings?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:153:y:2020:i:c:s0040162519304275
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2020.119915
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