ICO and IPO Markets: An Overview and Prospects

The purpose of this work is to study the investment capital markets by analysing the IPO and ICO procedures, identifying the main trends, leading sectors and comparing their volumes. The methodological basis was a retrospective analysis of the development of various forms of investment attraction (IPO and ICO). The main research methods were deduction, induction, synthesis and logical analysis. This article examined the main trends taking place in the IPO and ICO markets; key types of used blockchain platforms were identified; the leading countries and sectors in terms of the amount of funds raised are presented. The ICO market showed high growth rates in 2013–2018, but did not reach volumes comparable to the IPO market. Most of the projects that used the ICO (digital token issuance) procedures chose the Ethereum blockchain system as a platform, implemented projects in the fintech and IT industries, infrastructure development and decentralized applications (DApps). The leading states, residents, which have carried out the largest number of ICO procedures, are the USA, Singapore, United Kingdom and Hong Kong. In the IPO market, the largest volume of funds was attracted by projects from such sectors as finance, consumer services, oil and gas, industry and healthcare. The US remains the main platform chosen by companies for IPOs. The US is followed by the UK, China and Hong Kong