Investing in cryptocurrencies first insights on the determinants of the return on Initial Coin Offering

Startups are increasingly adopting blockachains as an unconventional financing method to raise money for starting new businesses. Startups in exchange of funds received from investors offer them new crypto-tokens based on such blockchains, which assure the property on some assets or the right to use a particular technology. As the use of Initial Coin Offering (ICO) of such tokens is a recent worldwide trend for startups fund raising, they will bring a great shift in public capital markets, and they need to be extensively analyzed. While academic studies till now focused on exploring the effects of cryptocurrencies on traditional fundraising methodologies, the determinants of ICO performance is still an overlooked aspect that should be more deeply analyzed. Therefore with this study we assessed the following research question: Which are the determinants of ICO performance? The outcomes of our study provide relevant insights for academics and practitioners regarding the performance determinants of ICO. In so doing we contribute to a better understanding of such phenomena, and provide start-us a better understanding of which factors may lead to a better ICO performance which in turn may attract a greater number of funders.