From the inventory of 10 projects, these projects are undoubtedly the most dazzling stars of that era, easily obtaining huge investments under the halo of celebrities.

By Frank, PANews

In 2016, the project Golem Network, which raised 820,000 ETH through ICO, has recently attracted attention for frequent sales of ETH. As of July 8, a total of 36,000 ETH has been sold recently, worth about 1.145 billion US dollars. Combined with the EOS founding company, which previously created the largest ICO case in the industry, still holding 140,000 bitcoins, worth about 8 billion US dollars.

Investors suddenly realized that some of the projects they rushed to invest in years ago have disappeared, while projects that held onto their coins have made a fortune. PANews conducted an inventory of the asset status of the top 10 ICO projects from 2016 to 2017 and found that the return on investment of all projects is far less than holding BTC and Ethereum.

Sirin Labs: Raised 157 million, token market value only 70,000 USD

The project with the greatest disparity between the amount raised and the current status is undoubtedly Sirin Labs. The project raised approximately 158 million USD through ICO in 2017. It became one of the star projects with the highest amount raised in ICO that year. The tokens it issued, SRN, currently have a market value of only 70,000 USD, with a 24-hour trading volume of only 8 USD.

Sirin Labs was the first company to target Web3 mobile products. As early as 2017, it raised approximately 158 million USD through ICO with the gimmick of blockchain smartphone Finney. In 2018, footballer Messi endorsed this encrypted phone. The good times did not last long. In 2019, Sirin Labs was reported to have laid off 25% of its employees due to poor phone sales and owed factory wages. In 2021, Sirin Labs' investors were sued for fraudulently using ICO and embezzling over 250 million USD.

Today, Sirin Labs' social media accounts have not been updated for over 3 years, with only "scammer" comments left in the comment section.

EOS: The highest ICO in history created the richest Block.one

EOS set a peak in ICO fundraising that has yet to be surpassed. In 2017, with the star halo of BM and the endorsement of Li Xiaolai, EOS raised over 4 billion USD, claiming to be the Ethereum killer and the third-generation public chain, making it the highest funded project in the field of cryptocurrency ICOs to date.

The company behind EOS, Block.one, subsequently converted all the raised ETH into BTC, holding over 164,000 at one point, surpassing the large BTC holder MicroStrategy. According to the latest data, Block.one still holds over 140,000 bitcoins, with a total value of over 8 billion USD.

In 2022, the EOS Foundation tried multiple times to use legal means to make Block.one return 4.1 billion USD and transform EOS into a DAO organization. In April of this year, the EOS Foundation attempted to launch a new token economics, but the market seems to have completely abandoned this former public chain star, with the price dropping by nearly 40% since April. Today, the market value of EOS tokens is only 780 million USD, less than one-tenth of the value of the bitcoins held by Block.one.

Tezos: Token market value is less than the foundation's assets

The public chain Tezos raised 232 million USD through ICO in 2017. Although it was rumored that the Tezos Foundation held 17,500 bitcoins, according to a report from the Tezos Foundation in March 2024, the organization still holds BTC worth 295 million USD, calculated at the BTC price at that time, which is about 5,000 bitcoins. However, during the ICO, Tezos raised a total of 65,681 bitcoins and 361,000 ETH. The value of these tokens today is about 4.8 billion USD, while the total market value of Tezos tokens, TXZ, is only about 740 million USD, which is only 3 times the fundraising amount and even less than the Tezos Foundation's 760 million assets.

Polkadot: Still holding 300,000 ETH unsold

Recently, the public chain Polkadot sparked discussions due to its financial report for the first half of the year, with 87 million USD spent on promotion and only 1.1 million USD in revenue, causing concerns in the community. It seems that the 87 million promotion expense is less of a topic than the financial report. As a star project in 2017, Polkadot had already raised 140 million USD in funding that year, raising over 429,000 ETH. According to on-chain data, the smart contract address from the ICO still holds 306,000 ETH, worth about 930 million USD. Therefore, concerns about Polkadot's treasury seem unnecessary. These ETH tokens have not been sold since the beginning.

Bancor: From well-known to neglected

The decentralized exchange protocol Bancor raised about 390,000 ETH in 2017, worth over 150 million USD, surpassing The DAO's fundraising amount. The value of these tokens is currently about 1.1 billion USD, while the market value of Bancor's token BNT is only about 70 million USD. This result is obviously unacceptable for the users who invested at that time.

Golem: Careful calculation, more assets sold

Golem Network was a very early ICO project. As early as 2016, Golem Network proposed the concept of a decentralized computing power market. By 2024, Golem Network was not famous for its forward-looking market deployment, but for its savvy coin-holding strategy. In 2016, Golem Network raised 820,000 ETH through ICO, the most raised in Ethereum after EOS. Although the progress of Golem's project has been lukewarm, the project team did not sell ETH quickly like other teams, but made small and frequent sales over the years. From the initial ICO value of 9 million USD, by June 2019, although the number of coins held had decreased to 369,000, the value had exceeded 100 million USD. Now, with the number of coins held reduced to 125,000, the total value is still 390 million USD. Riding on the dividend of Ethereum price growth, Golem's assets have been sold more and more. Those who invested 11 USD in ETH in Golem at the time must be feeling something.

TenX: Project team cashed out, market value only 1.64 million USD

The payment project TenX raised over 80 million USD in 2017, totaling 245,832 ETH. However, the project team seemed to lack confidence in the crypto market and started selling most of the tokens through exchanges shortly after the ICO. The current market value of the project's token PAY is only 1.64 million USD.

Filecoin: Decentralized storage star still has residual heat

Filecoin, as a popular decentralized storage project, was also one of the projects with the highest fundraising amount in 2017. Filecoin raised 253 million USD through ICO. To this day, many crypto investors are still mining FIL tokens. The current market value of FIL tokens is about 22 billion USD, ranking second only to Polkadot among the star projects of 2017.

Cardano: Raised 100,000 BTC, a rare evergreen ICO project

Cardano has always maintained a low profile and rarely sought much attention in the market through marketing. However, as a former public chain star, Cardano also holds the record for the longest-lasting ICO, conducting a total of 5 rounds of ICO from 2015 to 2017, raising 10,800 BTC, with a total amount of about 62.24 million USD. However, its token ADA has always performed well, with a current market value of 17.7 billion USD, ranking around the top 10, making it a rare competitive project that still has relevance in the ICO era.

Status: Once hard to obtain, now fortunate not to have invested

Status completed a 105 million USD ICO fundraising in 2017, raising a total of 300,000 ETH. Since 2017, the project has been selling the tokens it holds, currently still holding 17,000 ETH, worth about 54 million USD. Its token SNT has a market value of about 150 million USD. Status was also unusually hot in 2017. According to official sources, the ETH refunded from the ICO amounted to 347,000, more than the amount raised. It is unknown whether the investors who did not successfully get on board are now fortunate not to have exchanged their ETH for SNT.

Conclusion

In addition to the projects listed above, there were many other projects that were hot during the ICO era of 2016-2017, many of which have completely ceased operations and faded from the market. It is always meaningful to review history. From the inventory of the 10 projects, these projects were undoubtedly the most dazzling stars of that era, easily obtaining huge investments under the halo of celebrities. Seven years have passed, and the projects that once claimed to create the next Bitcoin and Ethereum have been replaced by a new batch of contenders. This inevitably leads us to ponder how many of today's star projects will still exist in the public eye in another seven years, and who will be able to fulfill their promises or survive on financing.

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