The top Initial Public Offerings of all time have raised 20 times more in funding compared to the leading Initial Coin Offerings. Data compiled by Finbold.com indicates that the top ten IPOs cumulatively raised $183.4 billion compared to $8.58 billion under ICOs.
The data was compiled to give a comparison between the size of the financial playground of the investors and the amount of US dollars at play.
IPOs are traditionally led by well-established processes under a private company that seeks to expand and become publicly traded. On the other hand, an ICO is a process brought to life by the cryptocurrency innovation. It is a way of crowdfunding for startup companies, which includes creating and selling tokens to fund the start and the development of a blockchain project.
Picks for you
An overview of the top ten IPOs of all time shows that Asian based firms are dominant under this category.
Alibaba Group remains the highest IPO of all time after raising $21.80 billion. The Chinese e-commerce giant which went public in 2014 chose the New York Stock Exchange to sell its shares.
Hong Kong-based investment and insurance company AIAGroup Limited has the second-highest IPO in history. The firm which went live in 2010 raised $20.5 billion placing AIA Group as the largest independent, publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group.
General Motors is the highest-ranked American firm in terms of IPOs. GM which went public in 2010 raised $20.10 billion, making it the third-highest IPO of all time. GM is known for vehicle brands such as Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac.
Another Chinese entity the Agricultural Bank of China (AgBank) went public in 2010 raising over $19.20 billion, ranking in the fourth place. AgBank is a member of the “Big Four” banks in China.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China held the top position for about four years when it went public in 2006. The firm listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange raised $19.10 billion.
Japanese telecommunication firm NTT DOCOMO raised about $18.4 billion when it went public in 1998. The firm was initially listed on the New York Stock Exchange before shifting in 2018.
Listed on the New York Stock exchange, debit and credit card processing firm Visa occupies the seventh spot of all-time IPO. The firm which went public in 2008 raised about $17.9 billion. It is argued that Visa could have raised more considering it went public in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Enel is the first European entity to make to the list. The Italian firm which went public in 1999 raised $17.4 billion. The gas and electric company have operations in both Europe and the United States with a presence in over 30 countries globally.
Social network giant Facebook ranks in the ninth position after fetching $16 billion when it went public in 2012. The American based firm IPO was marred with controversy regarding trading issues and questionable information-sharing accusations.
Deutsche Telekom AG closes the category of all-time highest IPO after raising about $13 billion after going public in 1996. The firm is known for its T-mobile and T-Systems.
ICOs Lose Momentum
On the other hand, ICOs which were considered incredibly lucrative in 2018 have lost momentum due to various factors affecting the cryptocurrency sector. Two years ago, the average ICO size was $25.7 million as the demand from crypto investors was gaining momentum. Despite hundreds of ICOs hitting the market, the following stood out.
In the top spot, there is EOS which raised $4.20 billion. The EOS platform was developed by the private company block. one and released as open-source software. The 2017 ICO was based on ERC-20 tokens.
Messaging platform Telegram ranks second after raising $1.7 billion in 2018 during its ICO. To date, it’s not yet clear how Telegram spent the amount raised during the ICO.
Petro ICO is also among the highest ICOs of time after raising $735 million in 2018. The Petro is the first sovereign crypto asset powered and created by the Venezuelan State. In the fourth spot, there is TaTaTu which raised $575 million in 2018.
Other leading ICOs include Dragon ($320 million), Hdac ($258 million), Filecoin ($257 million), Tezos ($232 million), Sirin Labs ($158 million) and Bancor ($153 million).
Over the last few years, most ICOs have failed to live up to expectations based on factors like lack of interest and necessary traction, disappointing product developments, scams, challenges in execution, a decline of a suitable market, and poor marketing.
As a result, ICOs have become unpopular for raising funds. Currently, Initial Exchange Offerings are gaining momentum as a replacement for ICOs.
