NEWS ANALYSIS: Crypto-bear market threatens to last on potential token supply
Messari data shows that 71 coins of the more than 400 tokens on its database have issued less than 50% of their targeted total supply
New York — Crypto-currencies may be facing a prolonged bear market. Companies that issued tokens, or digital currencies, over the past two years through initial coin offerings (ICOs) may have to sell more of these assets to finance their operations. There's just one problem: there are very few takers. After the blockbuster success of ICOs in 2017, with funds raised at more than $6bn, crypto-currencies nosedived, wiping out about 85% of their total market value since hitting a peak of more than $800bn in early 2018. Bitcoin, the original crypto-currency, has dropped more than 80% since hitting an all-time high of nearly $20,000 in December 2017.
A global regulatory crackdown led by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has created fear about greater oversight and acceptance of the currencies for payments among the companies issuing the tokens and the investors that bought them, taking the wind out of the once red-hot digital assets. Data from Dead Coins, which tracks ...
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