Ethereum, like the other cryptocurrencies, has experienced a tough year. The coin has lost over 75 percent of its value with its price taking a particular nose-dive in the past few months.
Subsequently, this has seen rumors circulating online on explanations of price. Many suggest that the crash may be due to ICOs rushing to sell their ETH stashes before the coin loses more value.
BitMEX research Reveals ICO ETH Sell-Off
Now, new research by BitMEX reveals that crypto startups have sold 75 percent of the Ether they raised during their ICOs. They agree that this has hurt the market however they discredit the rumors that the sales are happening due to ‘panic selling.’
The research saw BitMEX study over 220 ICO projects that managed to raise over $5.5 billion worth of Ether.
As the researchers have discovered, these ICO projects have sold almost the same value they raised (only 11 million less). The reason for the sales has been to fund operations and also to avoid losing value as the price of ETH went down over the past few months.
However, these projects are still in possession of over 3.8 million Ether tokens which at the currently valued at $870 million.
Of the 220 projects that raised funds using Ether, EOS was the undisputed king. The startup which ironically is one of the fiercest rivals of Ethereum managed to raise over 70 percent of the total Ether raised by all ICO projects.
Interestingly, the Startup raised 7.2 million Ether tokens that were worth around $3.8 billion at the time. This figure is $400 million less the $4.2 billion EOS reported.
Depending on when different projects held their ICOs, some managed to make profits and others have made loses.
Those that held their ICOs before Ether peaked at the price last year managed to make huge gains compared to those that raised their tokens during ETH peak period.
The research reveals that Filecoin managed to make the most gains of the 222 startups after realizing profits of $137 million due to the price change. Other price beneficiaries include Raiden Network, EOS, and Golem.
On the other hand, Sirin Labs incurred the most significant losses from the price change. Status, Fusion, and Polkadot closely follow it.
BitMEX researched in collaboration with TokenAnalyst, a research firm.
