Virtual currency sales jump in 2018

But results skewed by two big token sales.

Virtual currency sales ballooned to US$9.1 billion ($11.9 billion) so far this year, exceeding the US$6.6 billion total for all of 2017, new numbers show.

But the monthly trend actually showed a slowdown if the two biggest offerings are excluded.

Digital technology startups around the world have raised funds by selling cryptocurrencies, or tokens, that sidestep banks or venture capital firms as intermediaries.

Financial technology provider Autonomous NEXT reported the US$9.1 billion figure, noting that the total includes token sale offerings of Telegram, a messaging service founded by Russia-born entrepreneurs Pavel and Nikolai Durov in 2013, and Block.one’s EOS currency.

Telegram raised US$1.8 billion early this year, while EOS raised about US$4 billion in a token sale over a one-year period, starting in June 2017.

If the Telegram and EOS sales were excluded, Autonomous NEXT said, the monthly figure was lower at US$560 million so far this year from a high of US$1.5 billion in December 2017.

Market participants said the EOS sale skewed the numbers significantly because of the method of accounting.

Source: Virtual currency sales jump in 2018 – Finance – iTnews