| Abstract [eng] |
The initial coin offering (ICO) is often defined as a new, innovative, but still volatile and risky way of attracting funding. ICO, with all its advantages, is increasingly used, but so far little researched, there is a lack of generalized conclusions, methodological guidelines for investors and companies seeking to successfully use ICO for investment or financing, so it is important to study what factors have the greatest impact on its success. The chosen research object is the factors influencing the success of the ICO, while the main goal is to conduct a research of the success factors of the ICO and provide recommendations to investors and companies on what factors should be most considered in order to successfully invest or use ICO for funding. To achieve this goal, the analysis of the scientific problem of ICO application is performed, theoretical solutions for determining and researching ICO success factors are distinguished, research methodology is developed, according to which empirical research is performed and recommendations for ICO market participants are provided. The analysis of the scientific literature has revealed that the impact of most of the characteristics studied on ICO success, such as token sales structure, token characteristics, information disclosure, human capital, social networks, ratings is controversial, some important factors are not yet sufficiently studied, indicating the need for research. Empirical research has shown that the implementation of pre-sale, the use of the Ethereum platform, the number of currencies accepted, the disclosure of the white paper and the use of advisory services do not have a significant impact on ICO success as measured by the amount of funding raised. Meanwhile, the success of the ICO is significantly negatively affected by the offer of bonuses to investors and the duration of the ICO, and significantly positively affected by the size of the token supply, the token price, the number of team members and the ratings on the ICOBench platform. Taking into account the coefficients of the regression equation obtained, the rating provided by the ICOBench portal has the greatest significant impact on the success of the ICO from the analyzed factors, while the impact of all other significant variables is smaller and quite similar. After evaluating the results of the study, ICO market participants should take into account the identified key factors of ICO success and their impact on ICO results, which can facilitate ICO implementation or investment decisions, increasing the likelihood of successful fundraising or investment. Nevertheless, in order to validate the link between ICO success and its determinants, more further research is needed, including more independent variables, choosing other definitions of ICO success, using a larger sample of research, or a greater variety of databases to obtain statistical information. |
