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Crypto ICO Funding Dropped in September to Lowest in 17 Months

Crypto ICO Funding Dropped in September to Lowest in 17 Months

(Bloomberg) -- The initial coin offering boom is slowing to a whimper.

Startups raised less than $300 million in September, the smallest amount since May 2017, according to data complied by Autonomous Research. That’s down 90 percent from the peak amount of about $3 billion accumulated through digital-token sales in January.

Crypto ICO Funding Dropped in September to Lowest in 17 Months

The slowdown follows comments from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that most of the coins are securities, which means issuers must register and comply with federal laws.

The decline could also be due in part to savvy investors increasingly showing interest in buying equity instead of tokens in startups, Autonomous said. Some projects may also be gearing up to issue so-called security tokens, which are at least expected to be more compliant with existing regulations.

To contact the reporter on this story: Olga Kharif in Portland at okharif@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Dave Liedtka, Andrew Dunn

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