Performance of Initial Coin Offerings, before and during COVID-19: A comperative analysis of [CO performance before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The research carried out in this thesis looks at the performance of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. ICOs listed before and after COVID-19 pandemic were collected and later compared to find significant differences. Collected ICO information were used to estimate a multivariate regression model to examine how different independent variables -funding predictors, raised capital and industry categorycontribute to ICOs' initial return. Findings were then compared between ICOs listed before the pandemic with ICOs listed after the pandemic. We find that ICOs listed before the pandemic had significantly less initial return for investors compared to ICOs listed after the pandemic. Additionally, after comparing the long-term post ICO returns, our results indicate that the post ICO performance/long-term holding period returns were significantly more positive for ICOs listed and traded after pandemic.