Blockchain player Bancor raises $153m in largest initial coin offer to date

13 Jun 2017

Image: Zapp2Photo/Shutterstock

Initial coin offering by Bancor sets a new industry record.

The Bancor token project has raised approximately $153m in an initial coin offering in ether, the native currency on the Ethereum blockchain.

The funding is understood to have just about surpassed the previous record, which was The DAO in 2016 at $152m.

In a crowd sale that concluded yesterday (12 June), more than 390,000 was collected in tokens, valued at $152.3m in current prices.

In total, more than 79m Bancor network tokens (BNTs) were created and 50pc were sold to the public, while the remaining 50pc were allocated for future use, according to CoinDesk.

In a white paper outlining its goals, Bancor explained that 50pc of BNTs will be issued to the contributors in the fundraiser; 20pc allocated to partnerships, community grants and public bounties; 20pc to the foundation’s long-term operating budget; and 10pc to founders, team members, advisers and early contributors.

Crytocurrency frenzy

Launched in 2017 by the Bprotocol Foundation, Bancor is a platform to make it easier for users to launch their own blockchain tokens.

The Bancor sale was backed by Blockchain Capital, an investment firm focused on blockchain start-ups.

One of the investors understood to have taken part in the crowd sale is celebrated Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper of VC fund Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Draper is understood to be keeping a keen eye on cryptocurrency, having invested in a number of bitcoin start-ups. In 2014, he acquired 30,000 bitcoin as part of a US government auction.

Prices for Ethereum currency surged to record levels this week of $407.10, a 5,000pc increase since January, when Ethereum was trading at $7.98.

This comes after bitcoin traded above $3,000 for the first time on Sunday (11 June).

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com