Central and Eastern Europe Accounts for 20% of Global ICO Market

East-West Digital News and ICObench have just released research on ICO activity in
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) – a region that includes Russia and more than 20 other countries.

This region boasts an impressive record on the global ICO scene. Analyzing some 237 ICOs and pre-ICOs with roots in CEE conducted last year, the study found that these ICOs accounted for approximately:
– 17% of the number of the operations held worldwide during the same period;
– 22% of the funds raised globally (at least $1.28 billion in 2017).

By comparison, Central and Eastern Europe accounts for less than 1% of the global venture market.
Of the 237 ICOs and pre-ICOs of 2017, 130 came from Russia, making this country by far the regional leader.

Next comes Estonia (22 identified operations), then Slovenia and Ukraine (22 and 13, respectively).
The amounts raised in ICOs or pre-ICOs last year varied from $741 to $70.6 million (average amount: $4.9 million). Many CEE companies having conducted ICOs or pre-ICOs in 2017 focus on cryptocurrencies (19 identified cases), business services (18 cases), investment (13 cases) and entertainment (9 cases).

Eastern Europe and Russia represent the second largest community in the world (after the USA) contributing to the blockchain technology, and the third largest bitcoin mining pool. As part of this landscape, the report highlights a variety of blockchain and cryptocurrency initiatives which made
the news recently.

These include:
– Estonia’s and Russia’s plans to develop national cryptocurrencies.
– Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko’s decision to liberalize cryptocurrency mining and ICOs in late 2017.
– The use of cryptocurrency and blockchain by Russian giants Aeroflot, Mail.Ru, Megafon and others
– Russian Miner Coin’s plans to create a new-generation cryptocurrency mining system that will help Russia compete with China.

The report also features a selection of startup projects from the region. Among them are a “Digital Land” a Russian startup that aims to deploy across the world (Arcona); blockchain platforms intended to make online gaming (Playkey) and VR content creation (VRT World) accessible to all; an AI-enhanced ad network that accepts crypto-payments (AB-Chain); a token designed to be “as good as gold” in order to tackle cryptocurrency volatility, (Goldmint); the project of a 19 year old Russian tech genius who wants to “make the web decentralized again” (DeNet), and several others.

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