Reports 350 items
Special Report: GBBC - Utility Tokens and ERC-20 ICOs: Where are we now? (gbbcouncil.org)


Special Report

Published 14 May 2020

GBBC Open-Source Ideas:

Special Report
Utility Tokens and ERC-20 ICOs:

Where are we now?

in research collaboration
with select GBBC members


*
14 May 2020
Geneva, Switzerland


Utility Tokens: Do they have any utility? 


A utility token gives the owner cryptographically secured rights to use a particular software, network, or platform and the ability to redeem the token for a currency or good. Utility tokens can also be used as an escrow bond to encourage certain behavior. 


While terminology and distinctions are not widely agreed upon in the blockchain and crypto community, tokens are generally said to fall into three groups: native tokens (used to secure the protocol), utility tokens, and tokenized securities/equity tokens. 


The most common utility tokens are those built upon the ERC-20 Ethereum standard, which was first used to develop smart contract functionality and inspired the proliferation of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs).  


i. 


Utility tokens have a wide variety of applications. One example of a utility token’s functionality is similar to that of a tradable gift card or pre-sold software license. 


Notably, while utility tokens can be used on an application to engage in transactions and earn rewards, they are not fundamentally intended to be relied on as a passive investment vehicle. Since 2017, there have been more than 5,500 ICOs. 


ii.


 These projects have come under intense scrutiny, with some estimating that up to 80 percent of ICOs were scams.


iii.


More recently, research published in the Journal of the British Blockchain Association (JBBA), examined this assertion and discovered that the magnitude of ICO scams was dramatically lower than initially reported, and instead estimated the figure to be 2.2 percent. 


iv.


 Rather than fraud, the high failure rate for these firms was attributable to their early stage, the speculative nature of new technologies, v as well as the cryptocurrency crash of 2018, in which tokens lost 80 percent of their value.


vi.


Appendix 1 of this report profiles seventeen token projects to illustrate the numerous functional examples of firms and projects that are building and making significant progress....


Download the full report here: 


Download the Full Report Here: 
https://gbbcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/GBBC-Open-Source-Ideas-Special-Report-Utility-Tokens-and-ERC-20-ICOS.pdf
    • 1
    Francisco Gimeno - BC Analyst Good reading here. This report on Utility tokens, ICOs' scams, the stories and the history, and the steep learning process, teaches us that not only there is a future for the 4th IR techs, but there is already a present, with start ups, and institutions already working on blockchain and token solutions which are more useful, more interconnected and easier to use.