Global STO Study 2019

• BlockState conducted a study investigating the adoption of Security Tokenisation around the globe.
• STO adoption is growing rapidly, the development however is still focussed on a few jurisdictions and industries.

Berlin/Zug, 04 July 2019 – BlockState, the Swiss Security Tokenisation platform, conducted a study investigating the adoption of Security Tokenisation around the globe. The results confirm what many voices have projected: Security Tokenisation is on the rise and is pushing blockchain powered fundraising to a new level of maturity, with 64 successfully completed STOs.

Tokenisation has often been hailed as the solution to all the problems related to ICOs and utility tokens, however, one has to keep in mind that the market is still maturing, Paul Claudius, co-founder and CEO of BlockState says:It is really exciting to see that major financial players like solarisBank or the Swiss stock exchange are building solutions to integrate this technology into the existing market infrastructure. At the same time, an increased demand for token-based fundraising can be observed among issuers and investors.

In the study, more than 120 concluded, running or planned STOs were analysed. The researchers looked at factors such as types of assets tokenised, industries, success rate and geographical distribution in order to gain a meaningful overview of the current state of development and the adoption of this new fundraising technology. The results largely confirm the predictions of Security Token enthusiasts: The technology is being adopted at a staggering rate, largely driven by FinTech projects, but gradually spilling over into other industries.

Although the total number of STOs has skyrocketed from 5 in 2017 to an estimated 83 in 2019, the huge potential of Security Tokenisation is yet to be unlocked. When looking at the total volume of IPOs, ICOs and STOs combined, it becomes clear that STOs make up less than 1% of all offerings in 2019. Considering the numerous advantages of STOs for both investors and issuers, it is safe to assume that Security Tokenisation will continue to grow steeply in the coming years. This is further confirmed by the projection that 83 STOs in 2019 almost match 981 ICOs in terms of total volume, suggesting that STOs already represent mature and serious competition for traditional IPOs.

Here is a selection of the main findings:

• Adoption is driven by five jurisdictions: USA, Switzerland, Germany, UK and Estonia together represent 75% of all issuances.
• STOs are growing rapidly in volume and number: While in 2017 only 5 STOs with a total issuance volume of $65.59 million took place, 2018 saw 35 STOs with a total volume of $434.95 million.
• Equity is the most common asset class: By far the largest part of finished issuances was conducted for company equity, as 46 equity tokens were issued with a total volume of $622.9 million. The runner up were asset-backed securities, with 12 tokens issued for a total volume of $118.11 million.
• The market is dominated by the financial sector: With 77% of all STO funds raised, the financial sector is the clear leader followed by real estate with 11%.

Go to the Global STO Study:

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