Issues with ICOs and blockchain projects
The ICO market is going through growing pains. As a global, mostly unregulated market, there are numerous issues and challenges that do not exist with traditional fundraising. There have been a number of criticisms of ICO projects.
Proof of product-market fit and traction
In more traditional VC-backed or bootstrapped projects, it would be necessary for a project to show value through some form of traction. Typically, this would involve having customers, revenue, and growth, if not profitability. However, with ICOs, the money is raised before most projects launch or show an MVP. In many cases, there is no proof of the team's ability to deliver whatsoever. Because of this, it is impossible for ICO buyers to be sure that the project will address a real problem in the market successfully.
The result of all these weak projects is a high rate of failure. A survey from bitcoin.com found that almost half of all projects had already failed, ceased operations...