Going through the procedure of getting a bank to approve your business loan seems a bit archaic in the time of our current digital revolution. Startups would have to rely on the centralized, and often exclusive, process of interacting with financial institutions, including mounds of paperwork, just to get possible approval. This is where ICOs come in.

The increasingly lucrative crypto industry just continues to grow, with 2017 seemingly its best year yet. At the time of writing, there were 1,373 different types of crypto coins circulating with a combine market cap of over $620 billion. These are impressive numbers, and a clear drawcard for business hoping to break into the industry.

ICO numbers, and growth, are nothing to laugh at either. The year 2015 saw three ICO projects raise a collective $6 million. The following year saw quite the increase, with 29 ICOs raising $90.2 million. Things were quiet until March this year, and then it got interesting. According to ICOData, as at December, a total of 752 ICOs were launched, raising a combined total of $5.3 billion. This month alone saw approximately $1 billion raised.

Hacked reported on the top 10 ICOs, ranked by funds raised, for this year:

Rank Project Funds raised
1 HDAC $258 million
2 Tezos $230.5 million
3 Filecoin $205.8 million
4 Bancor $153 million
5 Polkadot $144.4 million
6 Status $107.6 million
7 Comsa $95.3 million
8 QASH $86.5 million
9 TenX $83.1 million
10 TRON $67.7 million
As with most things crypto related, investors are hoping for some sort of framework with regard to ICO structure. This is for a number of reasons, one of them being the level of regulation offered by each offering. If a token is classified as a security, it will be monitored by regulatory bodies. However, if a token is listed as a utility, there is no need for any, or very little, type of regulation. It is important to remember that with little regulation, comes a risk of fraudulent activity.

As the industry grows, so does the allure of ICOs and startups hoping to capitalize on digital currencies. Also, cryptocurrencies are no longer just relegated to the dark corner of the room anymore. With the introduction of Bitcoin futures, and with Bitcoin-based ETFs on the horizon, mainstream integration is just a few clicks away.

However, the growth of the industry seems to running in tandem with efforts of regulators hoping to implement a framework on how to deal with the crypto revolution, and the ICOs that go along with it.