Research by TrustNodes indicates that Initial Coin Offering (ICO) projects sold 160,000 Ethereum tokens valued at $33 million in the past 10 days.
For its study, TrustNodes used data from data provider Santiment which tracks the movement of ETH from addresses known to belong to ICOs.
The ETH Sell-Off Intensifies
Put in perspective, the amount of ETH sold by ICOs is more than three times the entire amount that was sold in August.
Research results which was published on Thursday show that ICOs sold an average of 1,000 to 5,000 ETH daily in August compared to over $10,000 in September.
Data showed a huge sell-off of $82,000 on September 4, just before a major dip in cryptocurrency markets.
| Name | Price | 24H % |
|---|---|---|
 | $0.00 | -2.08% |
The current dip in ETH prices has been blamed on these huge sell-offs by ICO projects which raised funds on the Ethereum Network.
Trustnodes pointed to Digix ICO project as a prominent culprit. According to Santiment data, the project sold half of its entire ETH holdings including a single sell order of 54,000 ETH on Gemini exchange.
Before the sale, it had about $150 million worth of ETH which was significantly higher than the current total market capitalization of its DigixDAO coin.
Alternatives to Huge ETH Sell-Offs
TrustNodes called for better professional funds management to avoid market hysteria that worsens the market. It suggested spreading sale over several months or take out loans using it native token or the ETH as collateral to fund their projects.
These measures, Trustnodes noted, will benefit both the ICO projects and the entire crypto market as it will help prevent market slumps. In the case of Digix, the value of its DigixDAO dropped to about half its market cap (now at $68 million), following its selloff.
Solomon Sunny is the market reporter for Smartereum, one of the global leaders in Ethereum, blockchain and currency news. He produces technical price updates on digital currencies and writes recent developments about blockchain.
