Initial exchange offerings (IEOs), which were heralded as the replacement for initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2019 have faired abysmally, with the majority losing investors 80% or more. 

According to a new report by the research division of crypto exchange BitMEX, IEOs across the board have seen a significant decline in price since the beginning of the year. An original report in May 2019 detailed twelve projects launched as IEOs and evaluated their performance throughout the year:

Back in May 2019, we covered what was a relatively new phenomenon at the time, Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs). We cynically indicated that IEOs seemed to be an attempt to convert the “C” in ICOs into a new letter, “E“, in order to avoid the reputation for poor investment returns associated with ICOs.

The BitMEX report found that despite the appreciating value for bitcoin since May 2019, which at one point climbed as high as $13,000, eleven of the twelve projects have significantly declined in value. Only Matic, a Binance IEO, has managed an increase in value, with most of the projects losing more than 80% in value and four projects losing more than 90%. 

Despite IEO buy-in prices normally being lower than the initial trading price on exchanges, only four of the eleven have managed to generate a positive return on investment since launching.

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