More than a third of all ICOs – 40% – are based in the European Union (EU), according to the analysis by venture capital firm Atomico titled “The State of European Tech,” CoinDesk reported.
The study, which cited data collected by Token Data, a startup that tracks ICOs, says startups in Europe raised more capital through initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the last three years than any other region on the planet.
The 446 transactions raised $1.76 billion, nearly half (46%) of the worldwide total from token sales. The second biggest region for this activity was North America, with 244 campaigns raising $1.076 billion.
The report suggests EU might become the global leader in cryptocurrency and blockchain development over the next five years. An increasing number of startups on the continent focus exclusively on blockchain development, accounting for a much higher share of companies founded in 2016 than in 2012.
The report found that roughly 25% of ICOs had some sort of decentralized team, where the company launching a campaign was headquartered in a different location than the founder or chief executive.
Ricky Tan of Token Data said he expects this figure to increase in the coming years.
In the report, he said: “We see a pattern of geographical diversity between ICO founding teams and also within the teams themselves. If the future of business ideas lies in decentralisation, then decentralised founding teams will be a key aspect of it.”