Photo Credit SaTT
Digital image of bull SaTT

If you asked many crypto enthusiasts and financial gurus, they would tell you that Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are dead. ICOs were the tool of choice for companies in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space looking to raise funds a few years ago, especially around 2017 when cryptos were at their highest price point. That period has been described as a crypto wild west that was plagued by fraudulent offerings, governmental bodies having to get involved, and poorly-run funding rounds. Since then, it has been suggested that ICOs have died off, just around Bitcoin’s first major bear run.

However, it seems this might not be the case. SaTT, a company that uses cryptocurrency to monetize social media accounts, has successfully raised $1 million in 48 hours of its ICO launch.

Mammoth Funds Raised in 48 Hours

While the project recently saw an explosion of growth, the ICO first launched in 2018 which was a low point in cryptocurrency in terms of price. Despite this, it stayed at the top of ICOBench’s rankings for over six months. Even now, the sales of the project’s tokens continue to remain steady, even though it is 24 days away from its official listing.

Gauthier Bros, CEO of Atayen, SaTT’s parent company, has spoken publicly about the recent happenings.

"We are proud of the support of our community, who, despite the difficulties in the market, saw in the team the potential to realize the first cryptocurrency solution for functional advertising. This sudden financial success will accompany our determination to make SaTT, the 3.0 advertising solution,” he said.

SaTT’s Business Model

SaTT has one of the most interesting business models within the cryptocurrency and blockchains sector. It allows influencers and micro-influencers to monetize their various social media accounts by way of smart contracts. The remuneration is based on the performance of their content. This means audience engagements such as likes, views, and comments which are tracked by the project’s blockchain. It also features a built-in wallet that allows for easy storage of tokens and makes the process easier even for those less-experienced with cryptocurrency and blockchain.

Atayen, the parent company behind SaTT, has significant experience within the tech field spanning several years. In the past, they have developed 9 different Facebook applications. They have also worked with companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Netflix. The company has been in existence since 2011 and has a userbase of over 1 million. In terms of consulting, the project benefits from the expertise of Richard Wang (from the Dragon Draper Digital investment fund), Quentin Herbrecht, a blockchain consultant at the European Commission and founder of Markchain, (the marketing firm that support the project) and Eric Alexandre, the founder of JetCoin.

The End of the Bull Run, Few years back

While this victory on the part of SaTT is remarkable in itself, it does have larger implications for the cryptocurrency price and industry as a whole. Back in 2017 or 2018, it was not very unusual for a crypto-related company to raise millions of dollars through an ICO. That period of time saw billions of dollars being raised, with $4.9 billion in 2017 across 850 ICO projects and another $6.3 billion being raised in 2018 from over 1,100 ICO projects. The wild west had been in full swing but soon ended, with a 95% drop in ICO participation and only $371 million raised in 2019. The reasons for this include poor management of ICOs, the prevalence of scams, and the decline of the crypto price.

Needless to say, a company raising such an amount of money in such a quick time is not a common occurrence in 2020. To properly understand the implications for the cryptocurrency price, it is important to explore the price landscape back in 2017 and 2018. Bitcoin, around that time, was worth around $20,000 per token and as a result of the money to potentially be made in the market, many new entrants could be found. This meant not only people buying cryptocurrencies but people buying into ICOs in the hopes of getting a piece of the next big thing.

As time has come to show, however, most of these projects were not the next big thing in crypto. In fact, 80% of them have been dubbed scams in hindsight. This level of fraud, coupled with the decline in cryptocurrency price, led many to sell and exit the market. In the aftermath of the ICO wild west, a new crop of tokens and projects have sprung up in a market that is more mature and organized for investors. The market is also more regulated as bodies like the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States have put more laws in place and are better at prosecuting fraudulent ICOs after doing so for years in wake of the Wild West.

This has two major implications; first, any company holding a successful ICO in 2020 is likely a quality project as it is much harder to get away with scam projects now than it was in 2017 or 2018. Furthermore, this success could indicate a return of investors to the market and a potential bull run. Bull runs are often triggered by an increase in investor spending in the market and this is certainly a sign in this regard.

Conclusion

SaTT’s recent success defies expectations of ICOs in 2020 and also offers hope for the future of the cryptocurrency market. Furthermore, it shows that ICOs might very well be making a comeback, better, and more organized than before.