2017 was the golden era of token sales, with cryptocurrency projects routinely raising tens of millions of dollars as investors were frantically searching for “the next Bitcoin”. The market was clearly overheated, and ICOs saw a sharp decline in 2018, both in terms of the number of projects and the amount of money raised, as prices of top cryptocurrencies were subjected to harsh price corrections.

In 2019, we’ve seen the emergence of the IEO model, which has brought some life back to the token sale space. However, IEO projects generally stick to much more conservative funding targets than what we grew accustomed to in the 2017 ICO boom.

With that context in mind, let’s take a look at the 5 biggest token sales in history and briefly describe the situation of each project.

1. EOS (over $4 billion)

EOS was the mother of all ICOs, raising over $4 billion in its year-long token sale which lasted from June 26, 2017 to June 1, 2018. The EOS mainnet launched on June 9, 2018.

EOS is a blockchain platform for smart contracts and decentralized applications that is based on a delegated proof-of-stake (DpoS) model. EOS holders stake their tokens to vote for validators, which in turn take care of the network’s consensus process.

So far, gaming and gambling are the most popular use cases for EOS, dominating the list of the most popular EOS DApps maintained by DappRadar.com. We can also find decentralized exchanges and various other DApps such as apps for chatting or receiving compensation for participating surveys.

Block.one, the firm that created the EOS.IO protocol, is currently working on a social media platform called Voice, which will function on top of EOS. In June, Block.one CEO Brandon Blumer said the company invested $150 million into the project.

EOS is currently the 7th largest crypto asset on the market, with a market capitalization of $2.65 billion. The token is changing hands at $2.85, and lost 52% of its value in the last year.

2. Telegram Open Network ($1.7 billion)

When rumors started circulating that Telegram was thinking about developing a blockchain network, the entire cryptocurrency space listend. After all, the messaging app is highly popular among cryptocurrency enthusiasts, with Telegram groups being at the core of many communities.

While there were many scammers claiming to give people the opportunity to participate in Telegram’s ICO, Telegram actually only offered the tokens to accredited investors on an invite-only basis. This hardly had an impact on the project’s ability to raise money, as investors poured in a whopping $1.7 billion.

The Telegram Open Network (TON) is not actually live yet, although the project is reportedly expected to go live with its mainnet before October 31. Telegram plans to integrate TON with its messaging application, which has over 200 million active users.

3. Unus Sed Leo ($1 billion)

The stunning success of Binance and its BNB token enticed countless exchanges to offer their own tokens, bringing special benefits to traders. While Bitfinex has been in the game for much longer than Binance, the exchange found itself in trouble when it could no longer access funds held on its behalf by a payment processing company called Crypto Capital. According to the New York Attorney General’s office, Bitfinex lost access to $850 million.

In response, Bitfinex decided to launch a token called Unus Sed Leo, offering 1 billion tokens at a price of 1 USDT apiece. The token sale was not open to the public, although anyone can now trade the LEO token on supported exchanges.

The ultimate goal for the LEO token is for all the tokens in circulation to be bought back by Bitfinex and burned. Bitfinex uses at least 27% of its monthly revenues for this purpose, and also says it will use a large portion of any funds recovered from Crypto Capital or from the 2016 Bitfinex hack for the same purpose.

LEO is currently the 11th largest cryptocurrency, and retains a market cap of $1.03 billion. The token is currently trading at $1.03, but reached an all-time high at $2 on June 26.

4. TaTaTu ($575 million)

The strange name is not the only curious thing about the TaTaTu project. It was founded by Andrea Iervolino, an Italian film producer, and the company says that it raised $575 million in a 2018 sale of TTU tokens. The private sale reportedly included royalty and venture capital firms.

TaTaTu is perhaps best described as a variant of Netflix that uses the TTU token to incentivize both content producers and viewers. TTU tokens can be used to buy advertising or buy products in an online store.

However, it seems that TaTaTu does not have major plans connected to blockchain technology. As part of a CoinDesk report from June, the publication asked TaTaTu if it was a blockchain company. The firm responded:

“Not at all. We have one blockchain component in our system.”

According to the report, the project’s pivot away from blockchain has caused conflicts with the project’s early backers and co-founders, who feel that TaTaTu’s current direction does not adhere to the project’s original vision.

5. Filecoin ($257 million)

Filecoin raised $257 million through selling future rights to FIL tokens in 2017. The project is creating a decentralized network that allows users to rent out excess storage and receive tokens in return.

Despite the huge token sale, Filecoin is not live yet. However, the team has recently announced estimated dates for the launch of both the Filecoin testnet and mainnet. If everything goes according to plan, we can expect the Filecoin testnet in December of 2019 and the mainnet in March of 2020.