When Was the First ICO Held?

Back in 2017, ICOs raised over $5.6 billion, turning crypto fundraising into one of the biggest financial experiments of the decade. It started as a daring leap of faith, where early believers backed ideas with nothing but tokens and trust, cutting out banks and venture capitalists. It also reshaped how you invest, how projects launch, and how regulations are born.

In this article, we’ll look at when the First initial Coin Offering was held, where it all started, and how that moment forever changed blockchain funding.

When was the First Initial Coin Offering Held?

The first ICO took place in 2013, when a project called Mastercoin (later renamed Omni Layer) launched what many now call the first token sales or first initial coin offering. Mastercoin was built as a protocol on top of Bitcoin. J.R. Willett developed it to let people create new tokens and smart contracts on the Bitcoin network, something that didn’t exist back then.

The public sale ran from July to August 2013, during which supporters sent Bitcoin to a public wallet address, and tokens were issued manually in return. In total, it raised around 5,000 BTC, worth about $500,000 at the time. It was a huge milestone for a new fundraising idea. Each token was priced at 100 Mastercoin per 1 BTC. The sale didn’t have a formal hard cap, which was typical for early experiments like this.

How Mastercoin  Sale Performed ?

Mastercoin was built and launched on the Bitcoin network, and the funds raised were used to develop the protocol, support community projects, and reward developers building on top of it. This token sale was groundbreaking because it proved that blockchain projects could raise money from the community without relying on banks or venture capital. People backed ideas with tokens, trust, and a shared belief in what the technology could become. However, after its public token sale, it never achieved huge growth numbers like Ethereum did. The adoption of the platform was limited, and over time, it slowed down. Then it was rebranded as Omni Layer. This focused on building on top of the Bitcoin blockchain rather than an independent blockchain network. One could say it showed the risks and lessons of early token launches.

Conclusion

This article has given you a closer look at how public sales started and how they shaped the way blockchain projects raise funds. Understanding the first initial coin offering helps you see why early community support matters and how token models influence project growth. As Web3 moves into presales, IEOs, IDOs, and launchpads, remember that strong ideas, clear plans, and active communities still make the difference between projects that thrive and those that fade away.