The high degree of asymmetric information in initial coin offerings (ICOs) increases the probability of moral hazard, adverse selection, and outright fraud. Token governance mechanisms may help mitigate such investment risks. Using novel data on token retention in the primary market and resale restrictions in the secondary market, we estimate the impact of these governance mechanisms on the fundraising success and post-funding performance of ICOs. First, we estimate the valuation elasticity of token retention, indicating that 10% fewer tokens sold increases the ICO funding amount by 3.2%. Second, restricting ICO investors’ ability to resell tokens in the secondary market has a detrimental impact on the 12-month buy-and-hold abnormal return. We also discuss contingency effects of the specific implementations of these governance signals and show that the effects are moderated by the quality of the venture’s human capital.

首次代币发行 (ICO) 中的高度不对称信息增加了道德风险、逆向选择和彻底欺诈的可能性。代币治理机制可能有助于减轻此类投资风险。利用有关一级市场代币保留和二级市场转售限制的新数据，我们估计了这些治理机制对 ICO 筹款成功和融资后绩效的影响。首先，我们估计了代币保留的估值弹性，表明代币销售量减少 10%，ICO 融资金额就会增加 3.2%。其次，限制ICO投资者在二级市场转售代币的能力对12个月买入并持有超额收益产生不利影响。我们还讨论了这些治理信号具体实施的应急效应，并表明这种效应受到企业人力资本质量的调节。