Ex-ante uncertainty as a determinant of Initial Coin Offering underpricing

This thesis examines the influence of ex-ante uncertainty determinants on the underpricing of Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in a hand collected sample in 2017-2018. The proxies used for ex-ante uncertainty are adapted from the models of IPO underpricing, specifically Beatty and Ritter (1986). ICOs differ from IPOs in numerous ways and this research utilizes an established model for IPO underpricing for ICOs. The proxies used are issue size, whitepaper pages and project age. The results suggest that ICOs, on average, are underpriced and that underpricing is greater if ex-ante uncertainty is greater.