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Public Crypto Token Sales Hit a Five-Year Low

Public token sales fell to their lowest level in five years in Q2 2026. What does this drop say about the funding market for new tokens?

By Zenz van der Wielen
• 2 min read
Public Crypto Token Sales Hit a Five-Year Low

Key Takeaways

  • Public token sales raised just $58 million in Q2 2026, the lowest level in five years.
  • The number of completed sales fell from 105 to 37, with May the quietest month since late 2020.
  • IDOs remained the dominant format in 2026, making up nearly 69 percent of public fundraising.

Public token sales in the crypto market fell to their lowest level in five years in the second quarter of 2026. According to CryptoRank data, just $58 million (€50.3 million) was raised during this period through Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs), Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), and Initial DEX Offerings (IDOs). That marks a sharp 85 percent drop from the previous quarter.

Declining Activity in Public Token Sales

The number of completed public token sales also dropped sharply, from 105 in the first quarter to just 37 in the second quarter, a decline of 65 percent. May was especially quiet, with only 13 completed sales, the lowest monthly total since late 2020. This points to a clear slowdown in interest and in the amount of capital being raised through public channels.

Comparison With Previous Years and Trends

The downtrend looks even clearer when Q2 2026 is compared with previous years. In Q2 2025, $135 million (€117 million) was raised, and in Q2 2024, that figure was $375 million (€325 million). That means declines of 57 percent and 85 percent, respectively, compared with those periods. The number of token sales over that same stretch fell from 576 in 2024 and 255 in 2025 to just 37 in 2026.

Even with this pullback, IDOs remain the dominant format for public fundraising in 2026, accounting for nearly 69 percent of sales. IEOs and ICOs make up 20 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively. Since the start of 2024, more than $4 billion (€3.5 billion) has been raised through more than 3,000 public token sales.

The sharp drop in public token sales lines up with a broader trend of weaker crypto fundraising. That points to a tough market for new tokens, with many recently launched tokens trading below their initial valuation. At the same time, traditional financial institutions are becoming more active in the crypto industry, which creates an interesting contrast with the caution we are seeing in public token sale activity.

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