An Overview of Cryptocurrency-based Crowdfunding for Startups

Compared to established firms, startups face more financing problems. Appropriate fundraising is a major challenge in the process of launching ventures. Entrepreneurial finance is focused on foreign investments through shares by investors such as angel investors and venture capitals. However, due to the challenges of these financing methods, enabling entrepreneurs to access new funding opportunities is needed. Due to low costs and quick funding, financial crowdsourcing proves to be one of the most important resources in this regard. Blockchain has numerous applications, among which bitcoin is one example. Using value tokenization through smart contracts, blockchain technology can store any value or asset in the form of a token. Crowdfunding via token offering or initial coin offering is an innovative funding method where startups may raise fund by offering tokens. Therefore, this study addressed modern entrepreneurial financing methods through a systematic review of the literature. After the screening, 67 papers were selected. Once data were analyzed, we comprehensively reviewed cryptocurrency-based crowdfunding and designed our roadmap on the basis of this innovative method. Finally, the study examined the existing gaps and the challenges before entrepreneurs who intend to apply this funding method