New research by Ernst & Young estimates that up to $400 million raised from ICOs has been stolen or lost. The missing funds represent more than 10% of the total amount collected by ICOs involved in the research.

Ernst & Young studied 370 ICOs from around the globe and tracked the funds raised, finding that while $3.7 billion was raised, over a tenth of it has gone missing. The cause of the loses is believed to be hackers, who phish for users passwords on fake ICOs set up by people who make a quick exit once funds start to arrive.

In the report, Ernst & Young also highlights other risks associated with ICOs such as misvalued tokens, congested networks and unclear regulation. Since cryptocurrencies have hit the big time, the fear that they will miss out can drive up the valuations of tokens, in a way which isn\'t connected to the rest of the market.

Those who invested in the ICOs which lasted the shortest amount of time were found to be contributing funds at around $300,000 per second. However, in spite of this fact, ICOs are finding it increasingly difficult to meet their funding targets. In June 2017, 90% of ICOs met their targets. By November 2017, this had failed to just 45%.