A Theory on Pre-ICO Venture Capital Involvement

Abstract

We study the trade-off venture capitalists encounter in a financing framework under moral hazard. The venture capitalist has the option to supply funds either within a revenue-sharing contract or via equity but faces a hidden effort problem. While projects with a low degree of moral hazard yield higher returns to the venture capitalist when financed by equity, revenue-sharing contracts become superior as moral hazard increases. At high moral hazard levels, revenue sharing becomes the sole financing option and hence can raise welfare. We apply our model in the context of initial coin offerings as a modern form of revenue sharing.