Title: Research on initial coin offerings: a bibliometric analysis

Authors: Wan Mohd Hirwani Wan Hussain; Abu H. Ayob; Alya Geogiana Buja; Rabiah Ahmad

Addresses: Graduate School of Business, National University of Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Economics and Management, National University of Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ' College of Computing, Informatics, and Mathematics, Univesiti Teknologi MARA Melaka, 77300 Merlimau, Melaka, Malaysia ' Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia

Abstract: Advanced business activities today have driven the emergence of new technologies for facilitating complex financial transactions. As such, initial coin offerings (ICOs) have become an alternative for companies and investors in diversifying capital investment. Despite its promising future, little is known on the progress of the academic research on this subject. To shed light, our study reviews a total of 184 publications on ICOs from the Scopus database. The analysis focuses on prominent pattern of leading institutions, impactful research, citation trends, and keyword analysis. From that, this study contributes to improve understanding on a novel yet under-researched niche of ICOs for the benefits of both academics and practitioners.

Keywords: initial coin offerings; ICOs; blockchain; bibliometrics; scopus database; VOSviewer.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTIP.2026.154529

International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, 2026 Vol.14 No.2, pp.135 - 152

Accepted: 30 Aug 2023
Published online: 02 Jul 2026 *

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