As the global economic paradigm has shifted toward a more crypto-aligned future, the way in which token sales are conducted has evolved significantly, especially when compared to the wild west days of 2017 where Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) reigned supreme.
To put things into context, within a span of just twelve months, startups were able to raise a whopping $33.4 billion within a year (and $50 billion to date). However, as many may already know, a vast majority of these fundraisers either proved to be unsustainable or fraudulent, with analysts estimating that over 80% of them were scams.
In response, major exchanges introduced the concept of the Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs), where token sales were run via vetted exchange launchpads offering stronger KYC/AML checks as well as overall platform support.
While this model did help restore some of the market’s lost confidence, the scope of these IEOs remained limited with reports revealing that during the entirety of 2024, only 299 IEOs took place. This was, in large part, because these exchange-based sales forcefully tied each project to one ecosystem, often requiring participants to hold that exchange’s token thereby fragmenting the crypto market even more.
The rise of IDOs and decentralized launchpads
Following this apparent lack of adoption for IEO’s, the focus then shifted to Initial DEX Offerings (IDOs) which enabled projects to list tokens directly on various decentralized exchanges (DEX). The impact was dramatic as last year alone, crypto startups were able to raise over $16.1 billion.
In fact, several studies found that IDOs remained the “preferred fundraising method” for early-stage Web3 projects all through 2024, with the avenue accounting for about 66.1% of all public token sales (compared to only 15.5% for IEOs).
Even so, most IDOs were chain-specific such that a token sold on Ethereum required buyers to hold ETH or an ERC-20, while a sale on BNB Chain needed BNB. In other words, participants still needed native assets of that chain to take part. And while some solutions did allay this issue by supporting multiple blockchains over time, each IDO effectively remained siloed to a single network.
This limitation seemed to eventually set the stage for intent-based, cross-chain launchpads that have since redefined crypto fundraising, allowing users to invest across different ecosystems via a single transaction.
The future is already here. A closer look!
From the outside looking in, “intent-based” platforms use protocols (like NEAR Intents) to capture a user’s acquisition aims collectively (for example, “buy X tokens”) and execute them using a single transaction. Calyx has emerged as a leader utilizing this approach, utilizing the NEAR Protocol and harnessing the power of Aurora’s L2 framework.
When employing Calyx, participants simply need to connect their wallets and commit the tokens they already hold. With one signed transaction, the platform takes care of any necessary swaps or bridge steps (spanning 19+ different blockchains).
For project teams, Calyx’s model is a game-changer because rather than deploying and marketing separate token sales on each network, developers can “launch once” and reach multiple ecosystems simultaneously. The beauty is that the token contracts remain the same with Calyx’s infrastructure routing orders and liquidity automatically.
The platform still offers full support (tokenomics advice, KYC/KYB compliance, liquidity tools, etc.), but on the user side it feels like one seamless experience. In short, capital and tokens literally move according to a user’s intent, with no “chain anxiety,” unshackling the concept of fundraising from single-chain constraints and fulfilling the original promise of broad accessibility in a way ICOs and IEOs never could.
In fact, this vision permeating intent-based sales has already garnered immense mainstream traction, with one of Calyx’s first launches being Intellex, a decentralized AI project. Most recently, Intellex CEO Eric Hillerbrand emphasized that their mission is to connect enterprise businesses to NEAR’s decentralized AI network in order to go “beyond the typical buzz” of crypto hype.
D-1 🪷
— Calyx (@Calyxdotxyz) October 7, 2025
🪷 Enterprise-grade, interoperable agents
🪷 Memory you control: portable, auditable, and owned
🪷 Every memory event settles in $ITLX
Are you ready for @intellex_xyz? pic.twitter.com/vblB6CdSH1
Devising a holistic future, one ‘intent’ at a time
By focusing on solving real-world problems rather than chasing headlines, platforms like Calyx seem to be forging an enterprise-friendly vision where the path from ICOs through IDOs has naturally led to today’s intent-driven launchpads. By removing siloed sales and lowering barriers by letting anyone participate with one action, crypto fundraising seems to be progressing in the right direction, one where launching tokens across chains can be as easy as clicking a single button. Interesting times ahead!
