Understanding token-based ecosystems – a taxonomy of blockchain-based business models of start-ups

Start-ups in the blockchain context generate millions by means of initial coin offerings (ICOs). Many of these crowdfunding endeavours are very successful, others are not. However, despite the increasing investments in ICOs, there is still neither sufficient theoretical knowledge nor a comprehensive understanding of the different types of business models and the implications for these token-based ecosystems. Scientific research equally lacks a thorough understanding of the different business model forms and their influence on collaboration in token-based economies. We bridge this gap by presenting a taxonomy of real-world blockchain-based start-ups. For this taxonomy, we used 195 start-ups and performed a cluster-analysis in order to identify three different archetypes and thus gain a deeper understanding. Our taxonomy and the archetypes can equally be seen as strategic guidance for practitioners as well as a starting point for future research concerning the token-based business models.