What did Silicon Valley's crypto bubble create? 1 Jan, 2021 04:00 AM 6 minutes to read Crypto projects could include large-scale data storage, use of blockchain to ensure better contracts and payment for artists and new digital financial products. Photo / Getty Images Financial Times By: Richard Waters in San Francisco Three years ago, when the blockchain start-up Filecoin raised $257m with nothing more than a promise to build a decentralised marketplace for data storage, it looked like another example of the mania that was sweeping through the cryptocurrency world. At the time, investors were pouring an estimated $20bn into so-called Initial Coin Offerings — sales of new digital tokens by projects which, like Filecoin, claimed to be building important new digital infrastructure. Many have since sunk without a trace, and ICOs quickly went out of fashion.