Investors have continued to pour money into cryptocurrency startups this year through a controversial fundraising method despite a regulatory crackdown that threatened to stifle the nascent market.

Initial coin offerings raised $11.8bn this year through May, more than double the $5.5bn such offerings raised in all of 2017, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of nearly 900 offerings listed on ICOBench.com. Fundraising amounts are not independently verified, and monthly figures are compiled based on the date each offering ended.