Jon Abrahams, Managing Director Digital Businesses, Rovva
Since the founding of Bitcoin in 2009, the crypto world has been seriously big business. The cryptocurrency market itself has grown from nothing to a value of more than $2.5 trillion (£1.9 trillion). But which countries are leading the way, who are the true innovators in the space and which are the biggest companies? Using data from Crunchbase, here is a current analysis of the crypto world in numbers.
The World Map of Cryptocurrency
The US is, by far, the hottest hub for innovation when we look at crypto businesses across the globe. The country is home to more than 1,200 firms working in the crypto space – that’s over 45% of the total companies tracked in Crunchbase’s data. With nearly 350 companies, the UK sits in second place, followed by Singapore, Canada, and then India.
However, if we are to break the figures down per capita, Singapore comes out on top, with around 34 companies per million inhabitants compared to just five per million in the UK and four per million in the US.
Although the United States has the highest actual number of crypto companies, the global capital for the market isn’t found here. In fact, London tops the list of crypto cities with 289 firms, followed by city-state Singapore with 197 (the UK capital is only just behind Singapore in the per capita figures, with 32 firms per million inhabitants). This aside there are four US cities that are all included in the top ten, these are San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
The Most Funded Cryptocurrency Firms
In terms of funding, the US is the world leader, with nearly $18.7 billion (just under £14 billion) invested in crypto firms since Bitcoin was first founded. Some distance behind is the UK at number two, with nearly $1.9 billion (£1.4 billion) invested, followed by France and Canada, each home to cryptocurrency firms worth more than a billion dollars.
The distribution of crypto funding is highly concentrated in certain locations. More than a fifth of investment is in firms based in Menlo Park, Silicon Valley, and more than half went to companies based in just five cities – Menlo Park, New York, San Francisco, London, and Paris.
However, the location of the world’s highest value crypto firms doesn’t necessarily tally with the distribution of consumer cryptocurrency usage and ownership. For example, some estimates put India as the top country in terms of crypto holdings, with 100 million Indians estimated to be owners. While in America, only 27 million have invested in the new currencies.
The Biggest Cryptocurrency Firms
Given the huge amount of US investment, it’s perhaps no surprise that it’s home to the single biggest crypto company (in terms of funding). Trading platform Robinhood has been functioning since 2018 and raised over $5.5 billion (£4.1 billion) in its lifetime. It was valued at $32 billion (£24 billion) after going public in July.
Other companies that have attracted big funding include American firm Bakkt, a platform for buying and selling crypto and other digital assets, which has raised over $800 million (£600 million); Sorare, a French blockchain-based fantasy football game which has been funded nearly $740 million (£555 million); and Circle, the peer-to-peer payments company behind crypto endeavours such as USD Coin, which has raised $711 million (£533 million).
Innovation
Cantaloupe, a payment provider that moved into the crypto space last year, might not number amongst the biggest companies in terms of funding, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming the biggest innovator in the space. With 35 patents, it is well ahead of second-place currency exchange Ripple, which has 14 patents, and Robinhood, which has 12.
Innovation in blockchain technology has not been limited to companies in the crypto space. Giants such as Amazon, Mastercard, and IBM all hold at least one patent in this area.
Peak Cryptocurrency
Although the market itself continues to expand, we may be past the peak in terms of new businesses entering the space. 2017 saw the creation of 658 crypto firms, but by 2020 this had dropped back to just 159, with a similar number expected this year. Though this is a big drop, it is still far ahead of the early days of crypto when only around 20 to 30 new firms came into existence each year between 2010 and 2013.
Global Cryptocurrency
Though the USA still dominates in terms of the number of firms and the amount of investment, London dominates at the city level. Plus, the data makes it clear that crypto – as you’d expect from a technology born out of the internet – is a global phenomenon, with big companies spreading their crypto influence across many countries and continents. As the scale of the market gets ever bigger, who knows where the next big player will emerge.
Cryptocurrency Investing in the UK
So we know that the crypto market is booming and getting larger by the minute, and this is also reflected in the number of retail investors that are flocking to the crypto market to invest. To go with our data we surveyed 2,000 UK consumers on their thoughts on cryptocurrency.
The survey revealed that just over a fifth (21%) of those questioned agree that cryptocurrency will eventually replace existing traditional forms of currency. However it also revealed that 61% admitted to not knowing how blockchain technology actually works.
Additionally, 17% have now invested in some form of cryptocurrency, with 66% of those who have invested having made money. It also seems that those who do invest are keen to spread the word, with 56% going on to try and convince others that they should invest too.
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