In March, three crypto startups raised some of the largest capital increases in the industry’s history. Here are the top ten.
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The cryptocurrency industry is hot. The total market value of cryptocurrencies is close to 2 trillion dollars – this is higher than the market ceilings of Amazon, Google and Microsoft. Bitcoin has been trading over $ 50,000 since March 8 and has a market value of $ 1.12 trillion, almost as much as all the silver in the world. FOMO institutions continue to flow into space. Tesla will begin accepting payments for its electric vehicles in bitcoin, adding cryptocurrency to its $ 2.5 billion bitcoin. One of America’s oldest banks, BNY Mellon, has launched a digital asset unit, Goldman Sachs has relaunched its cryptocurrency trading operations, JPMorgan has introduced a structured note offering related to a bitcoin-exposed stock basket, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs became the first major US banks to offer wealthy customers direct access to bitcoin.
But at-risk institutions and firms that rush to raise growth are not coming empty-handed. Capital treasuries spill over to crypto startups, beating new unicorns to a throat. As early as March, three cryptocurrency firms raised some of the largest capital increases in the industry’s short but rich history. There are now at least 18 crypto-native companies with unicorn status, according to the PitchBook data platform.
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In the heyday of ICOs, companies raised billions, but the hype was short-lived. Low quality projects, multiple scams and the lack of institutional and regulatory oversight have led to what is now known as the Great Crypto Crash of 2018, when an index that tracks the performance of the top 10 most liquid digital assets sank by 80% .
The crypto bulls hope that this time it will be really different. Publicly listed companies, such as MicroStrategy and Square, have accumulated considerable bitcoin positions in their balance sheets and see it as an alternative to gold. Meanwhile, demand for a US bitcoin ETF is piling up at the SEC’s doorstep, and the market is buzzing waiting for Coinbase’s direct listing scheduled for April 14, the first major public offering for a cryptocurrency company. In the midst of the frenzy, Forbes analyzed data from the PitchBook and compiled a list of the top 10 venture capital offers for blockchain and crypto-native companies.
Bitmain: $ 422 million
Transaction date: August 7, 2018
Round VC: Series B1
Notable investors: Crimson Capital China, Bluebell (Asia), Jumbo Sheen Group, Lioness Capital, Palace Investment Company, Pavilion Capital
Post-money evaluation: $ 15 billion
Previous evaluation: $ 12 billion
Bitmain, the world’s largest manufacturer of bitcoin mining hardware, also operates Antpool, one of the largest bitcoin mining pools, accounting for more than 12% of Bitcoin’s network power or computing power. Shortly after the $ 422 million capital increase, the Beijing-based company applied for a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in September 2018, but the offer fell amid the collapse of bitcoin and the cooling of the market.
BlockFi: $ 350 million
Transaction date: March 11, 2021
Round VC: Series D
Notable investors: Bain Capital Ventures, partners DST Global, Pomp Investments, Tiger Global, Susquehanna Government Products
Post-money evaluation: $ 3 billion
Previous evaluation: $ 435 million
Founded in 2017, BlockFi in New Jersey is now one of the leading providers of cryptocurrency loans. Its products fall into several categories, including cryptocurrency loans and interest-bearing accounts through which investors can earn interest on their crypto holdings. Rumors about BlockFi’s potential IPO began circulating in July last year, following reports of a job opportunity, some of which involved helping the company to the public.
Dapper Labs: $ 305 million
Transaction date: March 30, 2021
Round VC: Fifth round
Notable investors: Coatue Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant
Post-money evaluation: $ 2.6 billion
Previous evaluation: N / A
The Vancouver-based startup is best known as the developer of NBA Top Shot, an NFT marketplace for basketball moments or video moments. The project, which has already exceeded the $ 400 million mark in trading volume, is largely responsible for the non-fungible token (NFT) boom, essentially digital evidence of ownership tracked on a blockchain. Previously, Dapper Labs developed a popular Ethereum collection game that can be grown, called CryptoKitties.
Blockchain.com: $ 300 million
Transaction date: March 24, 2021
Round VC: Series C
Notable investors: DST Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners, VY Capital
Post-money evaluation: $ 5.2 billion
Previous evaluation: $ 3 billion
Blockchain.com offers a variety of cryptographic services to retail and institutional customers, but is most famous for its custodial digital wallets. Unlike their third-party-controlled counterparts, these wallets give users full control over their private keys, which represent ownership of cryptocurrencies. The London-based company claims to have processed 28% of all bitcoin transactions since 2012.
Bakkt: $ 300 million
Transaction date: March 16, 2020
Round VC: Series B
Notable investors: Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), BCG Digital Ventures, PayU
Post-money evaluation: N / A
Previous evaluation: N / A
In February 2020, the crypto company ICE (owner of the New York Stock Exchange) announced the acquisition of Bridge2 Solutions, a loyalty program provider, to power the Bakkt one-stop retail platform. Called the Bakkt app, the service allows users to aggregate various digital assets, including loyalty points, reward programs, gaming assets and cryptocurrencies, all in one wallet. In January, Bakkt announced that it would go public through a merger of SPAC with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings to a value of about $ 2.1 billion. At the close of trading in the second quarter of 2021, the combined company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the name Bakkt Holdings, Inc.
Coinbase: $ 300 million
Transaction date: October 30, 2018
Round VC: E series
Notable investors: Tiger Global Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), Polychain Capital
Post-money evaluation: $ 8.04 billion
Previous evaluation: $ 1.71 billion
On February 25, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States filed a direct listing on the Nasdaq exchange. Coinbase was valued at $ 68 billion, based on recent records. On March 19, the company was fined $ 6.5 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for allegations of reporting fraud and money laundering between 2015 and 2018 on its GDAX platform, later renamed Coinbase Pro. The direct listing of the scholarship is scheduled for April 14.
Bitmain: $ 292.7 million
Transaction date: June 19, 2018
Round VC: Series B
Notable investors: Sequoia Capital, Coatue Management, China Taijia, Blue Lighthouse Services
Post-money evaluation: $ 12 billion
Previous evaluation: $ 100 million
Hangzhou Qulian Technology: $ 235 million
Transaction date: June 4, 2018
Round VC: Series B
Notable investors: Xinhu Zhongbao Company, China Gaoxin Investment Group, State Development and Investment Corporation
Post-money evaluation: $ 470.25 million
Previous evaluation: $ 40.33 million
Qulian Technology provides blockchain products to major Chinese organizations and institutions, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the State Grid, and local governments. Its BaaS one-stop blockchain open services platform, FiLoop, is used by some of China’s largest banks, including China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and China Merchants Bank, according to the company. Qulian Technology partners include Google and Microsoft.
Bithumb: $ 200 million
Transaction date: April 19, 2019
Round VC: The second round
Notable investors: Seer, ID Ventures (South Korea), ST Blockchain Fund
Post-money evaluation: N / A, valued at $ 888.27 million as of January 2021
Previous evaluation: $ 868.42 million
In September 2020, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency allegedly attacked the offices of one of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges in connection with allegations of a $ 25 million chip sale that never materialized. led to losses for investors.
Ripple Labs: $ 200 million
Transaction date: October 1, 2020
Round VC: Series C
Notable investors: Tetragon Financial Group, SBI Holdings, Transform Capital, 10X Capital
Post-money evaluation: $ 10 billion
Previous evaluation: $ 410 million (2016)
In December, Ripple Labs and its top executives were accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission of selling $ 1.3 billion XRP, the native asset of the company’s developed payment network, as an unregistered guarantee. Following the allegations, several exchanges and trading platforms, including Coinbase, Binance.US and eToro, eliminated XRP and suspended trading. In January, UK investment firm Tetragon Financial Group filed a lawsuit to buy its equity in Ripple, but eventually lost the case. Despite the consequences, XRP remains one of the top traded digital assets.