Who Owns The Most Blockchain? | World's Crypto Companies
Institutional interest in cryptocurrencies has grown in recent months as inflation climbs and the appeal of popular currencies as safe havens and stores of wealth in volatile markets has soared.
Crypto information company Chainalysis disclosed in a report on April 20 that global crypto investors realized a total return of $162.7 billion in 2021, up from $35.5 billion the previous year. The U.S. leads other countries with more than $47 billion in revenue, followed by the U.K., Germany and Japan.
One interesting thing highlighted in the report is that countries that do not rank highly in traditional measures of economic prosperity, such as GDP, typically outperform in the crypto space, which could be a stark reminder of the capabilities of the revolutionary blockchain technology.
For example, Turkey, which ranks 11th in the world in terms of GDP, ranked sixth with $4.6 billion in cryptocurrency revenue. Ukraine ranks 40th in terms of GDP, but 13th in realized revenue from cryptocurrencies at $2.8 billion.
Ethereum Edges Bitcoin, NFTs Explode
Another emerging theme in the crypto industry is the performance of ethereum, the second most popular currency, as it passes Mastercard (NYSE: MA ), PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL ) and Block, Inc.
According to data from Chainalysis, total realized gains on Ethereum worldwide are $76.3 billion, compared to Bitcoin’s $74.7 billion. Some experts have previously predicted that Ethereum is a better long-term investment than Bitcoin.
For example, Tally Greenberg, head of business development at encryption company Allnodes, believes that "the technical advantages and utility of the Ethereum blockchain are far greater than those of Bitcoin.
Megan Kaspar, managing director of asset management firm Magnetic, predicts that institutional investors will turn to ethereum as the importance of new updates to the ethereum network becomes apparent, including a shift to greener mining options.
In the crypto space, the non-fungible token market is also exploding. NFTs are just one way blockchain technology is reshaping the world around us.
Some examples include photos, video and audio in digital form. A recent report from Nonfungible noted that the trading volume of NFTs climbed to nearly $18 billion last year, a 21,000% increase over 2020.
This article provides readers with context for some investment choices through a careful assessment of business fundamentals, with companies operating in the crypto space selected for the list. The article also discusses the growth catalysts of these businesses to paint a more complete picture.
5. Grayscale
Grayscale is a digital currency investment services company. Some of the services it offers include market information, investment exposure, and investment products related to the developing digital currency asset class. The firm offers some of the largest publicly traded cryptocurrency funds in the world.
These include Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and Grayscale Ethereum Trust. These companies have a combined market capitalization of more than $11 billion. Grayscale offers nearly 20 publicly traded investment products for cryptocurrencies.
In November, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein told a crypto conference that new businesses in the digital space are converging around metaworld-like things like gaming, virtual reality in social media networks, and more.
The comment hinted that the company may also start offering Metaworld’s investment products in the near future. Grayscale sees the Metaverse as a trillion-dollar market opportunity. Metaverse revenue could grow to more than $400 billion by 2025, the company estimates.
4. Binance
Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume in a single day. The exchange offers cryptocurrency trading across spot, derivatives and defi markets. In 2017, when it launched, there were only about 120,000 users.
Binance’s website and app receive nearly 29 million visits each week. With nearly $10 billion in daily transactions, the app is the largest in the world. The company's 2021 revenue is estimated at more than $20 billion, according to Bloomberg estimates.
Binance posted these incredible numbers despite the fact that it is banned in popular crypto regions such as China, the UK, and Singapore. The company plans to go public in 2024 with a target valuation of around $300 billion.
Binance's closest competitor, Coinbase, has a market capitalization of just $40 billion. Binance has been the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world since 2018. In addition to Turkey, countries with high traffic on Binance include Russia and Brazil.
3. International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) provides solutions and services related to information and technology. Over the past few years, the company has invested heavily in new technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and blockchain.
In artificial intelligence software, it controls nearly 14 percent of the market. One of the company's competitive advantages over its peers in the market is that it has a large revenue stream from an established business, which helps fund growth plans.
International Business Machines Corporation provides enterprise blockchain solutions and services. The company has partnered with Ripple-like blockchain Stellar and startup Stronghold to launch a bank-backed stablecoin, USD Anchor.
Some of the company's offerings in the crypto space include supply chain solutions, identity management, and digital asset management. Hedge funds are also bullish on IBM. Arrowstreet Capital is the company's major shareholder with a $440 million stake.
2. Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR)
Twitter, Inc. The company is the second most popular social media platform in the world, with a market share of more than 7% in the field. Twitter was recently acquired by billionaire Elon Musk for $44 billion.
Some of the competitive advantages the company offers over its peers include real-time news feeds, a more diverse audience, and relative immunity from advertising.
Twitter has a separate business unit called Twitter Crypto that is dedicated to developing the cryptographic aspects of the network. Twitter is also involved in the development of blockchain technology, which caters to decentralized social networks.
Last year, the company rolled out a feature that allows users to pay bitcoin via the Lightning platform to tip other users on the platform. Retail investors who are bullish on the crypto industry also have a large presence on the Twitter platform.
1. Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN)
Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) is a financial technology platform serving the encrypted economy. The company has more than 89 million authenticated users, 11,000 institutions and 185,000 ecosystem partners in more than 100 countries.
As one of the “first movers” in the crypto space, the company has a competitive advantage. The company, which went public in April 2021, was valued at more than $85 billion and was one of the biggest IPOs of the last year.
Coinbase has beaten consensus earnings per share estimates in three of the past four quarters. The margins on these beats were 152%, 7%, and close to 50%. The company's upcoming earnings conference call is scheduled for mid-May. Despite the stellar earnings performance.
The company's shares continued to decline steadily amid generally subdued corporate issuance activity amid rising inflation and interest rates. Hedge funds have also invested in the company. ARK Investment Management owns a $1.3 billion stake in the company.
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