Crypto Unicorns: The Number of Crypto Companies with Billion-Dollar Valuations Continues to Rise

The second half of 2021 has just begun, and as years of resistance from mainstream investors to cryptocurrencies begin to fade, the number of unicorn companies emerging in the crypto space has increased.

More than 50 cryptocurrency and blockchain-related projects have risen to the coveted unicorn status since the beginning of the year, with market analysts predicting more to come.

A unicorn is a company that is valued at more than $1 billion by venture capitalists. Mainstream examples of unicorns include companies like Airbnb, Uber, and Elon Musk's Space X, all of which have valuations in the tens of billions of dollars.

In the crypto space, large United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is a prime example of how quickly companies in the crypto industry can rise to prominence.

With companies like Amber Group, Blockchain.com, and OpenSea joining the exclusive club of companies valued at over $1 billion, analysts predict that numbers will continue to grow as mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain increases.

BlockFi

Let’s start with BlockFi. In March of this year, the New Jersey-based cryptocurrency financial services company successfully completed its Series D funding round, securing a massive $350 million in funding, bringing its valuation to $3 billion.

BlockFi, which was founded in 2017 by Zac Prince and Flori Marquez, only raised $50 million in its Series C round last year, so its Series D round is impressive.

BlockFi offers a variety of products for retail crypto investors, including crypto exchanges and interest-bearing accounts, as well as crypto loans issued at low interest rates. The startup claims to be one of the few cryptocurrency exchanges that does not charge commissions and trading fees.

With these benefits, BlockFi’s user base has grown from approximately 10,000 at the end of 2019 to over 250,000 retail clients and 200 institutional investors, and it’s still growing. Taking into account its latest round of funding, BlockFi’s total equity raised since its inception now stands at approximately $450 million.

Bitpanda

Next up is Bitpanda. Formerly known as Coinmal, the Austrian-based startup and cryptocurrency brokerage service raised $170 million in Series B funding at a valuation of $1.2 billion.

The funding round was led by Valar Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm founded in 2010 and backed by partners including DST Global. Valar Ventures has been increasingly involved in crypto startups and is also an investor in trading app Robinhood.

As cryptocurrencies grow in popularity and acceptance, especially coupled with a crypto bull run that typically boosts revenue for crypto market infrastructure providers, Bitpanda’s latest funding round is a step forward from its Series A round nine months ago, in which the company raised $52 million.

Bitpanda CEO Eric Demuth said the company has been profitable for the past four years, thus highlighting to investors the company’s ambition to become Europe’s leading cryptocurrency payments and trading platform.

"We are profitable and have been for four years, but we changed our strategy in September to become an investment platform for all of Europe," Demuth said.

The Bitpanda CEO also noted that the company is looking for more partners to gain access to more funding and top talent. In terms of service quality, Bitpanda is considered a reputable and fast service, not to mention a low-cost alternative for cryptocurrency traders and investors.

Fireblocks

In the first quarter of 2021, cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure provider Fireblocks also raised $133 million in its Series C funding round.

The startup, which helps businesses by removing the complexity of using digital assets, has added a further $310 million in capital following its Series D round on July 27.

Fireblocks’ recent funding round has boosted its valuation to $2.2 billion in just five months. Taking into account the latest funding, the New York-based startup has now raised $489 million since its inception.

Since the beginning of the year, Fireblocks' user base has grown from approximately 150 customers to 500. In addition, the company's annual recurring revenue has also increased by more than 300% in the past two quarters of 2021.

The company's CEO and co-founder Michael Shaulov said it "expects to grow 500% by the end of this year."

The company's valuation has been boosted in 2021, considering that its annual recurring revenue grew 450% in 2020 compared to 2019.

“We have adjusted our revenue forecast for 2021 three times,” Shaulov added of the valuation upgrade.

Bakkt

Bakkt was valued at $2.1 billion after it went public in January 2021 through a merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings.

The bitcoin futures exchange, which is backed by Boston Consulting Group and Microsoft, received $207 million in cash, as well as $325 million from other investors, not to mention $50 million from Intercontinental Exchange.

The funds raised by Bakkt are expected to fund the company’s pivot to consumer applications focused on digital assets. As reported, more than 400,000 users have already pre-registered for the Bakkt application, as the Bakkt platform supports more than 30 loyalty programs.

The company offers cryptocurrency trading and payment capabilities and has a fully regulated Bitcoin derivatives futures and options market.

CoinDCX

Recently, Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX announced that it had raised $90 million in its Series C funding round.

The Mumbai-based startup is set to go down in history as India’s first crypto business to reach unicorn status, with its Series C round led by B Capital Ground, with participation from Block.one, Polychain, Jump Capital and Coinbase Ventures.

CoinDCX has amassed more than 3.5 million users so far and intends to use the funds raised from the latest round of funding to accelerate its user registration process to 50 million users in India.

CoinDCX CEO Sumit Gupta said in a statement that the company “will join hands or establish partnerships with key fintech companies to expand the cryptocurrency investor base, establish a research and development (R&D) facility, enhance policy dialogue through public discussions, work with the government to introduce conducive regulations, educate, and increase recruitment efforts.”

The move by CoinDCX comes at a time of great regulatory uncertainty regarding the Indian government’s stance on cryptocurrencies, which have long condemned the use of cryptocurrencies despite proposals for a regulatory framework being submitted by multiple market players.

Blockchain.com

Blockchain.com, formerly known as Blockchain.info, is a popular crypto wallet and crypto exchange that has grown significantly since its founding in 2011.

Blockchain.com, which has processed over $800 billion in cryptocurrency transactions to date, has raised $120 million in a funding round that values ​​the platform at over $1 billion.

Blockchain.com started out as a blockchain explorer that provided access to Bitcoin’s blockchain and all of its transaction data, from fees to the number of confirmations per transaction, as well as wallet addresses.

The platform currently has more than 30 million active users, with user numbers tripling in the past year. In addition to Bitcoin, Blockchain.com has also developed support for the exploration and trading of other blockchain-based cryptocurrencies.

Shortly after raising $120 million, Blockchain.com raised another $300 million in March, bringing its valuation to a staggering $5.2 billion. This was part of the company’s Series C round, which included participation from venture capital firms such as DST Global, VY Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Institutional capital is ready to get involved in the crypto space

With every bust and boom cycle of Bitcoin, the crypto market will continue to grow as market experts predict that the unicorn herd will expand further in 2021.

Pioneers in the crypto space are beginning to reap their wealth after years of hard work, having weathered many volatile phases of cryptocurrency.

As more and more companies continue to reach unicorn status, evidence of the crypto market’s slow but inevitable maturation has become clear. Institutional capital flowing into the crypto space has clearly increased, so it’s only a matter of time before cryptocurrencies go mainstream.