In this article, we discuss the 10 biggest crypto companies in the world.
Cryptocurrencies have witnessed increased institutional investor interest in recent months as inflation climbs and the appeal of popular coins as a safe haven and wealth storage device soars in a volatile marketplace. Chainalysis, a crypto information firm, revealed in a report on April 20 that crypto investors around the globe had realized total gains of $162.7 billion in 2021, up from just $35.5 billion in the previous year. The United States led other countries in these gains with over $47 billion, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan.
One of the interesting things highlighted in the report, and perhaps a stark reminder of the capabilities of the revolutionary blockchain technology, was that countries that do not rank high on traditional measures of economic prosperity, like the gross domestic product (GDP), usually outperform in the crypto space. For example, Turkey, which ranks 11th in the world in terms of GDP, is sixth in realized cryptocurrency gains at $4.6 billion. Ukraine, a symbol against Russian aggression, is 40th in GDP but 13th in realized cryptocurrency gains at $2.8 billion.
The report also discussed in detail the cryptocurrency developments in China, one of the largest crypto markets in the world. In 2021, the total estimated realized cryptocurrency gains for China were $5.1 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 2020. Although this represented an annual growth rate of an impressive 194%, despite a regulatory crackdown against blockchain tech in China, it was far lower than growth rates of other crypto countries like the US, at 476%, and the UK, at 431%, and Germany, at 423%.
Emerging Trends: Ethereum Edges Bitcoin, NFTs Explode
Another emerging theme within the crypto industry, which is gaining mainstream recognition through efforts of firms like Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA), PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL), and Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ), is the performance of Ethereum, the second most-popular coin, against Bitcoin. Per Chainalysis, the total realized gains globally for Ethereum were $76.3 billion, compared to $74.7 billion for Bitcoin. Several experts had previously forecast that Ethereum was a better long-term investment than Bitcoin.
For example, Tally Greenberg, the head of business development at crypto firm Allnodes, is of the opinion that “the technological advantage and utility of Ethereum blockchain is far greater than that of Bitcoin”. Megan Kaspar, the managing director of asset management firm Magnetic, has forecast that there will be an institutional investor shift towards Ethereum as the importance of new updates to the Ethereum network, which include a shift towards a more environmentally-friendly mining option, become more apparent.
Within the crypto sector, the non-fungible tokens marketplace is also exploding. NFTs are just one way in which blockchain technology can reshape the world around us. An NFT is a non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain, a form of digital ledger, that can be sold and traded. Some examples include digital forms of photos, videos, and audio. A report by Nonfungible recently outlined that trading in NFTs climbed close to $18 billion last year, an increase of 21,000% from 2020.
Our Methodology
The companies that operate in the crypto sector were selected for the list through a careful assessment of business fundamentals to provide readers with some context for their investment choices. The growth catalysts for these firms are also discussed to paint a more holistic picture.
Biggest Crypto Companies in the World
10. Chainalysis
Chainalysis is a software firm that provides blockchain data and analysis to governments, banks, and businesses across the globe. One of the premier products of the company is compliance, regulatory, and investigative software related to blockchain technology. This software can detect and prevent various illegal activities like money laundering. This is a key competitive edge for the firm as hacks and related privacy concerns around blockchain tech are clouding the future development for the sector.
One statistics that highlights this competitive edge is the number of customers that Chainalysis serves. Nearly 650 organizations that include crypto exchanges, leading banks, payment processors, hedge funds and venture capital firms, use Chainalysis software. The firm recently launched Cross-Chain Investigations to Reactor, a tool that helps customers trace cryptocurrencies and related digital assets across blockchains. In June last year, the company had raised over $100 million at a Series C funding round at a valuation of over $4 billion.
Just like Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA), PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL), and Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ), Chainalysis is one of the crypto firms that elite investors are flocking to as the risk/reward profile of the growth sector improves.
9. Uniswap
Uniswap is a cryptocurrency exchange that embraces the transparency at the center of the blockchain revolution. The exchange is used on blockchain networks that run open-source software. This is in contrast to other crypto exchanges that are run on centralized servers. A growing number of developers, traders, and liquidity providers are using the functionalities of the platform. Per the company, it has so far generated over $935 billion in trading volume and more than 95 million trades. The platform had more than three million users at the end of 2021.
Uniswap has the highest market shares among decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges at close to a quarter of all trades. It also has the highest daily trading volume in this group. On Uniswap, transactions are executed on-chain but there is no central authority that is facilitating these trades. Rather, users are free to interact with other users through a secure system and trade directly through their crypto wallets. These transactions are transparent and also open-source, decreasing the likelihood of money laundering.
8. Kraken
Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange and bank. It is based in California and was founded in 2011. The exchange already operates in more than 60 countries across the world. It was recently granted a license to start operations in the UAE as well. The Middle East is one of the fastest-growing crypto markets. Chainalysis estimates that nearly 7% of the global crypto trades originate from the region. Kraken is the first firm to offer direct trades of UAE dirhams against Bitcoin. The UAE trades about $25 billion worth of cryptocurrency each year.
Kraken is the fourth largest exchange in the world in terms of trading volume. More than six million users are on the platform for crypto trading. These users are spread across 190 countries. Jesse Powell, the CEO of the firm, has previously said that the exchange could go public in late 2022. The company is valued at close to $20 billion. The exchange has a daily trading volume in the hundreds of millions. In January last year, at the height of the crypto craze, the exchange did $56 billion worth of trading, more than the trading for the entire year in 2019.
7. Sandbox
Sandbox is a metaverse platform. The platform, which initially started out as a game available for playing on computers and mobiles, operates on a play-to-earn model. The blockchain-based version of Sandbox allows users to create their own avatars, which can also be traded, to access different kinds of environments and games within the metaverse. The platform is the biggest of its kind in the crypto space and has more than 2 million users. These users can also trade in virtual real estate within the metaverse.
In 2021, the total land sales volume on Sandbox stood at over $350 million. Nearly 80% of this volume occurred in the last quarter of 2021. Secondary sales during the period were up more than 1.600% quarter-over-quarter. The number of active buyers on the platform grew in all four quarters of 2021 and increased by 37% between October and December. The median price for Sandbox land was $1,308 at the end of the third quarter but jumped to a median price of $11,364 by the end of the year.
6. OpenSea
OpenSea is a marketplace for non-fungible tokens. As of early 2022, the platform has more than 600,000 users. This represents a huge increase over March 2020, when the users on the platform numbered just 4,000. The monthly viewing numbers for the OpenSea website are more impressive. The site attracts over 120 million visits per month, per conservative estimates. This puts it far ahead of the competition in the NFT market sector. In 2021, the company made more than $365 million in revenue from NFT sales on the Ethereum blockchain.
In 2020, the revenue of OpenSea was just $525,000. The difference highlights the incredible growth that NFTs have made in the crypto space. The marketplace charges 2.5% for every transaction on the platform. This is similar to what competitors like Rarible charge. The company is estimated to be worth more than $13 billion. So far, the firm has raised more than $427 million in financing over nine funding rounds. $300 million of this came at a Series C funding round in early 2022.
In addition to Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA), PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL), and Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ), OpenSea is one of the companies that institutional investors are monitoring.
5. Grayscale
Grayscale is a digital currency investing services company. Some of the services it provides 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 crypto funds across the globe. These include the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and the Grayscale Ethereum Trust. Together, these comprise over $11 billion in market capitalization. Grayscale provides close to 20 publicly-traded investment products for cryptocurrencies.
Michael Sonnenshein, the CEO of Grayscale, told a crypto conference in November last year that new businesses were converging around gaming, virtual reality in social media networks in the digital space, a metaverse of sorts. The comments indicated that the company might start offering investment products of metaverse firms too in the near future. Grayscale believes the metaverse is a trillion dollar market opportunity. Per the firm, revenue from metaverse plays could grow to more than $400 billion by as soon as 2025.
4. Binance
Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange that is the largest in the world in terms of daily trades on the platform. The exchange offers crypto trades across spot, derivatives, and defi markets. The exchange has more than 30 million users. In 2017, when it was launched, it had just around 120,000 users. Nearly 29 million weekly visitors go to the Binance website and application. The daily trading volume on the application is close to $10 billion, the largest in the world. The company had a revenue of over $20 billion in 2021, per Bloomberg estimates.
Binance has posted these incredible numbers despite the fact that it is banned in popular crypto regions like China, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. The firm plans to go public in 2024 and is targeting a valuation of around $300 billion. The closest competitor of Binance, the Coinbase exchange, is worth just $40 billion. Binance has been the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world since 2018. Apart from Turkey, other 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. The company has invested heavily in new technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain in the past few years. In the AI software space, it controls nearly 14% of the market share. One of the competitive edges that the firm has over peers in the marketplace is that it has a large revenue stream from an established business that helps it fund growth initiatives.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) offers enterprise blockchain solutions and services. The company has partnered with Stellar, a blockchain that closely resembles Ripple, and Stronghold, a startup, to launch USD Anchor, a stablecoin backed by banks. Some of the products that the company offers in the crypto space include supply chain solutions, identity management, and digital assets management. Hedge funds are bullish on IBM as well. Arrowstreet Capital is a leading shareholder in the firm with a stake worth $440 million.
2. Twitter, Inc. (NYSE:TWTR)
Twitter, Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) is a microblogging and social networking platform. The company is the second most-popular social media platform across the world, controlling more than 7% of the market share in this space. Twitter was recently bought by billionaire Elon Musk in a deal worth $44 billion. Some of the competitive advantages that the firm offers over peers include a real-time news feed, a more diverse audience, and relative freedom from advertisements. The company has more than 200 million daily active users.
Twitter, Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) has a separate business unit named Twitter Crypto that is devoted to developing the crypto side of the network. Twitter has also played a part in the development of blockchain tech that caters to decentralized social networking. Last year, the company introduced a feature that allows users to tip other users on the platform through Bitcoin payments made through the Lightning platform. Retail investors 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 fintech platform that provides services for the crypto economy. It is one of the largest and most popular crypto exchanges in the world. The firm has more than 89 million verified users, 11,000 institutions, and 185,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries. The company has a competitive edge as one of the “first movers” in the crypto space. It debuted on the market in April 2021 and fetched a valuation of over $85 billion in one of the biggest IPOs of the year.
Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) has beaten market estimates on earnings per share in three of the last four quarters. These beats have been with the margins of 152%, 7%, and close to 50%. The upcoming earnings call of the firm is scheduled for mid-May. Despite stellar earnings, the share price has continued to register a steady decrease amid a broader lull around growth offerings in light of rising inflation and interest rates. Hedge funds have also invested in the firm. ARK Investment Management owns a stake in the firm worth $1.3 billion.
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Disclosure. None. 10 Biggest Crypto Companies in the World is originally published on Insider Monkey.
