Alphabet Ranks as the Biggest Public Investor in Blockchain Startups

American multinational tech giant, Alphabet Inc has topped the rank of publicly traded firms with investments in the digital currency ecosystem. According to a recent report from Blockdata, Alphabet has invested as much as $1.5 billion into the digital currency ecosystem between September 2021 and June 2022.

The report showed that the invested amount is concentrated in four key companies including the creator of Flow Blockchain, Dapper Labs, Fireblocks, Voltage, and the Digital Currency Group. Each of these firms is a high flyer in the broader digital currency ecosystem.

While Alphabet is a diversified tech company, its foray into the blockchain industry has been somewhat very strategic, with the company notably topping its investment year on year. According to the Blockdata report, the $1.5 billion is an upgrade from the $601.4 million it reported invested through the same period last year.

Alphabet considerably changed its strategy this time around as it injected its funds into about 17 crypto startups last year. Some of these startups include but are not limited to Ripple Labs Inc, Celo, Helium, and Dapper Labs.

Besides Alphabet, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm which recently inked a partnership with Coinbase Global has also committed a massive $1.17 billion to blockchain firms in the time under review. The BlackRock investments were used to back firms like Anchorage Digital, USDC issuer, Circle, and FTX Derivatives Exchange.

Growing Interest in Web3.0 Startups

With metaverse sentiments currently building momentum amongst Wall Street veterans and investors, many are embracing the emerging Web3.0 in their own unique ways.

While there are some building metaverse-related solutions like Meta Platforms Inc, NVIDIA, and Microsoft, others like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley amongst others are directly backing startups building solutions in the space.

The level of interest in the crypto ecosystem among institutional investors is unprecedented and has fueled a lot of inflow and potential inflows into the industry in the near term.