Google has invested a whopping $1.5 billion in blockchain companies since September
Google parent Alphabet injected the most capital into the blockchain industry compared to other public companies, investing $1.5 billion between September 2021 and June 2022, a new report shows.
In an updated blog published by Blockdata on August 17, Alphabet (Google) was revealed as the investor with the deepest pockets compared to the top 40 public companies investing in blockchain and crypto companies during the period.
The company invested $1.5 billion in the space, concentrating on four blockchain companies, including digital asset platform Fireblocks, Web3 gaming company Dapper Labs, Bitcoin infrastructure utility Voltage, and venture capital firm Digital Currency Group.
This is in stark contrast to last year, where Google diversified its much smaller funding effort of $601.4 million across 17 blockchain-based companies, which again included Dapper Labs, along with Alchemy, Blockchain.com, Celo, Helium and Ripple.
Google’s increased investment in the blockchain industry is consistent with the other top 40 listed companies, with a total of $6 billion invested during this time, compared to $1.9 billion between January 2021 and September 2021 and $506 million in all of 2020 .
The other major corporate investors include asset management firm BlackRock, which invested $1.17 billion, investment banking firm Morgan Stanley, which invested $1.11 billion, and electronics company Samsung, with investments totaling $979.2 million.
Like Google, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock took a more concentrated approach, investing in just two to three companies during the period. However, Samsung was by far the most active investor, having invested in 13 different companies.
The data also found that companies offering some form of non-fungible token (NFT) solutions have been the most popular investment.
“Many of these belong to industries such as gaming, arts and entertainment and distributed ledger technology (DLT).”
The remaining investments are divided between companies that provide Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS), infrastructure, smart contract platforms, scaling solutions and digital asset platforms.
Related: Beyond the hype: NFTs can lead the way in transforming business experiences
The data also found that banks have started to increase their exposure to crypto and blockchain companies, driven by an increase in client demand for crypto services. Among the banks that are on the top list of crypto investors are United Overseas Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and BNY Mellon.
