Recently, CB Insights, a well-known venture capital research institution, released the report "Blockchain Trends In Review 2019". The Institute of Financial Technology of Renmin University of China (WeChat ID: ruc_fintech) compiled the core content of the article. This report is data-oriented and focuses on risk. Investment trends such as investment and corporate mergers and acquisitions explore how various forces shape the current blockchain landscape and provide insights into the future of the sector.
Venture capital and equity investment trends
- Bitcoin's scheduled chip for TSMC may provide 33 million TH/s of computing power in the second quarter of next year.
- The employee remotely steals 100 bitcoins from Bitland and was sentenced to one year and three months in prison.
- Bitland restarts IPO, first listed in the US in the second half of the year
- Bitland's confidential data outflow: 600,000 new mining machines in half a year, with a valuation of 12 billion US dollars
- Babbitt Depth | Secret Bits of the mainland powers plummet, 2 to 5 fold clearance S9 push 17 series
- Wu Jihan's latest share: 2-4 million users worldwide, cryptocurrency will soon be widely adopted


Finally, in terms of geographic location, the US has 40% equity financing. This is followed by China (15%), the United Kingdom (8%), Singapore (4%) and South Korea (3%). It turns out that Asia is a hotbed of start-ups, and China has several of the most well-funded blockchain companies in the world.

Mergers and acquisitions

Ranked first is the Digital Currency Group, which invested early in the blockchain sector. So far, the company has supported four companies in 2019, including a $65 million Series B financing for Figure Technologies. The company's other transactions in 2019 included multiple rounds of financing for Livepeer, DeFi provider Staked and the encrypted futures exchange CoinFLEX.
Boost VC, the leading edge technology accelerator led by Adam Draper, has invested in nearly 50 blockchain companies over the past five years. Recently, attention has been paid to the decentralized DNS service Unstoppable Domains, which predicts the market Guesser and the encrypted portal ramp Amun.
Blockchain Capital is also one of the longest-established blockchain venture capital firms, ranking third among the most active venture capital firms.
In addition, many blockchain investors based in China have entered the field in a big way. For example, in the past five years, Febushi Capital has invested more in blockchain companies than the backbone of Pantera and Polychain.


Well-funded company

Future trends
But speculative activity and trading volume in key currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have surged in recent months. With the recent actions of blue chip companies such as Facebook, JP Morgan and Visa, corporate profits in this area have also picked up.
The recent heat may be largely due to the relationship between Facebook and Libra. The goal of the project is closer to Venmo, not a new bitcoin, and is designed to provide a stable currency for customers with no bank accounts worldwide.
Facebook has signed an agreement with partners from payments, online car, e-commerce, venture capital and blockchain startups to launch the Libra project.

Mike Novogratz, founder of crypto hedge fund Galaxy Digital, said Facebook's plan is part of the reason for the recent rise in bitcoin: (investors) are excited about Facebook. Because Uber, Mastercard and Visa said they also want to participate in the cryptocurrency world. He added that the entire project completely legalized the idea of cryptocurrency.
In addition, Bloomberg's Tyler Cowen believes that cryptocurrencies provide a safe haven in political instability, trade turmoil and future wealth taxes.
For all of these and more reasons, the blockchain space seems to be reborn. This may also be good news for start-ups. Due to the high level of technology in this area, startups are well positioned to help large companies and institutions enter the field.
In 2019, it is worth noting whether this newly discovered optimism will translate into a significant rebound in the VC sector.
Source | Institute of Financial Technology, Renmin University of China
Original | CB Insights
Compilation | Qi Qingwu