KPMG, HSBC report identifies crypto startups with unicorn potential in Asia
A joint report by two leading financial institutions, KPMG and HSBC, revealed that over a quarter of the 6,472 startups operating in the Asia Pacific region have their core business in crypto-related activities.
Among these firms, five appeared on a top 100 startup list with the potential to become unicorns – a private startup company valued at over $1 billion.
The list included China-based crypto startup Conflux Networks and Memsonics, Singapore-based DeFi platform Stader Labs, Hong Kong blockchain gaming platform Catheon Gaming and Taiwan’s Maicoin crypto exchange.
According to the report, the crypto space still has the potential to produce dominant unicorn companies.
“Blockchain property and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) were also present among the top 20 subsectors, reflecting the current focus across the region on digital assets, metaverse and web 3.0.”
Some current unicorn companies in the crypto space include Ripples, OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Chainalysis and others.
The report focused on “emerging giants” in 12 different markets, which included China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and Japan, among others.
According to a statement by Darren Yong, the head of technology, media and telecoms (TMT) for KPMG Asia-Pacific, these blockchain companies have the potential to change the region’s economic landscape.
“We believe that blockchain companies and cryptoassets more generally will come back at some point. There will be a resurgence of applications, if these unicorns deliver value, they will emerge as the next Amazon.”
The rise of these firms could also change how payments are made internationally in the future by making transactions cheaper, faster and more efficient.
11) The moral of the story is: payment is difficult.
There are many reasons for this, but they all revolve around the same core issue:
What does it really mean to send some money? What does it mean that the money “settles”?
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) July 16, 2022
A recent Twitter thread by FTX Sam Bankman-Fried identified the opportunity in payments and remittances available to crypto firms. According to SBF, payment is difficult, and blockchain solutions can help solve these challenges.
Meanwhile, the HSBC-KPMG report identified startups in other niches such as electric cars, quantum computing, internet-of-things, robotics and artificial intelligence.
Startups from China also dominate the top 100 list.
