Alphabet (Google) poured $1.5 billion into blockchain and crypto firms

A number of notable names in fintech and banking are betting on blockchain technology, including Alphabet.

Blockdata, a data-driven platform focused on blockchain and distributed ledger technology, revealed an analysis of the “Top 100 Public Companies Investing in Blockchain and Crypto Businesses” to gain exclusive insight into key blockchain/crypto investment use cases and changes in the areas of during the last 10 months.

One of the arresting findings is the list of the most active investors in blockchain companies.

The alphabet likes blockchain

According to the research, 40 companies invested over $6 billion in blockchain companies from September 2021 to mid-June 2022. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, tops the list with a whopping $1.5 billion invested in Fireblocks, Dapper Labs, Voltage, and Digital Currency Group.

In the same period last year, Google’s investment amount was approximately $601 million spread over 17 different blockchain companies.

Dapper Labs remains an important investment for Google. While the number of companies backed by Google has dropped significantly, the amount of funding has increased.

The list includes other leading corporate investors such as BlackRock, Morgan Stanley and Samsung, among other prominent names.

BlackRock is another prominent investment with a $1.1 billion investment into Circle, FTX and Anchorage Digital. There is also the presence of large companies such as LG, PayPal, Microsoft, Samsung and Tencent.

Banks also like blockchain

But most notably, major banks also feature in the top 20, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, UOB, Commonwealth Bank, BNY Mellon and City Bank.

The vast majority of investments are made in businesses related to NFTs, as well as offering NFT solutions in areas such as gaming, art, entertainment and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The rest concerns BaaS platforms, infrastructure, smart contract platforms, scaling solutions and digital assets.

The fact that large companies and corporations are spending relatively large amounts of money on blockchain technology shows that there is significant room for growth in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.

The vision of the major players in technology investment and development is to create blockchain-based alternatives that exist alongside today’s alternatives in many areas of life.

It should be clarified that the focus of these companies is on technology, not strictly crypto-related. However, developments in the use of technology will affect the cryptocurrency market as blockchain technology is closely related to cryptocurrencies.

Blockchain, not crypto

In the past, Google took a strong stance against cryptocurrencies; the company even banned all ads related to crypto. But the perspective became more open when Alphabet invested $1 billion in CME in 2021.

CME is the leading global exchange for crypto derivatives. And now the company has expanded its support to various areas of blockchain and crypto.

The company formed partnerships with three major exchanges including Coinbase, Bitpay and Gemini, and established a separate department in May to work on Web3 and blockchain development.

Apart from the increasing exposure of mega-corporations in blockchain and crypto spaces, fraud-focused reports are also one of the main things that many people are concerned about.

Data from Chainalysis shows a decline to $1.6 billion in total fraud revenue by 2022. Compared to the end of July last year, the figure has dropped 65%, according to Chainalysis’ Mid-year Crypto Crime Update.

The report says that fraud revenue may drop because the prices of a number of cryptocurrencies are falling significantly.

Since January 2022, fraud has brought in less money, which is roughly the same as what has happened to the price of Bitcoin. Meanwhile, the total number of fraudulent transactions so far in 2022 is at its lowest level in four years.

Chainalysis also points to the different scenarios when prices are up and down. When prices rose, people were drawn in by the excitement and quick profits, making them more susceptible to fraud. But now the prices are going down and the number of new crypto users is also going down.