Alphabet Becomes Top Blockchain Investor with $1.5B

Alphabet Inc. took the top spot in the list of 40 public companies investing in different blockchain and cryptocurrency firms between the periods of September 2021 and June 2022.

Research from Blockdata showed that the Google Inc. parent put $1.5 billion into blockchain businesses between September 2021 and June 2022 with four rounds, making Alphabet the biggest investor among the companies that invested in the industry during that time.

The four investment rounds involved blockchain firms, including digital asset custody platform Fireblocks, Web3 non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles group Dapper Labs, Bitcoin infrastructure provider Voltage, and crypto investment giant Digital Currency Group (DCG).

The amount invested by Alphabet is significantly different from 2021, when Google divided and allocated $601 million into 17 blockchain-based companies that included Dapper Labs, Alchemy, and Ripple, to name a few.

The US search giant’s bigger investment into the sector aligns with the other 40 public firms, with a total of $6 billion being provided at this time, compared to $1.9 billion invested between January and September of last year and $506 million in the entire 2020.

Looking at Other Active Blockchain, Crypto Investors 

Other major companies to make it on the list included the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock Inc., which followed Alphabet at $1.17 billion with three rounds, Morgan Stanley at $1.1 billion with two investments, and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. putting $979.2 million into 13 companies.

Similar to Alphabet’s, BlackRock’s and Morgan Stanley’s investments, while limited, were more focused. On the other hand, Samsung took a more active approach, investing in slightly over a dozen blockchain firms.

Additionally, the data showed that companies with NFT-related services were the top investment choice. The remainder of the investments went to Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) providers, infrastructure, digital asset custody sites, smart contract platforms, and scaling services.

Some banks have also put a considerable amount of money into the blockchain and cryptocurrency space during the same period due to customers’ stronger demand for crypto solutions.

United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. were the banks ranking high on the list of active investors providing financial support to different blockchain businesses.