The World economic forum coming up this May has further underlined the significance of Switzerland and, indeed, Crypto Valley to the global economy and fintech industry. The EU Blockchain Ecosystem Development had described Switzerland as one of the most advanced nations in blockchain and crypto-assets globally.
Crypto Valley is an independent association whose objective is to build a world-class blockchain ecosystem, based in Switzerland with connections to other blockchain powerhouses worldwide; it consists of about 1128 companies, including startups and established enterprises.
Crypto valley continues to record strong growth due to its favorable regulatory landscape and experts. It has attracted the most prominent blockchain companies, now domiciled and operating from Crypto Valley. Top companies in Crypto valley have also recorded tremendous investor interest.
This article will shed some light on how the Swiss Tech industry is evolving in Crypto valley this 2022 in light of the Top 50 CV VC report, the Unicorns consisting of 14 companies, the significant acquisitions, and the WEF forum coming to Davos in May.
The statistics coming from Crypto Valley are simply staggering. Data from the CV VC Top 50 report indicate that crypto valley added six new firms last year to reach 14 unicorns. The valuation of the top 50 firms in Crypto Valley jumped from $108.4 billion to $611.8 billion, increasing by a whopping 464%.
The number of companies in Crypto Valley has also grown to 1128, representing an 18% growth from the previous year, coupled with a 16% increase in employment. This growth was fueled by the founding of new protocols and subsidiaries by significant players in both the financial and other sectors.
According to the report, Ethereum continued to dominate with about $438 billion in valuation, and it sits as No 1 in the CV VC top 50 report’s chart, followed by Solana, Cardano, web3 foundation, and Near protocol.
Interestingly, in the latest CV VC report, flovtec, Metahash, Cardstack, and Nimiq were included as top challengers for the top 50 spots. The report stated that these challengers stand a good chance of making it into the top 50 next time out due to their contribution to the ecosystem, increase in valuation, and employee growth.
Let’s take a peep at blockchain companies that have evolved the most in 2022
Solana
Solana entered the CV VC top 50 in the third quarter of 2021 after recording about $52.7 billion in valuation and $335 billion in funding, representing strong investor confidence. Solana’s valuation is only second to Ethereum, which still boasts the highest valuation; launched in March 2020 in Geneva, Switzerland, Solana boasts of a fast-growing ecosystem and remains one of the hottest projects in the blockchain industry.
AAVE
AAVE also joined the Unicorns after recording a valuation of $3.4 billion and about $49 million in funding. Aave is a Defi protocol with various features, including staking, flash loans, and credit delegation.
Nexos
Nexos joined the crypto valley unicornlist in 2021, with a valuation of about $1.3 billion and with $52 million infunding. Nexos is a high-performing Defi protocol that has processed nearly 5billion worth of transactions for more than 1 million users.
Other notable additions to the CryptoValley’s unicorn list include Curve Finance with $2.3 billion in valuation,Waves, and Concordium with $1.5 and $1.4 billion valuations, respectively.
Among the success recorded by the Swiss Tech industry, Swiss crypto banks, SEBA and Sygnum, both received funding, with SEBA getting $110 million while Sygnum got $90 million from investors in January 2022.
SEBA’s series C fundraising was led by a consortium of blockchain and fintech investors including Alameda research and Altive. This round of funding came after a successful initial series Bfunding held back in December 2020. The crypto bank currently has a presence inabout 25 markets globally and is valued at $750 million.
Sygnum’s fundraising was led by Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited and Animoca brands. Sygnum had an incredible year amassing ten times its previous year's revenue, expanding to about 1000 in clients base, and growing its assets to more than $2 billion. Sygnum, just like SEBA, is nearing Crypto Valley unicorn status with a current valuation of $800 million.
Crypto Finance, a former top 50 Crypto Valley blockchain company, has been acquired by Deutsche Börse Group. Crypto Finance provides a range of digital products and services, including crypto brokerage and tokenization solutions. Deutsche Börse Group, an international exchange and market infrastructure provider based in Germany, plans to leverage its established platforms to make Crypto Finance offering easily accessible to its customers.
Besides Crypto Valley, the World Economic Forum is returning to Davos, Switzerland, this May after a 2-year break due to the pandemic. The objective is to build connections and tackle global challenges like education, climate change, and Covid. This conference is an annual event attracting business, political, and media leaders worldwide. Switzerland has remained the ideal destination for the financial industry due to its favorable regulatory framework and minimal government interference.
Even though the latest market turbulenceamidst the UST Depeg is shaking overall sentiment, Crypto Valley is here tostay and will continue to provide an environment for astronomical growth in thefuture.
The year 2022 will prove vital for thecrypto industry and Flovtec is poised to dominate the top-50 CV VC report come2023. We will continue to monitor the developments and will surely keep youinformed.
NB: Valuations are marked according tothe CV VC 2022 top 50 report and may not reflect the current market conditions.
