Assessment of Crypto Unicorns

Since 2018, The Block Research has been observing and analyzing the digital assets sector. The industry is often referred to as nascent. However, the development and progression of  later-stage companies over the past couple of years show signs of maturation.

 

To track this progression, The Block Research has created "The Block Unicorn Index." Qualification for the Index was determined through the public valuations of private rounds, estimated revenue based on comparable exchange volumes, and industry sources. Token-based  projects were considered for unicorn status if they had conducted a private funding round that equated to a valuation of ≥ $1 billion. It is crucial to note that the companies considered unicorns under the block index 'were' unicorns at the time of the considered investment round. In the future, they may or may not have maintained their unicorn status, and there is no way of  knowing it unless public disclosure documents specifically mention it. For this analysis, we  consider a project to be a unicorn based on public valuations of a private round.

 

 

 

Of the 114 crypto unicorns, 87 achieved the status in the last two years, suggesting maturation in the industry.

North America is the forerunner in the race to create Unicorns, and 59 of the tally is contributed by the United States.

 

Infrastructure is the category with the highest number of projects with unicorn status. Mining/Staking Infra and Layer 1 correspond to 19 of the 33 Infrastructure unicorns. The Trading/Brokerage category has 29 unicorns, of which 23 are Pure Exchanges.

FTX's valuation of $32 billion before it went to 0 was the highest valuation at which a crypto company has raised a private investment round. It can be speculated that Binance, the largest crypto exchange, may also posit a similar valuation.

 

32 of the investment rounds mentioned that a company raised money at a valuation upwards of $1 billion but did not specify the exact number.