Blockchain Unicorns

What are unicorns?

Before appearing in the Crypto World, the term “unicorn” was used in the business area to describe a successful startup company with a value of over $1 billion. The choice of an animal for the word which describes this concept was not made by accident. It was supposed to emphasize the rarity of this phenomenon. From the stock market this notion came to crypto.

Cryptocurrency has changed the finance world and the process of becoming a “unicorn” as well. Even though the general idea remained the same, new technologies have brought some changes. Earlier it took a lot of time to bring on board new investors. Now by the means of ICO blockchain companies that deal with crypto have an opportunity to achieve the same results much faster.

The list of blockchain unicorns

According to the Hurun Report of 2019, Shanghai research institute, there are 11 blockchain companies in the Global Unicorn List.

Bitmain

Bitmain is considered to be one of the top companies in Bitcoin mining computers’ production. In spite of all the recent losses, the valuation of Bitmain is $12 billion. Bitmain is based in China, and at the beginning it specialized in producing ASIC. Now it also possesses the world’s largest mining facility in Texas.
Bitmain was established by Jihan Wu and Micree Zhan. They have started with technology that allowed to connect the TV to a PC screen. Bitmain is also known for its projects Antminer, Antpool, and BTC.com.

Coinbase

Coinbase is known as the largest crypto exchange in the US. With the help of Coinbase people can not just buy and sell, but also store crypto. According to the official website, the main mission of Coinbase is to provide an opportunity of converting local currencies into digital ones. It has a value of $8 billion. It can be accessed in more than 30 countries and made an annual global revenue of $520 million.

Ripple

Ripple Labs is another US-based company. Ripple provides a sort of digital asset that is created for direct payments within the network. It does not require any intermediary. It is a step towards easy global payments. Ripple technology is widely adopted by such companies as UniCredit, UBS, and Santander. Its value equals $5 billion.

Circle Internet Financial

Circle Internet Financial provides peer-to-peer payment solutions. This platform allows the use of the USDC stablecoin for business purposes. Developers suggest this technology as an alternative to the traditional banking system. The company is based in Ireland. Its value is $3 billion.

Canaan

Canaan produces mining hardware, such as blockchain servers and ASIC microprocessors. Canaan was the first to develop an ASIC mining machine in 2013. Currently it is considered one of the leaders in this field. Nowadays Canaan produces a range of technologies. It is based in China, and now it is worth $3 billion.

Binance

Binance is a well-known cryptocurrency exchange. It was founded in Malta in 2017, but it all started in 2005 in China when the founder of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, set up his own company. Chinese crypto laws did not give a chance for the exchange to develop in the country, and the team decided to relocate. Binance provides a platform for trading cryptocurrencies. It also partners with different companies to promote the adoption of crypto payments around the world. 
Its value equals $2 billion. And in terms of value Binance is considered the biggest crypto exchange service in the world. Now it keeps providing innovative solutions. For example, a new crypto trading service in China.

Block.one

Block.one is the company that provides blockchain solutions for all types of organizations, it also issues EOS coin. Block.one can be used for creating decentralized applications. All apps built on this platform form an ecosystem. The platform is constantly developing, so it is able to provide better solutions for the customers. Block.one is based in China and was founded in 2016. Its value now is $2 billion.

Dfinity

Dfinity is a Switzerland based computer company. It provides decentralized versions of eBay, Facebook, and Uber. The main purpose of Dfinity is to create a decentralized internet computer, they describe it as “a cloud 3.0”. Developers believe that they are able to reduce costs for cloud storage. Its value is $2 billion.

Ebang

Ebang is a producer of mining hardware. They do not just provide different types of equipment, but also offer technical support and solutions that are able to simplify miners’ life. Ebang is considered to be one of the biggest producers of Bitcoin mining equipment. It is worth $1.5 billion.

Bitfury

Bitfury is a full-service blockchain technology company. It is based in the Netherlands and started its work in 2011. It specializes in developing hardware and software for governments and organizations. Their main idea is that the world can become safer with blockchain technologies and Bitcoin payments. Its value is $1 billion.

Liquid Global

Liquid Global is a Japanese exchange platform. The main purpose of this company is to provide liquidity for the Crypto World. Liquid Global allows trading crypto with fiat, which is a highly demanded option. It appeared in 2018 as a result of a merger of Quoine and Qryptos. It is worth $1 billion.

What are the reasons for the fast growth of blockchain companies?

Nowadays the value of data is significant. Every company, every organization stores data. People are very concerned with the safety of their information. Blockchain technology brings some solutions or at least an opportunity to find some. This is why blockchain is highly demanded, and the interest toward cryptocurrency is growing all around the world.

Roughly said, the unicorns of the Crypto World can be divided into two categories: hardware producers and finance services. The fact that these companies took place among “unicorns” means that the demand for their services is high and is growing even further. It is also important to note that there are other quite strong companies in the Crypto World with a value lower than $1 billion, therefore they are not listed here.