Research by CB Insights shows that major financial services firms Goldman Sachs, Google and Citi are among the top five most active corporate investors in Blockchain technology. The companies are behind the Japanese group SBI Holdings, technology firm Google, and US-based online retailer Overstock.com.
According to the report, financial services companies and major banks were the first corporate adopters of the technology.
Part of the report reads:
"Big banks and financial services firms were the first corporate players to make direct Blockchain investments en masse - unsurprising, given how Bitcoin’s underlying technology lends itself (both technically and in popular thought) to financial services.”
Growing number of investments
Based on the report, there are already 91 major companies that invested in Blockchain technology as of mid-October 2017. This number is already near the total number of venture capital investments, which has 95 active investors. Of the corporate investors, over 50 are global financial services companies.
The report also showed that the 10 biggest banks in the US have collectively poured a total of $267 million into the technology. Itt also revealed that the total corporate investment in Blockchain so far in 2017 already reached $327 mln.
From 2012 to 2017, total investments amounted to $1.2 bln.
CB Insights focuses on the analysis of the various developments in the financial markets to determine the performance of various companies, as well as the emerging trends in the markets. It also monitors private companies, investments, and acquisitions. The company’s venture capital (VC) database contains real-time information on startup companies, angel investors, patents, business partnerships, and various market developments to help investors in making more informed investment decisions.