If someone wanted to buy all the companies in the bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency industry that are listed on the world’s stock exchanges, they would have to shell out USD 94.547 million dollars (equivalent to almost 2 million BTC at the time of writing of this article).
The figure is derived from a study carried out by the research company CoinShares, entitled “The arrival of cryptocurrency stocks.” There, the investment analyst Alexandre Schmidt details the numerical growth of these companies which the specialist describes as “a dramatic increase”.
Between January and August of this year, almost as many companies reached the stock market as in 2019 and 2020 combined.
Among exchanges, mining equipment manufacturers, mining companies, fintechs and manufacturers of hardware for the industry of bitcoin, a total of 57 publicly traded companies are accounted for. Better known names include Marathon, Silvergate, Canaan, Ebang, and Northern Data . Most of the cryptocurrency companies listed on the stock market are in the United States, followed by Canada, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.
The case that generated the most media attention during its The launch was that of the Coinbase exchange . As CriptoNoticias timely reported, this company has been listed on the US Nasdaq since last April 14.
Coinbase is the company with the highest capitalization in the stock market , of those that make up the cryptocurrency industry: USD 72.4 billion at the time of writing this article.
In bullish cycles, the stock market is bitcoinized
CoinShares report shows an apparent relationship between the price of bitcoin and the number of companies exiting to be listed on the stock market in world markets.
It is evident, as can be seen in the following graph, the coincidence between the historical maximum reached by BTC in 2017, close to USD 20,000, with a considerable increase in bitcoin companies that reached the stock exchanges the following year. The number of incorporations went from 3 in 2017 to 14 in 2018
Something similar is observed in 2021, the year that began with the cryptocurrency market breaking price records and continued to do so in the following months. 16 companies in the industry hit the stock markets so far this year, double the number last year.
Effect Coinbase: money goes to exchanges
CoinShares report breaks down the Listed companies in the cryptocurrency industry by subsector.
The largest sector, in terms of number of companies , is the from mining (35%); it is followed by financial services companies (33%); exchanges (26%); then hardware manufacturers (4%) and other companies (2%).
In terms of market capitalization , the order is different . The first place, with the help of the giant Coinbase that monopolizes almost the entire market, is for exchanges (64%), followed by financial services (19%). Mining companies are relegated to third place (15%) and hardware manufacturers are last, with just 2% of the market.
China effect: mining companies are the ones that increase their valuation the most
CoinShares also compares cryptocurrency companies based on the percentage increase in their valuation so far in 2021.
In this regard, mining companies lead the ranking with 121% increase , on average. It is followed by financial services companies with a 105% average increase. Exchanges lag behind, with a growth of only 34% in their valuation.
Unlike the rest of the industry, hardware manufacturers have seen their valuation reduced by 9%, which It is attributed to the 62% drop in prices of Ebang shares so far this year.
The notable increase in the valuation of mining companies is attributable to several factors. One of them, according to the study, is the increase in cryptocurrency prices , with the upward cycle that began in 2020.
Also would have influenced the fall of the hash rate of the Bitcoin network as a consequence of the mining bans in China, a fact that was timely reported by CriptoNoticias.
A low mining difficulty, facilitates the resolution of mathematical puzzles by of mining computers. It would be because of this, according to CoinShares, that “despite the falls in the price of cryptocurrencies since May, mining operations continued to be very profitable.”
The industry will continue to be interesting for investors, with one condition
In conclusion, Alexandre Schmidt speculates that business around Cryptocurrencies will continue to be attractive to large capital investors, as long as the price of BTC continues to rise .
The specialist also predicts that, From now on, with the restrictions on exchanges and miners in China, the Bitcoin industry could take a renewed interest for western investors.
