After jumping up with 700% in the last year, with little fluctuations here and there, bitcoin turns out to be the hottest investment for a portfolio over the past two years. Now, as the technology behind bitcoin, blockchain, finds application in a series of industries, it is no wonder that some of the biggest and most respected companies on earth are investing in it. Some of the most notable corporations are Goldman Sachs, Google, Overstock and Citibank.
According to PYMNTS and a report done by CB Insights, the amount of funds invested in blockchain by corporations is currently amounting to around $330 million and the number of corporate investors is 91. These are staggering numbers, because of the breadth of different corporate giants trusting that the value of blockchain will skyrocket in the near future.
Google is now investing in Ripple and bitcoin wallet startup, Blockchain, that has currently raised $40 million, a round led by venture capital company Lakestar, a Google company, and Richard Branson, the billionaire and founder of Virgin Group. Blockchain ltd. is one of the fastest technology companies in the blockchain disruption mission on the market as of 2017. So, Google backing up the venture with this solid amount of funding speaks volumes for the potential and beliefs in the startup.
According to the CB Insights report, except for Google and SBI Holdings, Citibank and Goldman Sachs are two of the biggest supporters of blockchain.
As reported by CB Insights:
“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. Since mid-2014, more than 50 of the world’s major financial services institutions have invested in the sector.”
It is rather interesting to see how differently the big banks are playing in the “blockchain” field, especially after JP Morgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, officially called bitcoin a “fraud”. The CEO of Goldman Sachs recently tweeted that “he is thinking about it” and that he doesn’t not have any firm opinion yet. With Goldman Sachs backing up blockchain, it seems that the largest investment bank in the world is realizing the applications of blockchain and its future appreciation in value.