From September 2021 to June 2022, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, invested $1.5 billion in crypto and blockchain firms.
According to new research, Alphabet is the most prominent blockchain investor, having invested more than $1.5 billion in the technology. In addition, Alphabet invested $1.506 billion in four rounds of investment between September 2021 and June 2022, well ahead of its nearest investment competitor, Blackrock ($1.171 billion).
Over the period, the top forty companies collectively invested around $6 billion in blockchain, with other notable companies such as Samsung, PayPal, and Microsoft also putting faith in the emerging space.
Huge investments, but only in 4 blockchain companies.
Despite the magnitude of its spending, Alphabet’s total investment was in only four blockchain companies: Fireblocks, Digital Currency Group, Voltage, and Dapper Labs. The Fireblocks deal alone was worth $550 million.
The limited portfolio could indicate a shift in Alphabet’s interest, from broad sector investment to a more focused focus on companies that best fit its use cases. Blockdata, a blockchain data vendor, notes in its report on the numbers that “Alphabet and Blackrock are demonstrating a completely different strategy by making concentrated bets on a smaller set of assets.”
Blockdata’s report from the previous year notes that Alphabet invested in 23 blockchain companies up to September 2021, supporting this interpretation of the data. The more focused display strategy comes after public indications that Alphabet and its subsidiary Google have warmed to blockchain and Web3 in recent years.
In Google’s Q4 earnings call at the beginning of February, Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressed optimism about the blockchain.
“On web3, we are definitely looking at blockchain, and such an interesting and powerful technology with broad applications, so much broader than any single application,” he explained. “Once again, much broader than any single application. As a result, as a company, we are considering how we can contribute to the ecosystem and add value.”
