Decacorns: Blockchain.com’s Stellar Growth Story Continues Through Acquisitions

According to a recent report, the global Blockchain technology market was valued at $5.92 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at an impressive 86% annual rate through to 2030. The growth in the market is expected to be driven by the continued adoption of cryptocurrencies by governments and through the increasing venture capital funding within the blockchain technology companies. The governments of the US, Canada, Australia, El Salvador, and Ukraine have already legalized several transactions in cryptocurrency. Even the EU makes it legal to trade and use Bitcoin. Blockchain.com is the poster child of the industry that continues to grow through acquisitions and product expansion.

Blockchain’s Offerings

Founded in 2011 by Barrick Rothchild, Benjamin Reeves, Nicolas Cary and Peter Smith, London-based Blockchain.com is a platform that offers ways to buy, hold, and use cryptocurrency. It creates a financial system for the internet that empowers customers to control their money. Blockchain.com is an easy way for customers to buy bitcoin, trade crypto, send, receive, secure, and borrow digital currencies. The company was created in anticipation of the internet becoming the largest financial system in the world and will be powered by cryptocurrency. As an early pioneer of key infrastructure for the bitcoin community, Blockchain started with Blockchain Explorer for enabling people to examine transactions and study the blockchain in addition to being an API that allows companies to build on Bitcoin.

Blockchain currently has four key offerings. Its main product, the cryptocurrency wallet, offers a hosted wallet that can be used to store cryptocurrency on a digital file that can be accessed from anywhere. It is currency agnostic and can be used to make transactions such as receipts, payments, and swaps between different currencies. Exchange is another one of its products that allows its users to convert their digital assets to money and money back to digital assets. Users can sell, buy, and trade cryptocurrencies through the Exchange. In 2019, Bitcoin had ventured into the institutional segment and began offering institutional investors access to cryptocurrency based financial services. This third product line offers organizations to lend, borrow, trade, and manage custody of financial assets. Finally, its explorer service allows users to see public cryptocurrency transactions and related information for further analysis and data tracking.

Since being founded, Blockchain has seen more than 83 million wallets created on its platform by over 37 million users. It has helped process transactions worth more than $1 trillion and is responsible for over a third of the transactions completed using bitcoins.

Blockchain’s Acquisitions

Recently, Blockchain announced the acquisition of Buenos Aires-based SeSocio for an undisclosed sum. SeSocio is known for its personal finance application that also allows users to save, invest, and manage crypto assets. Latin America has over 200 million unbanked individuals who see crypto as a safe and easy way to access financial assets. SeSocio is one of the largest crypto companies in Argentina and a strong contender in Latin America. The acquisition allows Blockchain to focus on providing better access to the region’s unbanked and underbanked customers. Post the acquisition, Blockchain will be able to make its physical presence felt in the region as well. Prior to the acquisition, SeSocio raised $11.4 million in seven rounds of funding. Its most recent round of funding was in October 2019 where it raised $6.1 million at an undisclosed valuation.

Blockchain also announced the acquisition of London based-AiX known for its AI-powered negotiation and matching engine. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The acquisition will allow Blockchain to integrate AiX’s deep engineering, trading, and operational enterprise from some of the most respected financial institutions into its institutional offering. It will help Blockchain expand its institutional services to a wider audience.

Blockchain’s Financials

Blockchain remains privately held and does not disclose its detailed financials. A report published last year suggested that the company had clocked $1.5 billion in revenues to date. Annual turnover or profitability figures are not published.

Blockchain has raised $490 million in seven rounds of funding led by Baillie Gifford, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Vy Capital, DST Global, LG Group, Kyle Bass, and Access Industries. Its most recent round was held in March 2021 where it raised $300 million at a valuation of $5.2 billion. The company is said to have raised another round for an undisclosed amount that valued it at $14 billion.

Photo Credit: Pete Linforth from Pixabay

This segment is a part in the series : Decacorns