Dear readers,

Yesterday, the crypto world was abuzz with headlines about how Google’s parent company Alphabet invested $1.5 Billion into crypto companies between Sep 2021 and June 2022. While that garnered the interest of many, it seems that information may have after all been incorrect.

One of the major news publications to report this was Cointelegraph, which later changed the story when Alphabet’s spokesperson confirmed that they invested “only a fraction” of the reported $1.5 Billion

The story is now updated to report Samsung’s investment instead of Google’s.

The articles may soon be updated on other portals too. But, with or without Google, the story is indeed fascinating.

In an updated article published by Blockdata

Alphabet concentrated on four blockchain companies including digital asset custody platform Fireblocks, Web3 gaming company Dapper Labs, Bitcoin infrastructure tool Voltage and venture capital company Digital Currency Group.

Samsung turned out to be the most active investor with participation in 13 rounds and an investment of $979 Million, a little shy of the big B.

Not just top public companies, in the first half of the year, VCs bet $17.5 billion on blockchain firms per a report by Reuters

Concentrated Bets, NFT Solutions:

The top three investors as per the report have taken a concentrated investment approach by investing in 2-4 companies.

These bets are largely placed on Infrastructure providers and custodial services. Custody solution providers received a total of $1.4 billion. Fire blocks and Circle received $550 million each and Anchorage Digital received $350 million.

On the other hand, it is clear that Samsung is investing heavily in gaming and NFT solutions. That seems to be the trend amongst others too.

Out of the 61 blockchain startups that received an investment, 19 were focused on building solutions for the Non-fungible token (NFT) space.

12 of these companies have solutions for NFT marketplaces, supporting the buying and selling of NFTs. 11 organizations provide gaming services.

Banks join the League:

One can also identify a few banks and banking solutions companies investing in the blockchain space as well.

Around 23 banks have made at least one investment in blockchain/crypto companies between August 2021 and May 2022

The top banks are largely investing in custody solutions and blockchain infrastructure providers. Morgan Stanley takes the top spot with a $1.11B investment in the space.

The increased exposure to Crypto and Blockchain companies can be attributed to client demand. The question is, will the demand continue to grow?

And as for the headlines, folks, as it always is, do not believe everything blindly. Do your own research. The story changed from Alphabet investing $1.5 Billion to Alphabet being part of the investor rounds of $1.5 Billion over a course of a few hours. This should be a cautionary tale to remember.

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