Crypto Valley home to ever more unicorns

March 11, 2021

Zug – The number of blockchain companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein has increased once more in the second half of 2020 and is now 960. Over the same period, the number of unicorns has also almost doubled to 11 companies.

The investment company CV VC (Crypto Valley Venture Capital) has collaborated with PwC Switzerland and IT partner inacta to publish a new report on the Crypto Valley. This analyzed and lists the most important blockchain companies in the region. The Crypto Valley refers to the blockchain cluster in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

According to the report, the number of blockchain companies in the Crypto Valley increased from 919 to 960 in the second half of 2020. The report identifies ten hotspots in the region. The biggest of these is still in the canton of Zug, which is referred to as “the heart of the Crypto Valley” in the report. In total, 433 companies have made Zug their home. The other hotspots are Zurich (178 companies), Liechtenstein (83 companies), Geneva (87 companies), Ticino (49 companies), Neuchâtel (26 companies), Vaud (32 companies), Lucerne (20 companies), Berne (15 companies) and Schwyz (13 companies). The report states that these companies employ 4,784 individuals in total, up from 4,780 in the first half of 2020.

The top 50 blockchain companies in the Crypto Valley are reportedly valued at around US$254.9 billion. This represents a significant increase of 680 percent on the first half of 2020. Back then, the valuation of the 50 biggest companies had been US$37.5 billion.

This is also linked to the fact that the number of unicorns has risen from six to eleven in the second half of the year. Unicorns are startups with a market value of more than US$1 billion. The Crypto Valley now counts 11 unicorns, namely Ethereum (US$157.2 billion), Cardano (US$40.6 billion), Polkadot (US$29.3 billion), Aave (US$3.9 billion), Cosmos (US$3.8 billion), Solana (US$3.3 billion), Tezos (US$2.6 billion), Dfinity (US$2 billion), Near (US$1.1 billion), Nexo (US$1.1 billion), and Diem (US$1 billion).

According to the report, these trends confirm the attractiveness of Switzerland and Liechtenstein for blockchain and cryptocurrency-based projects and companies. The authors are confident that the further development of the regulatory framework will continue to bring even more blockchain companies into the Crypto Valley in future.