CB Insights (11-years old NY based prediction software company, which cumulatively received about $12 million from venture investors) come out with a report “Blockchain Trends In Review” cited by Bloomberg on July 17: “businesses focusing on (blockchain) technology may only draw $1.6 billion this year”.
That come in a sharp contrast with other parties’ previous analyses. For example, PWC “4th ICO/STO Report”, which was mentioned in this group earlier this month, says that to the date already $3.3 billion was raised in 250 offerings. At the same time, CB estimates that “at current run rates, 2019 will only see … 454 deals”, which might be aligned with PWC estimates (which are based on the first 5 months of 2019) only if the following six months of this year will see a significant slow down of VC investments in our industry.
To explain the sharp drop in amount of financing compare to 2018 CB states: “the proportion of mid-stage deals (Series B and C) has held relatively consistent, while later-stage deals (Series D and later) are nearly absent. … (but) growing share of early-stage deals suggests that blockchain is still a very nascent category.” Report concludes: “In 2019, blockchain has its share of uncertainty, but there’s also an undercurrent of cautious optimism.” This “undercurrent”, according to CB, includes Bitcoin and Ethereum “speculations” as well as “a resurgence in corporate interest” (Libra, of course).
Overall, imho, this piece reflects our times of “great uncertainties”, when the initial crowd enthusiasm about DLT is already gone but the future presents itself frightening and encouraging simultaneously depending on market participants’ individual characters, circumstances and a purse.
For more information on this subject join the Whitepapers analysis Telegram group: https://t.me/joinchat/I5eQ-A6FSC2vXg_PNgFwJw