Actor Matt Damon is the spokesperson for Crypto.com in TV ads. The company is spending nearly $700 million for arena naming rights. (Source: Crypto.com)

Crypto.com Makes a Splash as U.S. $1B Unicorns Outpace Other Countries

Blockchain currency continues to attract money via $1 billion unicorns–and recently one of the players sought publicity that will ultimately cost close to that amount. This week crypto.com made a bet that it would capture attention by buying the 20-year naming rights to the Staples Center in Los Angeles. According to a story from TechCrunch.com, it drew the writer’s attention, but not for the right reasons.

The arena where the Lakers basketball team plays will be called the Crypto.com Center because the company paid a staggering $35 million per year for 20 years — $700 million. Not only is that an incredible sum for a company that doesn’t have a strong presence in the United States, but it also doesn’t have the reach of several other exchanges like Coinbase and Binance. TechCrunch writer Lucas Matney noted in the below passage that it’s a sign of the wild faith some investors have in cryptocurrencies.

“…the reason that people actually cared about who bought these naming rights is because the crypto mania of 2021 is wildly impossible to avoid with investors and executives pledging that the future will be on the blockchain and that it is truly inevitable. …investor(s) are pumping billions into this belief, a recent study out from crypto research firm The Block pegs the number of crypto startups worth more than $1 billion at 64 — one of which is Crypto.com.”

Among those unicorns, U.S. companies are ahead of the game in terms of the dollars being thrown at them, especially because of the venture capital funds that are investing in them. According to a TechCrunch story by Alex Wilhelm, major financial players are deeply involved in ensuring their success.

“Paradigm put together a $2.5 billion fund the other day is a reminder of the scale of funds now available to startups looking to build on the blockchain. Andreessen Horowitz has a mega-fund in the market as well, while Coinbase Ventures is setting a blistering pace for a corporate venture firm.”

The story says that The Block, a crypto-focused publication and research operation, released new data showing how quickly unicorns are expanding in the crypto area, and details where unicorns are being formed, in both focus terms — exchanges, NFT platforms— and geographically.

“Key takeaways today are that the United States, despite certain domestic complaints that it is hostile to the crypto economy, is by far the dominant single market for crypto unicorn creation…”

Wilhelm also notes that of the 64 total crypto unicorns, 39 formed in 2021 alone.

read more at techcrunch.com