Since Bitcoin (BTC) and altkoyny took a break in reaching new historical highs, sentiment in the market seem to be bleak since the beginning of 2022. However, although the market seems to be sleeping, his trajectory shows that in the next few months.
Multinational professional services network KMPG has released its biennial Pulse of Fintech report, in which the firm tracks and analyzes developments and investments in the fintech sector. The report highlighted the most notable developments in major regions such as the Americas, Asia Pacific, and EMEA, and noted the “growing interest” in cryptocurrency and blockchain over the past year.
Although the scope of the report covers a broader context, cryptocurrency and blockchain remain one of the key topics. Here are the key takeaways from KPMG’s Pulse of Fintech report.
Over $30 billion investment in cryptocurrency and blockchain
From $5.5 billion accumulated in 2020, investment in cryptocurrencies and blockchain has grown to over $30.2 billion in 2021. This shows that more and more companies have realized that cryptocurrency and its technologies can play a potential role in modern financial systems.
Brian Heaver, managing director of KPMG in the US, believes that 2021 is a very important year for cryptocurrencies when it comes to adoption.
“Now there are an incredible number of companies trying to do a lot of things in cryptocurrency and blokcheyna, and although we do not know where to land all their efforts, there is plenty of curiosity and interest in the possibility.”
Regtech focused on crypto despite shift in Asia-Pacific
Despite China’s total ban on cryptocurrencies, technology that helps regulate cryptocurrencies has been a “relatively hot area of investment” according to KPMG. The firm predicts that there may be more investment in crypto-focused regulatory technology (regtech) solutions in the future.
It could also make its way to Europe, according to Fabiano Gobbo, head of global Regtech at KPMG International.
“While the US has continued to attract the vast majority of investment in regtech, Europe is well positioned for growth in 2022.”
Related: Cryptocurrency Global Adoption May ‘Soon Reach Breaking Point’: Wells Fargo Report
More and more use cases for blockchain
In 2021, as investors become more familiar with blockchain, interest in its various use cases has also grown. In 2021, the “universe of blockchain applicability” has expanded, according to KPMG. This year has generated increased interest in a wide range of blockchain applications, including examples of blockchain use cases in multiple jurisdictions for data, research and analysis.
Because of this, the firm also predicts that the cryptocurrency will attract “investors of all types,” including retail investors as well as corporate and institutional investors due to the increase in use cases.
Cryptocurrency investment from Singapore has grown more than tenfold
As previously reported, cryptocurrency investment in Singapore has grown very significantly in 2021. Last year, the global cryptocurrency hub recorded a whopping $1.48 billion in crypto-focused investments. This greatly exceeds the previous 2020 record of $110 million. The region’s cryptocurrency investment accounted for 5 percent of total global cryptocurrency investment in 2021. It also accounts for a third of all investments in the fintech sector across the country.
Head of consultancy on financial services KPMG Singapore Anton Ruddenklau believes that Singapore has attracted investors who previously looked at China, but were pushed back because of the bans on cryptocurrency.
“Singapore and India may become the biggest winner in the investment front, as investors and companies, which could go into China, looking for opportunities in other countries in the region.”
