KPMG ‘Pulse of Fintech 2018’ Report Shows This Year’s Blockchain Funding Already Surpassing 2017 Total
On Tuesday, July 31, the ‘Big Four’ financial auditing giant KPMG published a report called The Pulse of Fintech 2018 shows that just within the first-half of 2018, investments in the U.S fintech companies has already crossed $14.2 billion with nearly 427 deals. Of this venture capital (VC) investment contribute $5 billion which is nearly one-third of the total investments.
The KPMG report notes that there has been a huge surge and growing interest among startups and experienced to tap several opportunities in the blockchain sector. The company said the Blockchain has emerged as a “trend to watch out for” as this sector is attracting large number of investors from around the globe.
KPMG in its report notes: “Based on our experience, the rapid growth in blockchain investment overall can likely be attributed to a number of factors — including the widespread applicability of blockchain to help harness efficiencies within financial institutions.”
The report also notes that “Blockchain's capabilities extend from recordkeeping and the registration of transactions to documentation management and supply chain management. While it has primarily been looked at from a banking and insurance point of view to date, the reality is blockchain opportunities abound and could enhance processes for any number of US and global businesses."
Moreover, KPMG also says that venture capital investments alone during the first half of 2018 have already surpassed the total of last year’s investments. So far in 2018, VCs have pumped $858 million against the $631 million, in the entire 2017.
Safwan Zaheer, the lead of KPMG U.S.'s Financial Services Digital and Fintech division said that "there's more VC flow available than opportunities to invest — a sign of tremendous growth in the space. In particular, investments in blockchain doubled the first half of 2018 compared to 2017. Blockchain has the potential to transform banking and if banking systems were to be rewritten today they would be based on blockchain.”
In addition to the U.S and Canada, fintech investments have been on a surge across the Europe and Asian continents. So far in 2018, nearly 198 fintech deals have been closed with a total investment capital of $26 billion. Of this, the UK alone accounted for $16 billion. Earlier this month, WorldCoinIndex reported that as per the study by The Guardian, UK will emerge as a formidable force in the blockchain space in next few years.
In Asia, the total investment figure in 2018 is $16.2 billion of which Ant Financial deal alone contributes $14 billion. KPMG”s Global Lead of Blockchain, Eamonn Maguire is quite bullish of the fintech growth in South East Asia and the Middle East.
Maguire said: “Southeast Asia is becoming very significant for the development of blockchain. The cultural ecosystem, economy, and many governments are focused on driving blockchain development.”
“This holistic innovation effort is also evident in the Middle East, where governments are playing a significant role in innovating and stimulating their economies through the economic development associated with technology. In other regions, government adopts a more neutral approach where innovation is driven directly by the commercial sector.”